NRA boss Wayne LaPierre lied under oath and strengthened NY Attorney General Letitia James’s case to dissolve the gun lobby.
Under questioning about the yacht trip, LaPierre did not disclose the wedding. Instead, he testified under oath that he used the boat that summer because his life was in imminent danger. He said that trip — the first of six annual summer voyages on the yacht in the Bahamas, from 2013 to 2018 — was a “security retreat” and the only way he could be safe after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. LaPierre explained that he was under “Presidential threat without Presidential security” and that the boat “was offered” as a refuge. When he finally got to the yacht, he recalled thinking, “Thank God I’m safe, nobody can get me here.”
Internal NRA documents, other records, and interviews with former staffers suggest that LaPierre repeatedly made misleading and possibly false statements under oath about the yacht and his niece. LaPierre testified that Sterner, whom he hired at the NRA, was an integral employee in the organization, but former colleagues, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, say she did little work.Â
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LaPierre’s lies strengthen the case against the NRA as one of the significant components of the lawsuit argues that the gun lobby is a corrupt organization that has been self-dealing, and LaPierre has been misusing resources to fund his lifestyle for years.
The NY case against the NRA is big because the gun lobby was already denied a motion in court to declare bankruptcy and move to Texas. If James wins her case, the NRA, as we have known it, will be dead.
There is too much money involved for it to completely go away, so it is likely to resurface elsewhere, but Wayne LaPierre might be the one to drive the final nail into the NRA’s coffin.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
