NRA

Uncategorized

NRA’s Bankruptcy Petition

January 15, 2021 by 1 Comment

There are two major things of note in the National Rifle Association’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. First, there is the resolution passed at the January 7, 2021 Board of Director’s meeting in Dallas giving Wayne LaPierre the authority to “reorganize or restructure the affairs of the Association.”

The second item of note contained in the bankruptcy petition is the list of unsecured creditors. At the top of that list is Ackerman McQueen with a disputed claim of $1,273,800.12. Also disputed are claims from Tony Makris’ Under Wild Skies and the Ack Mac subsidiary Mercury Group. The rest of the unsecured creditors are an assortment ranging from Google to UPS. Most seem to be related to fund raising or advertising.

What is most interesting in that list is what is not there. There is no mention of any legal bills due to William Brewer III’s firm Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors. This could mean that he is a secured creditor or that any monies due him have already been paid.

It seems obvious that this move has been in the works for many months. Sea Girt LLC was established in November 2020 according to the filing with the Texas Secretary of State’s office. Moreover, the litigation committee was set up in September and probably had been discussed many months in advance of that.

According to the letter from Wayne LaPierre, this move will not impact members as the NRA is simply leaving a toxic state for one that is welcoming.

NRA supporters will continue to enjoy all their full member benefits – from new members to Life Members to Benefactor Members. We will continue to publish and deliver your magazines. We will continue to train Americans and teach them firearm safety. We will continue to teach hunter safety. But most importantly, we will continue to fight for your freedom and the freedom of all Americans – as we have for all these years. In fact, we are expanding our national platform.

The plan aims to streamline costs and expenses, proceed with pending litigation in a coordinated and structured manner, and realize many financial and strategic advantages.

You know that our opponents will try to seize upon this news and distort the truth. Don’t believe what you read from our enemies. The NRA is not “bankrupt” or “going out of business.” The NRA is not insolvent. We are as financially strong as we have been in years. (emphasis his)

While I think it is good that the NRA ditches New York, I really wish that they had listened to Professor Joe Olson when, as a board member and expert in corporate law, he urged them to do it in 1991. Think of all the monies that would have been saved in litigation expenses that could have been used to promote the Second Amendment.

Uncategorized

NRA To Reincorporate In Texas

January 15, 2021 by 4 Comments

After 150 years, the National Rifle Association is finally abandoning New York. They have filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas and plan to reincorporate in Texas.

Here is the full press release sent out this afternoon by Wayne LaPierre. I will have more on the bankruptcy filing after I have had time to read it. Imagine how much time and legal expense they could have saved if they had listened to law professor Joseph Olson when he suggested as a board member in 1991.

NRA Leaves New York to Reincorporate in Texas, Announces New Strategic Plan

NRA Plans to Exit New York to Pursue Opportunity, Growth and Progress in Texas; Plan Benefits Association, Its Millions of Members, and All Supporters of the Second Amendment

Fairfax, VA – The National Rifle Association of America (“NRA”) today announced it will restructure the Association as a Texas nonprofit to exit what it believes is a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York. The move will enable long-term, sustainable growth and ensure the NRA’s continued success as the nation’s leading advocate for constitutional freedom – free from the toxic political environment of New York.

The NRA plan, which involves utilizing the protection of the bankruptcy court, has the Association dumping New York and organizing its legal and regulatory matters in an efficient forum. The move comes at a time when the NRA is in its strongest financial condition in years.

The NRA will continue with the forward advancement of the enterprise – confronting anti-Second Amendment activities, promoting firearm safety and training, and advancing public programs across the United States. There will be no immediate changes to the NRA’s operations or workforce.  

The Association will seek court approval to reincorporate the Association in the State of Texas – home to more than 400,000 NRA members and site of the 2021 NRA Annual Meeting in Houston.

“This strategic plan represents a pathway to opportunity, growth and progress,” says NRA CEO & EVP Wayne LaPierre. “Obviously, an important part of this plan is ‘dumping New York.’ The NRA is pursuing reincorporating in a state that values the contributions of the NRA, celebrates our law-abiding members, and will join us as a partner in upholding constitutional freedom. This is a transformational moment in the history of the NRA.”

The restructuring plan aims to streamline costs and expenses, proceed with pending litigation in a coordinated and structured manner, and realize many financial and strategic advantages.

The Path Forward

The NRA will move quickly through the restructuring process. Its day-to-day operations, training programs, and Second Amendment advocacy will continue as usual.

