NEW YORK (AP) — National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre acknowledged at a civil trial Monday that he wrongly expensed private flights for his family and accepted vacations from vendors doing business with the nonprofit gun rights organization without disclosing them.
It was LaPierre’s second day of testimony before a Manhattan jury that will decide if the outgoing NRA chief executive violated rules governing charities and nonprofits over allegations he treated himself to millions of dollars in extravagant perks at the expense of the powerful advocacy group.
The New York attorney general sued the 74-year-old CEO and three co-defendants in 2020, claiming widespread misspending and self-enrichment among certain NRA leaders.
Over the past week, lawyers for the state showed the jury receipts documenting expenses including a $1,000-plus handbag that LaPierre bought for his wife with the NRA’s money, and more than $500,000 in private jet flights, including some in which LaPierre wasn’t even a passenger and was merely flying family members back from overseas vacations.