NRA

Uncategorized

Who Is MJP?

July 2, 2019 by 6 Comments

If you’ve read the book Atlas Shrugged (or seen the movie) you are familiar with the phrase “Who is John Galt?” I think we in the gun rights community may be adding a variant of this: Who is MJP?

MJP authored a “white paper” on the NRA that appeared on Facebook this weekend. The white paper examines in detail the issues with the NRA leadership, the lawsuits, William Brewer, AckMac, etc. It is a long read but well worth the 15 minutes it takes to read it. As to the identity of MJP, all we can deduce from reading the white paper is that he or she has been a lawyer for over 50 years.

Here are a few excerpts:

On the AckMac lawsuits

Meanwhile I read the pleadings in the NRA’s litigation. Over many years I have analyzed and answered dozens of civil complaints and written some as well. The two that were filed by NRA are unique in my experience; I’ve never seen anything quite like them. They lack a sharp legal focus and ramble on excessively, sounding more like an overwrought lament than a justiciable claim. They present a real mystery to me; I cannot imagine competent lawyers writing such things.

On the Ollie North lawsuit

Whoever conceived this latest lawsuit gave scant thought to the legal reality that a suit alleging conflicts of interest, breach of fiduciary duty and actions “contrary to the best interests of NRA” is not a one-way street. Putting such concepts at issue kicks open the door to exposure of NRA’s own conduct which the defendant can freely explore in depositions, interrogatories and requests for production of documents that can be judicially compelled. Predictably the media will enjoy a feeding frenzy, and the Board better hope that its director liability insurance policy is still in place following NRA’s rupture with Lockton Affinity after Carry Guard capsized.

On the ouster of Chris Cox

Then we have Chris Cox and his chief-of-staff, Scott Christman, suspended on suspicion of being “implicated” in the alleged coup d’etat. If criticism of LaPierre is synonymous with disloyalty to NRA, the Cult of the Personality now has found its most sublime expression. This could not have come at a more critical time for NRA. Since the last national election, ILA needs its full strength to fight the impending battle in Congress—not decapitated in a vengeful internecine “cleansing”. Are Childress and Mrs. Meadows “implicated” too? Who will pay their legal bills when they are subpoenaed?

On the need for a forensic audit

One might reasonably expect that the Board will immediately initiate a fresh forensic audit of disbursements to outside contractors during Woody’s tenure. But the Board’s recent responses to discoveries of impropriety are not encouraging. It would hardly be surprising if there is simply an angry denunciation of the New Yorker article —which indeed was written by the same nefarious Bloomberg reporter as before— coupled with another tight-lipped announcement that nothing is wrong because everything has been “reviewed, vetted and approved”.


Get a tight grip: while Carolyn Meadows insists “everything is on track”, NRA looks headed for derailment. I feel sick.

UPDATE: As mentioned in the comments, not everyone uses Facebook. Fortunately, the entire “white paper” was published in Ammoland.com today. It can be found here. I would urge everyone to read it. 

Uncategorized

The Pincus Deposition – Video Excerpt

June 30, 2019 by

As was mentioned in yesterday’s post on the Rob Pincus’ deposition in the NRA v Ackerman McQueen case, it was explicitly acknowledged that Rob was not properly served and that he appeared voluntarily. In the video below you can hear the objections of the attorneys for AckMac to the deposition including the fact that it was delivered to a location in New Jersey where he had not lived for years. You will also hear the fact that Rob explicitly acknowledges he is appearing voluntarily when asked by the attorney from the Brewer firm Michael Collins.

Thanks to Rob for providing this video excerpt of the deposition.

UPDATE: Rob has released a second video excerpt of his deposition. In the video below, he explains how he first came across the documents that purportedly were “leaked”. It was on Facebook on a page where he didn’t even know who managed the page. You can’t get any more public domain than that!

Save the Second has a long post on their website with more details on how Rob spent Friday.

Uncategorized

The Pincus Deposition

June 29, 2019 by 2 Comments

Earlier in June, it was revealed that a number of people had been subpoenaed in the NRA’s lawsuit against Ackerman McQueen. While most of those who received a subpoena were NRA Board of Director members, trainer and activist Rob Pincus was also served. Ostensibly, the subpoenas were to find out who leaked information such as the bills from Ackerman McQueen regarding Wayne LaPierre’s clothing purchases, Oliver North and Richard Childress’ letter regarding outside counsel William Brewer III, and other such information.

Yesterday, Rob gave his deposition in the case to attorneys representing both the NRA and Ackerman McQueen.

He noted this on Facebook about his testimony in the deposition yesterday.

As I’ve said many times, I wasn’t involved in any “leaks” and I don’t know who was. Now that is part of the court record… officially. After consider time, effort and expense.

The NRA sent a team of lawyers from VA & TX and hired a local videographer and court reporter.
They sent them to one of the most remote locations in the Continental US and rented the town hall for the proceedings.
I walked over with my daughter and she hung out with the local pre-schoolers and a friend while the deposition took place.