By exiting New York, where the NRA has been incorporated for approximately 150 years, the NRA abandons a state where elected officials have weaponized the legal and regulatory powers they wield to penalize the Association and its members for purely political purposes.

In the summer of 2018, then New York Attorney General candidate Letitia James vowed that, if elected, she would use the powers of her office to investigate the “legitimacy” of the NRA.

Without a shred of evidence to support the claim, she called the Association a “terrorist organization” and a “criminal enterprise.” As promised, she commenced an “investigation” upon being elected to the Office of NYAG and, predictably, filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the NRA just prior to the November 2020 national election.

The NRA filed a lawsuit in August 2020 against the NYAG similar to its lawsuit against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Financial Services, filed in 2018. The NRA pursues the defendants for attempting to “blacklist” the organization and its financial partners in violation of their First Amendment rights. The NRA will continue those legal actions.  

“Under this plan, the Association wisely seeks protection from New York officials who it believes have illegally weaponized their powers against the NRA and its members,” says William A. Brewer III, counsel to the NRA in those cases. “The NRA will continue the fight to protect the interests of its members in New York – and all forums where the NRA is unlawfully singled out for its Second Amendment advocacy.”

With respect to its headquarters, the NRA has formed a committee to study opportunities for relocating segments of its business operations to Texas or other states. The Association will analyze whether a move of its headquarters, now located in Fairfax, Virginia, is in the best interests of its members. In the meantime, the NRA’s general business operations will remain in Fairfax.

To facilitate its strategic plan and restructuring, the NRA and one of its subsidiaries filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. Chapter 11 proceedings are routinely utilized by businesses, nonprofits and organizations of all kinds to streamline legal and financial affairs.  

The NRA also announced Marschall Smith will serve as Chief Restructuring Officer. A former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of 3M Company, Smith has more than 35 years of legal and business experience with an emphasis on compliance, corporate finance, and corporate governance.

“I am honored to join the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization during this important time,” Smith says. “Our goal is to work through the restructuring process efficiently and quickly – even as NRA leadership approaches 2021 with renewed energy and an expanding national platform. This plan has no impact on the NRA’s most important goal:  serving its membership and protecting the Second Amendment.”

The NRA will propose a plan that provides for payment in full of all valid creditors’ claims. The Association expects to uphold commitments to employees, vendors, members, and other community stakeholders.

“The plan allows us to protect the NRA and go forward with a renewed focus on Second Amendment advocacy,” says NRA President Carolyn Meadows. “We will continue to honor the trust placed in us by employees, members and other stakeholders – following a blueprint that allows us to become the strongest NRA ever known.”

Additional Information:

Patrick J. Neligan of Neligan LLP, Dallas, Texas, is serving as debtor’s counsel; William (Wit) Davis is counsel to the NRA Board of Directors and its Special Litigation Committee; Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, Dallas, Texas, serves as special counsel to the NRA. To learn more, please visit www.nra.org/forward.

Uncategorized

NRA Releases 2019 Tax Filing

November 26, 2020 by 3 Comments

Non-profit organizations are required to release and make public their IRS Form 990 filings. The Form 990 is their equivalent of a corporate tax return. The submission is usually almost a year after the end of the prior year.

Today, the Washington Post reported that the NRA’s 2019 Form 990 was made public. It has some interesting admissions contained within it. I’m just going to hit the highlights and will post a link to the actual Form 990 so that you can examine it for yourself.

From the article by Beth Reinhard and Carol Leonnig:

The tax return, which The Washington Post obtained from the organization, says the NRA “became aware during 2019 of a significant diversion of its assets.” The 2019 filing states that LaPierre and five former executives received “excess benefits,” a term the IRS uses to describe executives’ enriching themselves at the expense of a nonprofit entity.

The disclosures in the tax return suggest that the organization is standing by its 71-year-old chief executive while continuing to pursue former executives of the group.The filing says that LaPierre “corrected” his financial lapses with a repayment and contends that former executives “improperly” used NRA funds or charged the nonprofit for expenses that were “not appropriate.”

LaPierre has reimbursed the organization nearly $300,000 in travel expenses covering 2015 to 2019, according to the tax return, which does not explain how that amount was determined or when LaPierre paid it.

As was reported in the Wall Street Journal in October, the Internal Revenue Service is supposedly investigating Wayne LaPierre for criminal tax fraud. There is a lot of speculation that this tax filing which was signed by Wayne himself was a way to mitigate the damage of that investigation.

