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- NRA leader Wayne LaPierre tendered his resignation Friday, citing "health reasons."
- His lawyer declined to elaborate hours later, while leaving the NRA corruption trial Friday night.
- No jurors have been selected in the Manhattan civil trial, but opening statements are set for Monday.
A lawyer for Wayne LaPierre declined to elaborate on the "health reasons" behind his client's sudden resignation Friday, as jury selection plodded on in the NRA's New York corruption trial.
"I can't comment on that," attorney Kent Correll told Business Insider.
The comments came as jury selection broke for the week in the New York attorney general's civil lawsuit alleging LaPierre and three colleagues owe the gun group millions of dollars in reimbursement for personal travel and gifts to friends and vendors.
"Thank you for your interest," Correll added as he left Manhattan Supreme Court.
No jurors have been sworn in after four days of initial jury screening. Attorneys for both sides are expected to begin picking jurors Monday morning, with opening statements optimistically set for Monday afternoon.
LaPierre — who was not in court Friday — tendered his resignation hours earlier, effective January 31.
"During an NRA Board of Directors meeting today in Irving, Texas, NRA President Charles Cotton reported that he accepted LaPierre's resignation," the gun group said in a statement Friday.
"According to the NRA, LaPierre cited health reasons as a reason for his decision," the statement added.
LaPierre's health issues did not prevent him from attending jury selection on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Prospective jurors are being told that the trial will run for six weeks, through February 16, a factor that may be complicating jury selection.
Gun control is also a highly divisive issue, something that may also be a factor.
"This case is not about politics, including gun rights and other positions taken by the NRA," the trial judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen, told prospects Friday afternoon.
Instead, he instructed, the case is about "various New York laws governing not-for-profit organizations."
The attorney general's office is not "challenging the political positions of the NRA," Cohen instructed.
"Those are First Amendment-protected rights," he said, saying the case was rather about "corporate governance."
Individual prospective-juror screening is being done behind closed doors, in the robing room of the judge, who has presided over the case since the AG's lawsuit was filed two years ago.