Judge declines to appoint monitor for NRA but bars former CEO Wayne LaPierre from working for group

NEW YORK — A New York judge on Monday banned Wayne LaPierre, the former head of the National Rifle Association, from holding a paid position with the organization for a decade, but he declined to appoint an independent monitor to oversee the gun rights group's finances. Judge declines to appoint monitor for NRA but bars former CEO Wayne LaPierre from working for group The split decision from Judge Joel Cohen came on the final day of arguments in the second stage of the civil trial of the NRA brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Ruling from the bench, Cohen said the state’s request for a monitor was not the correct remedy, suggesting the outside oversight mechanism would be “time-consuming, disruptive and will impose significant costs on the NRA without corresponding benefits.” Cohen also said he had concerns about “speech-chilling government intrusion on the affairs of the organization.” He said the same First Amendment concerns did not apply to whether LaPierre could serve anytime soon in the organization. Earlier Monday, LaPierre, told the judge that appointing a monitor to oversee the gun rights group’s finances would be “equivalent to putting a knife straight through the heart of the organization and twisting it.” He described the appointment of a monitor as an existential threat to the group because it would send a message to prospective members and donors that the NRA was “being surveilled by this attorney general in New York.” If the monitor is appointed, he said, “General James will have achieved her objective to fulfill that campaign promise of, in effect, dissolving the NRA for a lack of money and a lack of members.” Following the trial’s first phase earlier this year, a jury found LaPierre and another deputy liable for misspending millions of dollars on personal expenses.