Three tax and accounting experts who reviewed the 2019 tax return for The Post said the disclosures show the organization and LaPierre trying to take responsibility and avoid further legal jeopardy.

“This is the type of cleanup I would expect to see after a history of gross violations of nonprofit law,” said Philip Hackney, an associate professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh who worked at the IRS for five years until 2011 providing legal oversight of tax-exempt organizations.

LaPierre personally signed the 2019 tax return; such a document is customarily signed by the organization’s treasurer. “He is putting himself on the line, under penalties of perjury, which is what you do if you are trying to get in someone’s good graces,” Hackney said.

New York lawyer and expert on nonprofits Daniel Kurtz said, “It’s a smart move by the NRA instead of digging in their heels, though who knows how they came up with the numbers. It’s an admission of wrongdoing, for sure.”

It also appears that this Form 990 is also trying to throw a number of former NRA executives such as Chris Cox and David Lehman of ILA under the bus along with Oliver North. Josh Powell is also mentioned as having received previously unreported excess benefits. Some undisclosed directors are also mentioned as having traveled First Class without “authorization”.

Cox resigned in June 2019 after LaPierre accused him and North of orchestrating a coup — a claim they both denied. The tax return says the organization is seeking to recover more than $1 million it says Cox improperly received for travel, meals and tickets to sporting events.

Cox’s lawyer, Tom Buchanan, called the allegation “false” and said all of the lobbyist’s expenses during his 24 years with the NRA were reviewed and never questioned. Buchanan said also that Cox has provided the New York attorney general with “thousands of documents” and has not been implicated in her investigation.

North was ousted as NRA president last year after accusing LaPierre of spending recklessly on legal fees for Brewer’s firm. The new tax filing says the NRA has “reason to believe” North received excess salary that he failed to earn. North declined through his attorney to comment on the tax return.

North has previously argued that the NRA has falsely accused him of financial improprieties in retaliation for his cooperating as a key witness in the New York investigation, according to pleadings in New York State Court.

“In public, the NRA has said these allegations of misspending were completely unfounded, but these official filings present a picture that a lot of the claims made were accurate and the only question is who was at fault,” said Brian Mittendorf, an accounting professor at Ohio State University.

A quick glance at the Form 990 shows that overall revenues were down by over $60 million and the ongoing operating deficit was $12.2 million for the year. Mind you, this is for 2019 which was pre-pandemic.

There is a lot more there. Now is the time I wish I had taken more accounting classes.

NRA 2019 IRS Form 990 by jpr9954 on Scribd

The really interesting stuff starts at about page 77 and goes from there.

Uncategorized

NRA Settles CarryGuard Debacle With NY State

November 19, 2020 by 5 Comments

The National Rifle Association entered into a consent order with the New York State Department of Financial Services today. The Department of Financial Services had charged the NRA with violating New York insurance law with its CarryGuard program as well as with its affiliate insurance programs.

From the NY DFS new release:

Superintendent of Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell today announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has entered into a consent order with the National Rifle Association (NRA). On February 5, 2020, DFS served a statement of charges and notice of hearing to the NRA over violations of New York Insurance Law. That case is now resolved by a consent order that includes a civil monetary penalty of $2.5 million for violations of New York insurance laws.  

In addition, the NRA is banned from marketing insurance in the State or receiving compensation in connection with any newly issued New York insurance policies for five years, irrespective of whether the NRA obtains a license. This brings to a close a three-year investigation. 

In the consent order, DFS found that, despite lacking a license to conduct insurance business in New York, the NRA violated various New York insurance laws and regulations by, among other things, acting as an insurance producer without a license in participating in efforts to solicit and market the sale of insurance products, including the NRA’s Carry Guard insurance program. 

“The NRA operated as an unlicensed insurance producer and broke the New York Insurance Law by soliciting insurance products and receiving compensation,” said Superintendent Lacewell. “Even worse, the NRA violated the New York Insurance Law by soliciting dangerous and impermissible insurance products, including those within its Carry Guard program that purported to insure intentional acts and criminal defense costs. The Department will continue to protect the integrity of the insurance market for the purposes of safety and soundness and the good of all consumers.” 

