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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tish James 1, NRA 0

Tish James 1, NRA 0

by @heymistermix.com|  February 23, 20246:07 pm| 65 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Tish James 1, NRA 0

Good news:

A New York state jury on Friday said the former long-serving National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre – as well as other executives of the gun rights group – were liable in a a lawsuit centered on the organization’s lavish spending.

The jury found that LaPierre, who was the NRA’s CEO for three decades, misspent millions of dollars of the group’s money on private flights, vacations and other lavish perks.

[…]

Attorneys working for James are asking that LaPierre and others be forced to pay penalties and to reimburse the NRA for the money taken from the organization.

Serious gun humpers probably already have another organization that serves their fetish picked out, but the NRA is the big name in human/gun intercourse, so let’s hope LaPierre has to live in a tent under a freeway underpass by the time the penalties are assessed in this case.

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Reader Interactions

65Comments

  1. 1.

    scav

    February 23, 2024 at 6:11 pm

    Not Responsibly Administered.

    For it to go on for so very long?  Of course the bulk of the leaders knew.

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 23, 2024 at 6:16 pm

    @scav:

    The bulk? I’d bet my own money that they all knew, every.fucking.last.one.of.them.

  3. 3.

    Mike in NC

    February 23, 2024 at 6:19 pm

    Never forget that the NRA spent $31M to elect Fat Bastard in 2016.

  4. 4.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    February 23, 2024 at 6:19 pm

    mistermix @ Top:

    … the NRA is the big name in human/gun intercourse …

    This sounds like a polite way of calling them “gunfuckers”.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    February 23, 2024 at 6:21 pm

    Glad to see it, but the money does go back to the NRA.

  6. 6.

    Parfigliano

    February 23, 2024 at 6:21 pm

    In the real world people who take money from an organization without permission have either stolen or embezzled the money.  They dont get to just repay it.  Maybe as restitution after conviction.

  7. 7.

    scav

    February 23, 2024 at 6:24 pm

    @Baud: Exactly.  So now the enablers are first in line at the trough.  Conservative trickle-down in action!

  8. 8.

    twbrandt

    February 23, 2024 at 6:40 pm

    Ironically, it was Oliver North who blew the whistle on LaPierre’s lavish spending.

  9. 9.

    wjca

    February 23, 2024 at 6:41 pm

    The jury found that LaPierre, who was the NRA’s CEO for three decades, misspent millions of dollars of the group’s money on private flights, vacations and other lavish perks.

    All things considered, that misspending may have been the most useful thing LaPierre ever did.  Just think of the additional damage the NRA could have done with that cash.

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 23, 2024 at 6:42 pm

    @twbrandt:

    I don’t even remember that. Remind me, please.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    February 23, 2024 at 6:43 pm

    @twbrandt:

    North was upset Pierre spent the money on himself instead of funneling it to the contras.

  12. 12.

    twbrandt

    February 23, 2024 at 6:44 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Here’s a summary from CNN.

  13. 13.

    Dan B

    February 23, 2024 at 6:47 pm

    @scav: This is very discouraging although LaPierre getting in trouble is great I wish the NRA was forced to pay millions to victims of gun violence.  And to stop their campaign to arm the country.

  14. 14.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 23, 2024 at 6:51 pm

    OT: I listened to the hive mind and am getting th 256GB version of the Ipad Air. It will arrive later next week. With the Apple 2 pencil. So thanks for the advice!

  15. 15.

    NotMax

    February 23, 2024 at 6:51 pm

    Is taking to task the ammosexuals erection interference?
    //

  16. 16.

    Baud

    February 23, 2024 at 6:51 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    👍

  17. 17.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 23, 2024 at 6:52 pm

    OT I am looking for TWoP archives of the Xfiles. Does the Wayback machine have them? I so miss that site!

    The Supersoldiers and Scully’s miracle baby is so snark worthy and unintentionally funny. What were they thinking?

  18. 18.

    RaflW

    February 23, 2024 at 6:55 pm

    @Baud: I’m hoping that the penalties part goes elsewhere, though yes there is mention of reimbursement.

  19. 19.

    RaflW

    February 23, 2024 at 7:04 pm

    NPR also says James had asked as part of the lawsuit to ban these ‘leaders’ from operating any nonprofits in N.Y. state. I’m not clear if that got decided also, though one seriously doubts crooked Wayne would be getting offers to run anything beyond a hotdog cart.

  20. 20.

    tommyspoon

    February 23, 2024 at 7:05 pm

    So… I once had a temp job at NRA headquarters in Fairfax, VA.

