TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum Testifies in NRA Phase II Trial as NY Attorney General’s Lead Expert Witness

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was quoted in articles in the New York Times, Associated Press, Fortune, U.S. News & World Report, and dozens of other media outlets following his testimony on July 15, 2024 at the New York Supreme Court as the lead expert witness for New York Attorney General Leticia James in her lawsuit against the National Rifle Association (NRA); the NRA is a New York not-for-profit corporation. Jeff testified about the NRA’s governance policies and practices in Phase II of the trial. He previously testified in January in Phase I of the trial, following which the jury returned a favorable verdict for the Attorney General. Attorney General James was in the courtroom on Monday, as was former NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

New York Times: Jeffrey Tenenbaum, a lawyer and governance expert, appeared in the afternoon as a witness for the attorney general’s office and expressed scant faith in the N.R.A.’s self-reform efforts. “I have no confidence that past will not be prologue,” he said, and called the N.R.A.’s policy manual a “dumpster fire” that should be scrapped and redone. He said the N.R.A.’s 76-member board was “far too large” — a view shared by other governance analysts — adding, “I have never seen large boards like this function appropriately.”

Associated Press: Jeffrey Tenenbaum, a lawyer testifying for the state as an expert in nonprofit law, acknowledged that the NRA had made some strides toward transparency — but said it had only done so in the wake of James' lawsuit. In lieu of an independent monitor, there's nothing guaranteeing the organization will continue to adhere to its reforms, he said. Among other things, Tenenbaum said, the organization's policy manual is "a dumpster fire."