Ex-NRA leader who helped legalize AR-15s offers 'hearts and prayers' to Trump shooting victims from his 2nd corruption trial

• Wayne LaPierre is back on trial in Manhattan, fighting for the right to return to the NRA.
• LaPierre led the gun group's fight to legalize AR-15s, the kind of weapon used against Trump.

Former National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre — who arguably did more than any single person to keep AR-15s legal — offered his "hearts and prayers" for the victims of Saturday night's assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

LaPierre, 74, spoke to Business Insider briefly from the hallway outside his second civil-corruption trial, which began Monday in Manhattan.

"I am thankful that President Trump appears to be okay," he said. "God bless his family. I know our hearts and prayers go out to the Buffalo fireman that lost his life, and his family."

"Also, we pray for the well-being and recovery of the victims," he added.

LaPierre declined to answer questions about his role in legalizing AR-15s, the kind of assault weapon used in Saturday's assassination attempt. He also declined to comment on President Joe Biden's ongoing efforts to reinstate a ban on assault weapons.

"That's all I have to say," he said, walking away.

LaPierre resigned from the NRA's helm in January, in the middle of his first corruption trial, at which a jury ordered him to repay the gun lobby $4.35 million. He cited his chronic Lymes disease in stepping down.

LaPierre is now fighting additional, non-monetary penalties sought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who attended Monday's trial and who hopes a judge will ban him for life from any future fiscal role in the gun lobby.

This second trial's witness list is shaping up to be a who's who of assault-rifle proponents, just days after the attempt on Trump's life by a 20-year-old carrying a legally purchased AR-15,

First to be subpoenaed to the witness stand by James' side was longtime gun-rights advocate Charles Cotton, who has fought against assault rifle bans and universal background checks for decades.

The former NRA president and current board member once lamented, "Too bad we lost the civil war," in a post to an online forum, as reported by Slate.

Under questioning Monday, Cotton tried to refute the AG's contention that the NRA is in large part only pretending to shape up its finances and distance itself from LaPierre.

The NRA has yet to press LaPierre for the $4.35 million he now owes them, or to demand he repay millions more in legal fees the gun lobby has footed for him, James has complained in court filings.

Cotton was questioned by an assistant attorney general, Steve Shiffman, about remarks he made during the NRA's annual meeting in May.

In addressing the meeting, Cotton had inaccurately claimed the NRA "won" the first trial and that the NRA was not found liable for any wrongdoing, according to transcripts shown in court.

Asked if LaPierre had been punished in any way, Cotton responded from the witness stand, "We were keeping a lot closer eye on him. He knew there was a spotlight on him."

Cotton had high praise for fellow board member Ronnie Barrett, who is on the defense witness list.

"Ronnie Barrett literally is a rock star in our community," Cotton testified, praising his colleague's fundraising and business experience.

Barrett is also the inventor of the Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, Cotton said, noting from the witness stand, "It was adopted by the military — all military services use his rifle. He literally designed the gun," Cotton added.

According to Barrett's own NRA profile, the sniper rifle is so effective, Al Qaeda purchased them in bulk in the 1980s, and Irish Republican Army snipers used them to kill British police officers and Irish constables during "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland.

The AG's lawyers will likely ask Barrett about joining Cotton in downplaying the NRA corruption jury's findings at the May meeting.

While speaking at the meeting, Barrett brushed aside the jury's finding that NRA Corporate Secretary John Frazer failed to uphold his duties and lied in regulatory filings.

Barrett told attendees that Frazer's actions were "a little mistake," and something akin to stepping in "cow piles," according to a transcript excerpt included in an AG court filing.

This second, non-jury trial is being held before state Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen.

In addition to the ban on LaPierre, James is asking that Cohen install an independent monitor who would audit and supervise how the NRA uses contributions and donations, something the gun lobby's lawyers liken to a state takeover.

James's office oversees charitable and nonprofit organizations in New York. In 2020, she sued the NRA, LaPierre, and three other longtime top executives, alleging a leadership culture of fraud, greed, and retaliation against whistleblowers.

At his first corruption trial in January, LaPierre, who successfully lobbied against even modest, popular gun-control laws for three decades, was found liable by a jury living lavishly on the NRA's dime and was found to have caused $5 million in harm to the organization.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.