    This was YEARS ago, 1996 if I recall correctly. The NRA was definitely in the ascendance at that time, so they were hiring like crazy. I was very early in my career as a technical writer, and my first job (a contractor working for the DOJ) was over. The temp agency I worked with asked me if I was interested in this job.

    “Sure,” I replied. “I know they’ve got the money to pay me.”

    “You’re not bothered by them?” the rep I had worked with for over a year asked me. She knew I was an actor and and a writer, and had successfully assumed my political leanings.

    “As long as they pay, I’m not going to kick up a fuss.”

    So I worked in their IT department as a support technician. This was a pretty boring gig: mostly I sat in my cube reading the WaPo and answered the very occasional question about Word or Excel or other standard programs.

    They had an onsite cafeteria that was HEAVILY subsidized. Lunch cost me, on average, $2.00. And that was for a full tray of food. And it was pretty good!

    About a month into my tenure, I was summoned to my supervisor’s office. We had only met once on my first day and after I took a pretty simple test of my IT aptitude. (Bear in mind, this was 1996. The test was not that hard.) I went to the office and asked the secretary to see my supervisor. She said he would be a few minutes and I could take a seat and wait. I did so, and looked around the office while I waited. Eventually my eyes fell upon a sign over the doorway out of this waiting area to the rest of the office: THIS OFFICE IS 100% LIFETIME NRA.

    Curious, I asked the secretary what the sign meant. “Oh,” she said cheerfully, “it means that everybody who works in this office is a lifetime member of the NRA!” Before I could formulate a response, my supervisor came through that very door and ushered me into his office.

    I sat down across from him behind his desk, and was bracing myself for being let go. They had found out about my politics, or found some picture of me doing some show, and decided that I was not a good fit for the organization.

    “Would you be interested in a full-time position? We are in need of someone to manage our support staff and you’re the best person we’ve seen come through here in a long time.”

    I was flabbergasted, and told him I would have to think about it.

    I went home (I was still living at home with my folks) and told my parents about this offer. My Mom (the more liberal parent) told me that I should tell the NRA to pound sand. My Dad (the more conservative parent) asked me about the salary and benefits. The salary my supervisor had mentioned was somewhere over $40K (which, I just checked, is almost $80K today!). Both my parents told me to think about it.

    Fortunately, I was saved by a better job offer that came by telephone the next week. You’ll never guess where…

    … a contractor for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

  21. 21.

    glc

    February 23, 2024 at 7:08 pm

    @NotMax: Needs a trigger warning.

    So does this: https://www.ammunitiondepot.com/blog/how-to-cock-a-gun-pistol-rifle-shotgun-ammunition-depot

    Can a gun be de-cocked?

    Ouch.

  22. 22.

    ColoradoGuy

    February 23, 2024 at 7:11 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Same exact model I have, along with the Apple 2 Pencil. Currently using the Zugu case in deep red, which has a rubber groove for the pencil to fit in (and charge at the same time).

  23. 23.

    Baud

    February 23, 2024 at 7:12 pm

    @tommyspoon:

    You could have ended up a gunhumper!

    Someone is looking after you.

  24. 24.

    twbrandt

    February 23, 2024 at 7:14 pm

    @tommyspoon: that’s a great story!

  25. 25.

    tommyspoon

    February 23, 2024 at 7:19 pm

    @Baud: Maybe? I was no stranger to firearms, but I didn’t own any (still don’t) and I didn’t have a reason to own one. Suburban DC was not exactly a hotbed of crime…  ;-)

  26. 26.

    tommyspoon

    February 23, 2024 at 7:20 pm

    @twbrandt: Thanks! It was one of the odder jobs I’ve ever had. When the ATF gig came up, both my parents were relieved. My Mom was worried that I would actually pay the Lifetime Membership dues! (I told her no worries about that…)

  27. 27.

    smith

    February 23, 2024 at 7:22 pm

    So TFG is asking for a stay for the $83.3 million judgment in the E. Jean Carroll case. After they did everything possible to antagonize Judge Kaplan, I wonder how generous he’s feeling?

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    February 23, 2024 at 7:25 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Oh, shoot!  PatrickG asked me to remind you that he can get those at a 15% discount, and I forgot all about it.

    Have you already ordered?

  29. 29.

    Dan B

    February 23, 2024 at 7:28 pm

    @tommyspoon: That was close.  Did you have any involvement with the firearms part of the bureau?  I’d guess that technical writing would put you at a great distance.

  30. 30.

    BellyCat

    February 23, 2024 at 7:39 pm

    Serious gun humpers probably already have another organization that serves their fetish picked out, but the NRA is the big name in human/gun intercourse…

    Intercourse. Perfect description.

