NRA gets new bosses after ex-leader Wayne LaPierre’s spending scandal

Dallas — The National Rifle Association, whose image was tarnished by the former leader Wayne LaPierre’s spending spreeson Monday elected Doug Hamlin as executive vice president and CEO.

“Our association is at a pivotal moment in our history, and the future of America and constitutional freedoms depend on the success of the NRA,” said Hamlin, who most recently served as the NRA’s executive director of publications. NRA. Hamlin said in a statement that he looks forward to working with staff to “promote political and public policies that are in the best interest of our members and all gun owners.”

The gun rights lobbying group’s board of directors has elected former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia as its new president.

“I have been a fighter my entire life and I pledge to boldly fight for our Second Amendment rights on behalf of the millions of NRA members,” Barr said in a statement. “We we must expand our ranksespecially in this election year, and I am committed to focusing my attention on that.”

Former President Trump spoke to the group on Saturday and received the organization’s support in this year’s presidential election. About 72,000 people attended the 153rd annual meetings and exhibitions, the association said.

LaPierre was found responsible in February in a civil trial in New York for improperly using millions of dollars of the organization’s money to fund an extravagant lifestyle that included exotic getaways and trips on private planes and superyachts. Stone resigned as executive vice president and CEO on the eve of the trial.

The jury ordered LaPierre to repay nearly $4.4 million to the NRA, while the organization’s retired chief financial officer, Wilson Phillips, owed $2 million. The lobbying group failed to properly manage its assets, omitted or misrepresented information in its tax returns and violated whistleblower protections under New York law, jurors found.

After reporting a $36 million deficit in 2018, fueled largely by inappropriate spending, the NRA cut longstanding programs that were core to its mission, including training and education, recreational shooting and law enforcement initiatives.

LaPierre’s trial shined a spotlight on the leadership, culture and finances of the more than 150-year-old organization, which has become a powerful influence on federal law and presidential elections.

John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for stricter gun control, called Hamlin a “longtime insider,” adding that “the chaotic infighting and spiraling of the NRA’s financial catastrophe show no signs of stopping.