The CarryGuard program was rushed into the market under the management of former Executive Director of General Operations and former Chief of Staff Josh Powell. As I understand it, his predecessor Kyle Weaver, then Director of General Operations, was building the program out step by step which wasn’t fast enough for the powers that be. The thought behind the program was that the NRA had helped get shall-issue concealed carry introduced in many states. However, they saw groups like USCCA offering legal defense programs which the NRA saw as making money off their hard work and they wanted in on it.

Then, Powell replaced Weaver and rushed the product to market with big fanfare at the NRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta. That rush has now cost the NRA $2.5 million it can ill afford to spend.

In a story from Reuters on this consent order, NRA outside counsel William Brewer III tries to put a positive spin on it.

The NRA has said it did not underwrite its insurance programs, and that like “countless” affinity groups it relied on industry experts to market products to members.. It did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

William Brewer, a lawyer for the NRA, said in a statement: “The DFS inquiry, which began with a roar, ends with a whimper.” He said the settlement has no effect on other litigation pending between New York state and the NRA.

That story also has this from Superintendent Lacewell regarding the other insurance offered through the NRA.

She also accused the NRA of misleading gun collectors, dealers, instructors, clubs and shows by promising coverage at the “lowest possible cost,” when the group typically kept between 13.7% and 21.9% of premiums paid.

Uncategorized

A Guide To Candidates NOT To Vote For

November 3, 2020 by

There are a lot of voter guides out there. I’ve posted the one from Grass Roots North Carolina-Political Victory Fund earlier. If you are a NRA member you have gotten their voter guide in your last magazine. GOA has one out there as well rating candidates.

However, if you ever needed a guide to candidates that never, ever should get your vote, Michael Bloomberg’s billions have come through!

The Gun Sense Voter site lists 4,475 candidates that would work to abridge your civil rights.

That’s right – four thousand four hundred seventy-five candidates who believe sucking up to Michael Bloomberg is more important than defending your Constitutional rights. This year in 2020, we have seen that they are not only satisfied with curtailing your Second Amendment rights but your First Amendment rights as well.

Here is a screen shot from my district in North Carolina. They want you, of course, to vote for Biden and Harris, Cal “Jody” Cunningham, and the incredibly angry Moe Davis who wants to stomp on your neck.

So, if you haven’t already voted, get out there, stand in line as long as you must, and vote to preserve all your rights.

Uncategorized

NRA Secretary’s Report Or Who Got Rich On Members’ Dues

October 29, 2020 by 1 Comment

People elected to non-profit boards tend to be charged with raising money for the organization. Often, if it isn’t a direct membership organization, they are selected due to their deep pockets with an expectation that they will make substantial donations.

Then, there is the National Rifle Association where it seems some – and I emphasize it is only some – see service on the Board of Directors as a way to make money. As you can see from the embedded Secretary’s Report, some of the Directors were very well compensated.

NRA Secretary Report 2020 Annual Meeting by jpr9954 on Scribd

Looking over this list, the one payment I have the least objection to is paying Bart Skelton for articles published in NRA publications. He is a gun writer so that kind of makes sense.

For those listed as independent contractors – Dave Butz and Lance Olson – I would like to know what they did in exchange as “contractors”. Likewise, I can see paying David Keene’s travel and room expenses to speak at Friends of the NRA banquets but no other compensation should have been paid. He’s a Director and speaking at events should be part of the job.

The payments to Cole McCulloch for use of a shooting facility he owns is a clear conflict of interest. This would be especially true if he was involved in any way in selecting the site.

Finally, there is dear old Marion Hammer who would characterize me as the “enemy within” because I dare question her motives. You will notice it says she was paid for consulting services on issues “other than Florida”. This is because she failed to declare herself as a lobbyist for the NRA and ran afoul of Florida lobbying regulations.

Given that Florida raised the age for all firearms purchases to 21 and imposed red flag laws, I’m not sure gun owners in other states want to end up like Florida. Being the heretic that I am, I think Marion’s primary job is to keep Wayne LaPierre in power for which he makes sure she is well compensated.

Uncategorized

“Gun Owners for Safety”

October 15, 2020 by 4 Comments

The Cult of Personality known as Giffords is creating another astroturf organization called Gun Owners for Safety. As you can tell for their description of it below, it is supposed to be composed of gun owners, hunters, collectors, and sport shooters who support “commonsense gun laws”.

The gun control industry always tries to come up with these organizations before an election. I think they want anti-gun politicians to be able to say, “I support the Second Amendment and this organization of real gun owners supports me.” We in the gun culture and the gun rights community recognize it as a crock but there will always be some that are gullible.