  31. 31.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 23, 2024 at 7:52 pm

    @tommyspoon:

    Solid punchline.  Solid.

  32. 32.

    Kayla Rudbek

    February 23, 2024 at 7:59 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: yes! You will need the 256GB for your artwork!

  33. 33.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    February 23, 2024 at 8:00 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: An ex-friend once wanted a shotgun with a barrel diameter large enough “that I can fuck it”.

    His now ex-wife suggests a .22 rifle would do.

  34. 34.

    tommyspoon

    February 23, 2024 at 8:06 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: That’s the nicest thing said to me today! Thanks!  ;-)

  35. 35.

    tommyspoon

    February 23, 2024 at 8:08 pm

    @Dan B: Unfortunately, my projects were centered around the Special Occupational Tax. This is a flat tax that every private business that serves alcohol to the public must pay. You can usually find the certificate on display behind the bar. It took us three years to update their antiquated mostly manual system to a client/server based system.

    My cube was situated a floor below the ballistics lab at ATF HQ. So, that was fun!

  36. 36.

    Another Scott

    February 23, 2024 at 8:10 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I found this – maybe it will help?

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  37. 37.

    TaMara

    February 23, 2024 at 8:17 pm

    @tommyspoon: That’s a great story

  38. 38.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 23, 2024 at 8:17 pm

    @Another Scott:Awesome! Thanks.

  39. 39.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 23, 2024 at 8:20 pm

    @WaterGirl: I have! Thanks that’s sweet of you and Patrick G. I won mine in an auction on eBay. I got a good deal. If I  order from Apple directly I will let you know.

  40. 40.

    Poe Larity

    February 23, 2024 at 8:23 pm

    @twbrandt: Ollie… There needs to be a list somewhere of all the old wingnuts who did not make it to the new socalist media era.

    Sort of cross between TMZ and IsKissingerDeadYet.

  41. 41.

    Miss Bianca

    February 23, 2024 at 8:26 pm

    @Boris Rasputin (the evil twin): OK, that’s funny.

  42. 42.

    glc

    February 23, 2024 at 8:36 pm

    @Poe Larity:

    the new soc[i]alist media era.

    Makes some sense to me but I’m not sure it was intended.

  43. 43.

    Dan B

    February 23, 2024 at 8:53 pm

    @tommyspoon: Yikes!  More exciting than being downstairs from a big guy wearing clogs on a hardwood floor.

  44. 44.

    Betty

    February 23, 2024 at 9:02 pm

    OT:  Based on a report at The Daily Beast, there is pretty solid evidence that the Wade-Willis relationship pre-dated her hiring him. It only matters because they weren’t forthcoming about it. He seems to have lied under oath. Does not look good.

  45. 45.

    danielx

    February 23, 2024 at 9:08 pm

    Serious gun humpers probably already have another organization that serves their fetish picked out…

    They most certainly do – Gun Owners of America, which has long held the NRA as being too namby-pamby regarding the rights of every American (the right sort of American anyway) to own anything they want up to and including silenced fully automatic weapons. Or crew served machine guns for that matter.

  46. 46.

    danielx

    February 23, 2024 at 9:08 pm

    Moderation? What the fuck?​ Edit: ooh, a typo in an email address. Typing with one arm in a sling is a pain in the ass. And arm, and elbow, and wrist, and…​

  47. 47.

    Jay

    February 23, 2024 at 9:15 pm

    @Betty:

    It’s apparently based on a ReThug Election denier’s  “expert” “anal-sis” of his cell phone’s meta data.

    Theoretically 35 visits to her condo before they admit there was a relationship.

    Up here, that requires either a warrant or cooperation and chain of custody is critical. Something the Cops can do, not a alledged PI.

    Faking shit, lying about shit is a ReThug go to,

    And in all reality, it doesn’t fucking matter. It no more disqualifies Willis and the prosecution than it does the defence, of whom two lawyers are married to each other, while having affairs with the other two defence lawyers. Apparently boy-boy, girl-girl.

  48. 48.

    Poe Larity

    February 23, 2024 at 9:19 pm

    @glc: https://balloon-juice.com/balloon-juice-lexicon-a-z/#S

  49. 49.

    catclub

    February 23, 2024 at 10:00 pm

    @Mike in NC: Never forget that the NRA spent $31M to elect Fat Bastard in 2016.

     

    and that money was quite possibly supplied by Putin.

  50. 50.

    Another Scott

    February 23, 2024 at 10:22 pm

    @Betty: When I see things like this, I remember back to the testimony – under oath –  that didn’t match the screaming in the press.

