On this week’s episode, we dive into the details of the verdict in the NRA’s corruption case.
As Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss, the top-line takeaways are not good for the gun-rights group’s current and former leadership. The jury determined the NRA failed to properly safeguard its charitable assets or protect numerous whistle-blowers. It also found Wayne LaPierre diverted millions of dollars worth of NRA funds toward his personal expenses, which he will likely be forced to pay back.
The ruling leaves the nation’s largest gun group facing down the potential that Judge Joel Cohen could appoint financial and compliance overseers. That could wipe out the leadership that’s taken the NRA down this road in the first place. For the former leaders, such as LaPierre and once-treasurer Woody Phillips, they face the potential of bankruptcy as the jury found they collectively owe upwards of $6 million to the members they stole from.
Plus, lawyer Anna Barvir-Boone explains why a new step in the California gun case she’s working on could signal a change of course for the Ninth Circuit. There’s reason to think gun-rights cases could face less onerous legal fights on appeal in the future in the nation’s most liberal circuit.
You can listen to the show on your favorite podcasting app or by clicking here. Video of the episode is available on our YouTube channel. Reload Members get access on Sunday, as always. The show goes public on Monday.
2 Responses
I’m not sure one could have ever considered the NRA membership list a total secret (in the sense of the federal agencies), but it’s probably fair to assume that with the appointment of the overseer, the membership list will somehow make its way into the hands of NY political actors, if it’s not there already from prior discovery orders.
In the same spirit of California “accidentally” leaking lists of CC permit holders, or NY warning insurance carriers away from gun businesses, the possibility of being publicly outed as an NRA member may dissuade membership further. I know guys that requested that their membership be terminated and names removed during the fiascos in the nineties (amidst Waco, RR, OK, etc). I don’t think the level of fear of the federal government, much less NY, is anywhere near the levels back then, and frankly a spirit of defiance seems a bit higher these days, but still.
My prediction is that the NRA membership list will be public within five years. Let’s see how this prediction ages.
Obviously, something like that shouldn’t happen. But you’re right; it’s one of the legitimate concerns with a court-appointed overseer.