by Monday is turning out to be a big news day. I was just sent an email that said Interim NRA EVP Andrew Arulanadam had terminated Marion Hammer’s contract. The email was from Marion Hammer to John Frazer bitterly complaining that her contract had been terminated with four years left to go.
From the email:
From: marion hammer <mphammer1@aol.com>
Date: April 22, 2024 at 12:07:03 PM CDT
To: John Frazer <john.frazer@nrahq.org>
Subject: NRA has dumped meToday Andrew Aarulanandam called me and terminated my retirement contract with NRA.
Earlier, Randy Kozuch, ED-ILA suddenly quit providing grants to pay my monthly salary (last December 2023).
That leaves me totally without employment or retirement income.
I was hired by NRA in September 1978 by NRA CEO Harlan Carter and the NRA Executive Director of ILA — over 45 years ago I was instructed to set up and run Unified Sportsmen of Florida (USF) as the Florida arm of NRA and to also lobby for USF/NRA. I was promised that a grant would be provided to USF to pay my salary as long as I was employed by USF.
Every ED-ILA since then has honored that promise. Until last year when Randy Kozuch broke that promise and simply quit providing the grant to pay my monthly salary. He didn’t fire me, he just quit paying me.
In other words, I have not had a monthly paycheck since November 2023.
Nonetheless, I have continued to work for NRA and train the NRA designated replacement lobbyist. Who, by-the-way, is a fine young man and who works for Randy Kozuch, and to my knowledge, is not a part of this.
I have survived on the retirement income contract that Wayne LaPierre put in place for me in 2018,
Today, April 22, 2024, Andrew Aarulanandam, with Vanessa Shahidi in the room, called and informed me that he had decided to terminate the retirement contract that Wayne LaPierre put in place for me in 2018.
The 10-year contract was actually a replacement for the NRA retirement program which I had not been allowed to participate in. The contract (with 4 years remaining) was to provide retirement income since I had never been included in NRA’s retirement program.
I have faithfully served NRA and NRA members for well over 40 years. As of today, I am no longer being compensated for the work NRA hired me to do. I have not been fired, they have just quit paying me.
I just thought you’d like to know what those in charge are doing to those who have faithfully served NRA and our cause.
Bottom line, as of today, I have no employment income and no retirement income.
Later this week (April 26th) I’ll be 85 years old. So much for over 40 years of dedicated service and work for NRA.
Respectfully,
Marion P. Hammer
I sincerely doubt that Arulanadam unilaterally made this decision on his own. It leaves me to wonder if this was Bill Brewer’s doing or whether NRA President Charles Cotton was behind this. It could have been the two in combination.
You will remember that Marion called out Cotton’s EVP search committee in February and earlier in January had called for a search committee to fill the spot. The January missive was a shot across the bow of those who were trying to install Cotton as the successor EVP. Marion’s February email to the Board also said she didn’t think any internal NRA candidate, e.g., Arulanadam, was qualified to fill the EVP spot.
I really could not be more surprised by this contract termination than if you told me Kris Brown of Brady was going to be the next EVP.
My guess: It’s a combination of factors.
1) Funds to her had always been cited as proof of corruption. The way they were handled/approved, the amounts they totaled that were far beyond the standards for the vast majority of everyone except the very top of NRA – and she wasn’t handling as many states as others doing the more work – and the many different ways they used to pay her. There likely is somewhere in a Brewer-firm memo that anything they could do to cut these grants/contracts/payments back or off, it would certainly help demonstrate dedication to cleaning things up and righting past wrongs.
2) She has seemed less in control of her behavior and words as she’s gotten older with more of her leaked statements seen as unreasonable and out of touch with even insiders, much less the rest of the gun world. It’s not like this is completely new. I know of plenty of conversations with FL folks who just found her a personality to be managed on the best of days, and a personality they’d rather never deal with if they could help it – even if she was on their side. There’s no more room for such behavior, especially from someone who is a legal problem with her contracts. No one is coming to clean up her messes or make the phone calls to apologize for her inappropriate treatment of allies. NRA is trimmed to the bone, so “Marion Hammer handler & apologizer” isn’t a job description anyone has time for these days as more of her crazy gets out.
3) She clearly pissed off Andrew & Cotton, so that makes a perfect way to send a message to anyone else thinking their leadership is anything other than spotless. “Look, we’re now willing to take down Marion. Don’t you dare fuck with us.” They both have a strong incentive to demonstrate they are willing to take down anyone who questions them, and striking at her sends a message stronger than striking at many lower level Board members. With an added benefit that this looks better for NY even if it’s just the same old form of corruption. Really, it’s kind of a perfect move to both defend in court and send the message of total allegiance and compliance to others.
***
I’ll be honest that I don’t understand why she’s whining to John, though. What does she expect him to do about it? She just heard about him admitting on the stand that WLP made things so that he largely doesn’t get looped into any major legal decision. And she defended WLP & that behavior. She wanted him to be powerless, but now she’s seemingly looking for him to be her savior?
The only thing I can imagine is that she focused on the bit in court in NY where it was shown that when he was offered a bonus while his staff had been forced to take pay cuts, he asked that the bonus offer be converted into restoring parts of their salary. Maybe she’s hoping he’ll do the same for her.
Perfect Office Space solution…
https://youtu.be/BUE0PPQI3is?si=IMdYXO8XXb6PYHIn
This woman has grifted from the NRA donors for decades, MILLIONS of dollars, and she has the audacity to complain they finally cut her off?!!?
So she “survived” on only $200K a year? Has that gone on the whole 45 years she was with the NRA ?
Should have invited some of that money. It would have made a nice nest egg.
And at 85 years old, she won’t need it that long !
she made a shit ton more money than I got paid working for NRA.
She easily could have put $$ away like I did being self employed for part of the time. and I never got close to 6 figures
Hammer is a nasty piece of work. Many people who have worked in a position of responsibility at the NRA have a story about a time she demanded that they be fired over something petty. She is a bully and an egomaniac. She won’t find many shoulders to cry on at HQ.
They realize that the court is going to put them on a tight leash and they are clearing out the expensive deadwood first. Hopefully the court will also keep them from putting in their chosen successors. We need someone who loves the NRA without being a friend of Wayne or a Brewer satrap.
Good!
Marion didn’t do us much good in Florida for more than a decade.
Worse, she worked against us several times. We had open and campus carry on the floor (where it had a decent chance of passing) and her machinations got committee rejected poison pills reinserted during debate.
We were, of course, supposed to forget that.
That was 2011.
With that kind of income over the years, it sounds like she was living the high life if she is broke now.
Gee. Most folks with a brain would have a legal contract in effect, and not rely on a handshake or promises made in the dark. She has no Social Security, no Investments, no IRA ? Nothing !
I find that a stretch. But when the rats jump ship, only those left behind go down with it.
Surely she has lawyers. BTW. I met her decades ago in Ft Lauderdale Florida when she was starting up UCF. Gave her a fat check too. The entire thing stinks. As a Life/Endowment Member I have contributed many overtime checks to the NRA over the decades. All those 16 hour days. Never again.