From the announcement:

We are excited to announce the launch of our newest nationwide initiative: Giffords Gun Owners for Safety! We hope you’ll join us for a special launch event.

Here at Giffords we know that the vast majority of Americans support safer communities—including gun owners. We know that preventing gun violence and responsible gun ownership go hand-in-hand. That’s why we’re launching Gun Owners for Safety, which unites hunters, sport shooters, and collectors who support commonsense gun laws like background checks.

Together, we will rally support from all corners of the country to fight for lifesaving laws and promote responsible gun ownership.

The event details are below and you can RSVP for FREE. During the event, you’ll be able to hear directly from our founder, Gabby Giffords, about how we plan to work together to make our communities safer from gun violence.

Join us for our Gun Owners for Safety National Launch Event

Date: Friday, October 16th
Time: 3pm ET
Location: Online Event
Cost: FREE

If you follow the embedded link, it will take you to the sign-up page. I find it interesting that they are targeting Colorado, Michigan, and Texas. Michigan and Texas could or should end up going for the Republicans and I think they are trying to prevent that.

An Alternative Scenario

Now let me give you an alternative scenario about why they are creating such a group. It may sound a bit like a conspiracy theory but so be it.

Let’s say that NY Attorney General Letitia James is ultimately successful in dissolving the National Rifle Association. As this article from the anti-gun, anti-NRA, Washington Post makes clear, the assets must be distributed to a like organization.

What if the courts decide the like organization isn’t a true gun rights organization like the Second Amendment Foundation, GOA, FPC, or the like but rather Gun Owners for Safety. The NRA is composed of gun owners and they promote safe handling of firearms. Doesn’t Gun Owners for Safety do the same thing as evidenced by their name? I could see Letitia James colluding with the gun control industry to push this line of thinking.

It turns out I’m not the only one thinking along these lines. Walter Olson writing in the Cato Institute blog came to the same conclusion in August.

Would anyone be surprised, given her record, if James asked for the funds to go to groups at fundamental odds with the organization’s Second Amendment advocacy mission? You can just imagine the line her office and her allies would take — the NRA always claimed to be a leading voice for gun safety and the outdoors, so let’s use their money to fund this group promoting “safe storage” along with this other group that represents our sort of hunters, the right sort.

Let’s say Giffords has a staffer doing opposition research and this staffer just happens to read the Cato column. Do you think it would be a real stretch for that staffer to propose to create Gun Owners for Safety for electoral purposes now and to get the NRA’s assets later? I’d say not much of a stretch at all.

If Giffords can come up with it, then I doubt Brady and Everytown are that far behind. I’m not saying it is going to happen but it does bear watching.

Uncategorized

Wayne LaPierre And The IRS

October 5, 2020 by

I wouldn’t want to be Wayne LaPierre right now. Not only is he named as a defendant in the New York Attorney General’s complaint against the NRA but now word has leaked that he is under investigation for tax fraud by the Internal Revenue Service. This comes from a story in the Wall Street Journal that was posted just earlier this afternoon.

You may remember that Letitia James said in her news conference in August that she was referring matters to the IRS. At that time, she claimed that LaPierre had received personal benefits that should have been reported by the NRA to the IRS on his Form W-2. If the Wall Street Journal’s sources are correct, she kept her word.

From Mark Maremont’s report:

The Internal Revenue Service is investigating longtime National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre for possible criminal tax fraud related to his personal taxes, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. LaPierre was paid $2.2 million by the NRA in 2018, the most recent year available, the nonprofit group’s public filings show. His total reported pay from 2014 to 2018 was $11.2 million.

The story has the obligatory comment from William Brewer III. However, it is interesting to note he is representing the NRA and not LaPierre.

An attorney for Mr. LaPierre had no immediate comment.

“The NRA is not aware of any IRS inquiry but, of course, will fully cooperate with any appropriate requests for assistance,” said William A. Brewer III, an outside attorney for the NRA, who noted that the group’s tax filings are audited.

The story concludes with the note that this usually is a civil matter with some exceptions.

If the IRS believes a taxpayer has underreported income, the agency often pursues the matter through a civil audit, claiming the taxpayer owes back taxes and penalties. To show criminal behavior, tax specialists said, the IRS would have to demonstrate that a taxpayer willfully underreported income, typically over multiple years.

It couldn’t be determined how far along the investigation is, and such probes can end with no charges filed.

