NRA leader Wayne LaPierre resigns just before a New York corruption trial
- NRA head Wayne LaPierre is stepping down after 30 years helming the gun-rights organization.
- His resignation comes just three days before his civil corruption trial begins in Manhattan.
Embattled NRA leader Wayne LaPierre announced Friday that he is resigning after 30 years at the helm of the powerful gun lobby.
News of his resignation, first reported by Fox News, comes on the brink of Monday's scheduled opening statements in his New York civil corruption trial.
LaPierre faces millions of dollars in fines in that case, in which the New York Attorney General Letitia James has demanded he personally reimburse the organization for years of charging them for private jet travel, trips to the Bahamas, black car services, and gifts for friends and vendors.
The AG has alleged that LaPierre and three NRA cronies retaliated against whistleblowers and diverted tens of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission.
LaPierre and his family visited the Bahamas by private air charter on at least eight occasions at a cost of more than $500,000 to the NRA, the attorney general alleged.
On many of the trips, LaPierre and his family were gifted the use of a 107-foot yacht owned by an NRA vendor, she alleged.
LaPierre also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from NRA vendors, including complimentary safaris in Africa.
Her 2020 lawsuit demands that the money be paid back to the NRA; it also asks that LaPierre be removed as executive vice president, a demand now mooted by Friday's resignation.This story is developing. Please check back for updates.