    Anyone can make a claim.  The folks after Willis have every interest in throwing every possible thing at the wall to try to muck-up the prosecution.

    Don’t panic.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  51. 51.

    tommyspoon

    February 24, 2024 at 1:18 am

    @TaMara: Thanks! I got to travel a lot to Cincinnati for the job. I got to watch that town go from a nearly forgotten rust belt city to one with an up and coming food and arts scene.

    One of the first times I travelled there, I got in later than I expected to. I hadn’t had dinner before I left and I was STARVING. All I wanted was a bowl of Pad Thai and then sleep.

    So I went down to the front desk after checking into my room and asked the young woman there if she could tell me where the nearest Thai restaurant was.

    “Oh, you mean a place where you have to dress up?”

    Sigh… “Do you know where the nearest Chinese place is?”

    Nothing against the Kung Pow Chicken I had that night, but it was no Pad Thai.

  52. 52.

    tommyspoon

    February 24, 2024 at 1:20 am

    @Dan B: LOL We did get some excitement, but it was more of the protest variety. We got Ruby Ridge and Waco protesters every April while I worked there. The crowds during the first two years I worked there were pretty big, but my third and last year there was only a small gathering.

  53. 53.

    Chris T.

    February 24, 2024 at 4:13 am

    @tommyspoon:

    Thanks! I got to travel a lot to Cincinnati for the job. I got to watch that town go from a nearly forgotten rust belt city to one with an up and coming food and arts scene.

    What, you weren’t into the 4- and 5-way chili?

    (Though, alas, here I am in Bellingham now. Not the worst place for food ever, and it’s slowly improving even here, but…)

  54. 54.

    Warblewarble

    February 24, 2024 at 5:23 am

    Allowing LaPierre a tent in the underpass is excessiyely  softhearted.

  55. 55.

    Tim in SF

    February 24, 2024 at 5:48 am

    I liked that LaPierre misspent a bunch of NRA funds. I wish he’d misspent more of them.

    I also don’t get upset when Trump raids the GOP coffers to pay for legal bills. Every dollar he misappropriates is one less dollar spent on a their advertising.

  56. 56.

    sab

    February 24, 2024 at 5:58 am

    @Tim in SF: If only he had shared better with Ollie North we wouldn’t even know any of this.

  57. 57.

    Nettoyeur

    February 24, 2024 at 6:57 am

    @smith:  I seem to remember Florida Fats calling Judge Kaplan all sorts of bad things.

  58. 58.

    Dane

    February 24, 2024 at 7:22 am

    @tommyspoon: I would recommended Bangkok Bistro on Erie, if you’re ever back.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    February 24, 2024 at 7:34 am

    @Poe Larity:

    Socialism is no longer a trigger. The lexicon needs an update.

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    February 24, 2024 at 7:39 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Congrats! I just received the Pencil 2 I ordered from Woot to go with the iPad Pro (also from Woot) I got last summer. Dunno exactly what I’m going to use it for, but I’m looking forward to exploring.

  61. 61.

    HeartlandLiberal

    February 24, 2024 at 8:22 am

    Another example of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Tish James is one Sister I would not want to go up against.

  62. 62.

    tommyspoon

    February 24, 2024 at 1:48 pm

    @Chris T.: Ha! I am 4-way boy for life! (Can’t abide beans in or on chili.)

    My fave Cincy Chili place was called the 24-Hour Chili Company. It was across the street from a Holiday Inn where me and the other project folk often stayed. It was a great diner: good omelettes, great hash, and really good chili. A bowl of 4-way and a cuppa was my breakfast on more than one occasion.

  63. 63.

    tommyspoon

    February 24, 2024 at 1:48 pm

    @Dane: Good to know, thanks! I would love to visit again. I really like the city.

  64. 64.

    glc

    February 24, 2024 at 1:54 pm

    @Steeplejack: This is actually very enlightening.  I actually had exactly the same problem using PINE as an email client.

    Whenever an important mail failed to reach me I went and did a diagnostic. At one point I realized a meeting invitation had been bounced by my filters (you had to make your own back then) because it had the word “specialist” in it. I also learned that PINE did not allow “beginning of word” markers and was not being updated at that point.

    One that was really my fault was bouncing messages that began “Dear Friend” as I did not think anyone in my circle would address me that way. (In the event, it was “Dear Friends,” which is more excusable.)

  65. 65.

    Steeplejack

    February 24, 2024 at 10:46 pm

    @glc:

    Just noting that I circled back and saw your comment. I feel your former filter pain!

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