I wonder if any mention of this will be made at the Meeting on Members in Tucson on October 24th. For some reason, I doubt any official comments will be made but I’m sure it will be one of the many topics of gossip in the hallways.

While I am in no way making any side by side comparisons, I will note that running afoul of the IRS is what put Al Capone in the slammer.

Uncategorized

Court Rules Donors’ Fraud Suit Against NRA Has Standing

October 1, 2020 by 2 Comments

Judge William Campbell, Jr. of the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee ruled yesterday that David Dell’Aquila’s class action suit against the NRA has standing to proceed. The NRA, the NRA Foundation, and Wayne LaPierre had argued that the lawsuit failed to meeting the requirements of Rule 9b of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Rule 9(b) states: In alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of a person’s mind may be alleged generally.

In his ruling yesterday, Judge Campbell found that this standard had not been met with regard to both the NRA Foundation and Wayne LaPierre. However, it had been met with regard to the NRA itself.

David Dell’Aquila and the other plaintiffs had alleged that monies that they had donated to advance the mission of the NRA had been used for, among other things, to buy suits for Wayne LaPierre, to pay for private travel for LaPierre and his family, to pay for a luxury apartment for intern Megan Allen, and to pay for makeup and hairstyling for Susan LaPierre.

Judge Campbell wrote, with regard to the NRA,

The NRA next argues that Plaintiffs did not allege “in more than a passing conclusory assertion that the NRA knew of and intended the falsity of its statements.” (Id. at 12). The NRA argues that because the statements regarding the use of funds relate to the promise of some future action, Plaintiffs must allege that the NRA had no present intent to carry out the promise. The NRA further argues that Plaintiffs cannot plead the element of intent for “any future expenditures that were not in contemplation at the time of the Solicitation.” In other words, the NRA argues that if, at the time of the solicitation, it did not specifically plan to spend money on, for example personal expenses of Wayne LaPierre, there can be no plausible allegation of intent with regard to that expenditure.


The Court declines to read the intent requirement so narrowly. First, Plaintiffs allege that the funds were spent on things that were not in furtherance of the mission of the NRA. It was not necessary that the NRA know at the time what the extraneous expenditures would be, only that they knew that money would be spent outside the mission.Moreover, Rule 9(b) allows the element of intent to be alleged generally. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b). Given the extent of the alleged misspent funds – in both duration and volume – the Court finds Plaintiffs’ allegation that the NRA knew donated funds would not be used to advance the mission of the NRA sufficiently plausible to state a claim.

He goes on to say:

At this juncture in the litigation, making all inferences in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs, the Court finds Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged a claim for fraud against the NRA. Although the Court will not engage in a statement by statement review of the allegations, it bears noting that many of the statements cited by Plaintiffs do not make any representations regarding the use of donor funds. However, because some of them do, and Plaintiffs have alleged the remaining elements of the claim, the Court will deny the NRA’s motion to dismiss the claim for fraud.

Judge Campbell goes on to dismiss the RICO claims against the NRA noting that it cannot be both an enterprise and a person for purposes of the RICO statute. He also dismissed the RICO claims against the NRA Foundation and LaPierre as the plaintiffs didn’t adequately argue claims of fraud against them.

The bottom line is that the Foundation and LaPierre are both off the hook and the lawsuit against the NRA itself has enough standing to proceed. In retrospect, I’m sure the NRA will eventually find that it would have been cheaper to give the plaintiffs their money back with a non-disclosure settlement than to keep using the services of William Brewer. Indeed, Brewer’s fees were part of the argument that donor money had been misused.

One last note – to anyone thinking that this is a Democrat-appointed judge coming down on the NRA, think again. Judge Campbell was appointed by President Trump in 2018.

Uncategorized

This Was Supposed To Be The Big Day for Josh Powell

September 8, 2020 by

If you had been paying any sort of attention to the mainstream media, you might know that today was the day that Josh Powell’s tell-all book was to be released. The book entitled, Inside the NRA: A Tell-All Account of Corruption, Greed, and Paranoia within the Most Powerful Political Group in America, is supposed to tell us the inside scoop about Wayne and company.

Amazon is running this as the blurb for the book:

A shocking exposé of rampant, decades-long incompetence at the National Rifle Association, as told by a former member of its senior leadership.

Joshua L. Powell is the NRA–a lifelong gun advocate, in 2016, he began his new role as a senior strategist and chief of staff to NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre.

