NRA Statement On AckMac Suit

As I said earlier, the NRA filed an amended complaint in their lawsuit against Ackerman McQueen on Friday. This lawsuit is before the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Michael Collins, a partner in Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and the NRA’s attorney in the case, released this statement regarding the amended complaint. It was released, I believe, on Friday.

“The NRA believes Ackerman McQueen breached its fiduciary duties, engaged in fraudulent billing, and failed to maintain adequate books and records – all in an effort to enrich itself at the expense of the NRA and its members, ” says Michael J. Collins, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and counsel to the NRA. “The allegations reveal a pattern of corruption that included NRATV, a failed media enterprise the agency proposed, managed and sustained through misleading accounts of viewership and promised commercial viability. In the end, the NRA believes NRATV became all ‘smoke and mirrors’ – a vehicle touted by Ackerman for the sole purpose of continuing the flow of millions of dollars of fees which the agency needed to sustain itself.”

Collins continued, “At the same time, when questions began to arise about Ackerman’s billing practices and whether it was taking advantage of the considerable discretion it possessed in such matters, the agency stonewalled the inquiry and embarked upon a scorched-earth campaign against all of its perceived adversaries. Ultimately, this included the CEO of the Association, executives, and outside professionals charged with obtaining answers to legitimate concerns about the agency’s practices. The NRA and its members are determined to ferret out what now appears to have been a considerable amount of corruption.”

Again, thanks to Stephen Gutowski of the Free Beacon for posting the statement from Michael Collins.

Amanda Suffecool of Eye on the Target Radio made a comment about this case tonight as we were recording the Polite Society Podcast which I thought was insightful. Watching the NRA/Wayne LaPierre and AckMac go after one another is like watching a bitter divorce in action. You have both parents fighting over the marital assets, you have both parents fighting for custody of the kids (the NRA members), and both parents are slinging mud for all they are worth. In the end no one wins and the kids are the victims.