Wayne LaPierre Profile

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Wayne LaPierre Profile

Key Takeaways

Introduction

This research presents a biography of Wayne LaPierre, including insights into the legal accusations against him. This includes information about his family background, education background, career, affiliations, and net worth. The details are outlined below.

I. Biography of Wayne LaPierre

Childhood and Family Background

Educational Background

Career History

Affiliations

Net Worth

Other Information

  • He has been "campaigning against politicians thought to be in favor of gun control."
  • He also famously lobbied for the expansion of gun ownership after the shooting incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
  • LaPierre has been vocal in sharing that he favors adding armed school guards. He believes that "the only thing that could stop a bad guy with a gun was a good guy with a gun."
  • He published his first book in 1994. That book was entitled "Guns, Crime, and Freedom." He wrote a number of books while he was working at NRA.

II. Legal Accusations About Wayne LaPierre

Illegal Financial Conduct

  • In August 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued LaPierre and three other NRA executives for an alleged engagement in illegal financial conduct. They are being accused of undercutting NRA's charitable mission.
  • LaPierre allegedly diverted "tens of millions of dollars for personal trips and expenditures." The lawsuit also includes allegations of "lucrative no-show contracts to buy people's silence," including improper spending.
  • LaPierre and the three NRA executives allegedly "paid for family trips to the Bahamas, private jets and expensive meals and clothes that contributed to a $64 million reduction in the NRA's balance sheet in three years, turning a surplus into a deficit."
  • According to James, "The NRA was serving as a personal piggy bank for four individual defendants."
  • The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court after 18 months of investigation.

Accusations Related to LaPierre's Wife

  • From 2013 to 2018, Susan LaPierre served as the president of Youth for Tomorrow (YFT), a Virginia-based Christian charity.
  • Interviews by The Trace revealed that there were multiple occasions when NRA paid for YFT's annual parties. Those were parties that had no relation to gun rights.
  • Invoices revealed that NRA "paid tens of thousands of dollars in production fees" for YFT's star-studded fundraising events even though the events had nothing to do with NRA or gun rights whatsoever.
  • YFT was not included in the lawsuit against Wayne LaPierre and the three NRA executives. However, an expert described Susan LaPierre's YFT arrangement as 'theft.'

Related Issues

  • Part of Attorney General James's complaint is NRA's relationship with specific favored vendors such as the Ackerman McQueen, a public relations firm.
  • Ackerman allegedly received $32 million from NRA in 2018 alone. The complaint states that "NRA's arrangement with Ackerman appeared designed to hide what all that money actually paid for."
  • LaPierre reportedly had a really close relationship with Ackerman's late co-founder. LaPierre allegedly requested invoices from Ackerman that had "very little detail about the work performed or services rendered."

LaPierre's Reputation

  • According to NRA insiders, LaPierre "has a reputation for never being able to say no, especially to the wrong people."
  • NRA insiders also joked about how one could get Wayne's approval for an item of expenditure if Wayne is pressured enough.

Perceptions About LaPierre

Research Strategy

For this research on Wayne LaPierre's profile, we leveraged the most reputable sources of information in the public domain, including the Daily Gazette, The Personage, NBC News, Vox, and Reuters.

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