What Powell uncovered was horrifying: “the waste and dysfunction at the NRA was staggering.”

INSIDE THE NRA reveals for the first time the rise and fall of the most powerful political organization in America–how the NRA became feared as the Death Star of Washington lobbies and so militant and extreme as “to create and fuel the toxicity of the gun debate until it became outright explosive.”

INSIDE THE NRA explains this intentional toxic messaging was wholly the product of LaPierre’s leadership and the extremist branding by his longtime PR puppet master Angus McQueen. In damning detail, Powell exposes the NRA’s plan to “pour gasoline” on the fire in the fight against gun control, to sow discord to fill its coffers, and to secure the presidency for Donald J. Trump.

ABC News’ Pierre Thomas had an exclusive interview with him. It was so earth-shattering that they ran it on Friday on World News Tonight, on Sunday with George Stephanopolous, and again on Monday on GMA.

Powell described himself as a “huge Second Amendment supporter” with a sizable gun collection and a lifelong passion for hunting and shooting. As the NRA’s “No. 2 guy,” he said he “worked side by side” with LaPierre over several years. An NRA spokesperson, in a statement, said that Powell “had zero input or influence on the NRA’s political or legislative strategy,” but Powell says he was involved in “every single important conversation that went on in the NRA.”

But he became disillusioned with the organization and LaPierre’s leadership, he said, as LaPierre’s alleged misuse of members’ money came into focus. Powell says his work became “soul-sucking,” and he now considers it a “low point in [his] life.”

Danny Hakim of the New York Times reported that Powell is now calling for red flag laws and universal background checks.

A hunter since childhood and former Chicago options and derivatives trader, Mr. Powell says that the N.R.A. has fundamentally lost its way, abandoning “its roots as an organization focused on gun safety and education.” That has led it to limit its own long-term membership growth, he argues, by turning its back on the majority of gun owners who support background checks.

With this kind of build up plus dishing all the dirt on Wayne LaPierre and the NRA, you would think the New York Times Review of Books would give it a glowing review just to get Powell’s narrative out there.

And…you would be mistaken.

The review of the book was brutal. It starts off with this:

This is a sad book, and a bad one, and you shouldn’t buy it. The thinking in it is poor; the writing is worse. The author “exposes” evils that, if you’ve been paying even scant attention, you already know. Expect it soon in a Walmart remainder bin near you.

I had always assumed that Powell had a ghostwriter. Given the review of the writing style, I might be mistaken on that. Either that or he had the worst ghostwriter that money could buy.

It gets worse.

The unrelenting barrage of clichés is worse. The N.R.A. has debased the American language, and Powell adds to the sludge. If you only skimmed this book, you would think it was about a fox in a henhouse who caught flak and was thrown under a bus for playing laser-focused hardball like gangbusters and getting the short end of the stick while sensing blood in the water.

It concludes:

Powell’s book is a mea culpa. About the N.R.A.’s Kool-Aid, he writes, “I sold it, stirred it, drank it every day.” He lost his soul, he writes, and became part of the swamp. He’d like, he claims, again unconvincingly, to see the N.R.A. largely return to its roots as an organization dedicated to gun safety.

The N.R.A., in this telling as in others, is an organization in free fall. About New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who has taken existential aim at the N.R.A., he writes, “I’m not betting against her.”

Bearing in mind that Powell is one of the four named defendants in the suit brought by Letitia James and because he appears to be a sociopath willing to do anything to save his own skin, I’m guessing he has already rolled over and is providing James all the gossip.

You might remember I noted that Powell’s attorney is a partner at Akin Gump. I had wondered how a guy without a job could afford such an expensive attorney. Five years ago the reported partner billing rate for the firm was over $1,200 per hour and undoubtedly is higher now. I might have an explanation for that. A friend who is a DC attorney said that lots of the big DC firms will take cases like this pro bono in exchange for the publicity.

It is either that or perhaps a former big city mayor who hates the NRA enough has decided to foot the bill so that even more dirt about the NRA is released just prior to the election. Nah, that would make me look like a conspiracy theorist or something.

Finally, if you are wondering how such an incompetent grifter ever got hired to a high position at the NRA, my sources say that the blame falls on Pete Brownell and Wayne’s former BFF Tony Makris. Sometime after Powell was elected to the NRA Board of Directors, they pitched him to Wayne as someone for his executive team. The rest is history as the saying goes.