I had offered to provide the documents that revealed pretty clearly when I first encountered the (already public) documents and save everyone a lot of time and money. The NRA Attorney’s wanted to do this today. Ackerman’s attorneys attended via phone line and video feed.

The location was Silverton, population 630, which is the county seat of San Juan County, Colorado. In other words, it was a long way from the big city. Or even any city.

Rob was gracious enough this morning to spend 20 minutes on the phone with me providing an after-action report. We discussed a number of things in the conversation including the why of the subpoena, what he thought they were trying to find, the cost to him, the monetary costs incurred by the NRA ‘s lawyers, and more.

The deposition took five hours, two attorneys for the NRA, a court reporter who had to travel from Denver, a videographer from Durango, and an expensive video conference hook-up so that the Ackerman McQueen attorneys could participate. Rob estimated that the costs ran upwards of $20,000 before you begin to figure in the attorneys’ billable hours. It was also very needless as Rob had made a good faith offer to provide all documentation and a sworn statement on what he knew. This offer was rejected by the lawyers representing the NRA.

As Rob travels often, the date could have been adjusted so that the deposition could have taken place in a more convenient and more cost effective location for the NRA and AckMac. The attorneys for AckMac noted in the meeting for the deposition that there was no reason to rush the process as it was early in discovery and no trial date had been set. Nonetheless, the lawyers for the NRA were insistent that the deposition be taken on June 28th as it appears they were more interested in speed. Rob believes that they were more interested in finding “the leak” than they were in the case itself.

The attorneys for the NRA, Robert Cox of Briglia Hundley and Michael J. Collins of Brewer Attorneys, admitted that Rob had not been properly served with the subpoena. As such, he appeared voluntarily at this deposition. In his opinion, the subpoena itself was an abuse of the discovery process meant as a fishing expedition and was meant to intimidate Rob as he has been a vocal critic of Wayne and the “Old Guard”.

I asked Rob about the costs to him both financially and emotionally. The financial costs were the distraction from his training and other businesses plus the lost productivity. The emotional costs were much higher. He had heard horror stories from friends about what to expect so he was very wary going into the deposition. Rob found that a number of people who had been talking with him before the subpoena suddenly stopped post-subpoena. Fortunately, he found the deposition “went far better than it could have with the lawyers” as they were professional, polite, and focused on the issues.

Rob wanted the following things highlighted.

  1. The deposition established nothing was leaked to Rob, nothing was stolen, and that everything he as received was in the public domain.
  2. He appeared voluntarily. As noted above, he was not properly served.
  3. He had nothing to hide.
  4. While subpoenaed by the attorneys for the NRA, he was critical of both sides in the case. 
Rob has told me that he will have video excerpts on the deposition available later today. I will post them as they become available.
I want to thank Rob again for taking the time out of his morning and out of his time with Baby Pincus to talk with me about the deposition.
Uncategorized

Report On The NRA V. Ackerman McQueen Hearing Today

June 27, 2019 by

Stephen Gutowski of the Free Beacon attended the court hearing today in Alexandra, Virginia in the case of NRA v. Ackerman McQueen. He reported on the case is a series of tweets on Twitter. The whole thread is here.

However, a couple of things just jumped out at me.

Wait a minute! You mean to tell me that William Brewer III, the probable architect of the entire series of lawsuits against Ackerman McQueen, is a AckMac client. What the hell!

I’m guessing those family ties between Brewer and the McQueens is not as frayed as one would have been led to believe. Brewer is the brother-in-law of AckMac CEO Revan McQueen and the son-in-law of former CEO Angus McQueen. Brewer’s wife is Skye McQueen Brewer.

Bill and Skye Brewer at a Ralph Lauren charity event.

Uncategorized

NRATV Is No More

June 26, 2019 by

Live production of NRATV has ceased. The announcement was made yesterday and follows a demand from Ackerman McQueen to be paid for its services. The move was widely expected given the parting of the ways between the NRA and AckMac.

From the New York Times:

The N.R.A. on Tuesday also severed all business with its estranged advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, which operates NRATV, the N.R.A.’s live broadcasting media arm, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.

While NRATV may continue to air past content, its live broadcasting will end and its on-air personalities — Ackerman employees including Dana Loesch — will no longer be the public faces of the N.R.A. It remained unclear whether the N.R.A. might try to hire some of those employees, but there was no indication it was negotiating to do so.

It is somewhat ironic that one of the reasons stated for shutting down NRATV was the content that strayed from Second Amendment issues into other conservative social issues. Ironic because I think Wayne LaPierre used it to burnish his conservative credentials when appearing at events like CPAC. In a statement, he said regarding NRATV:

“Many members expressed concern about the messaging on NRATV becoming too far removed from our core mission: defending the Second Amendment,” Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A.’s longtime chief executive, wrote in a message to members that was expected to be sent out by Wednesday. “So, after careful consideration, I am announcing that starting today, we are undergoing a significant change in our communications strategy. We are no longer airing ‘live TV’ programming.”

I think when NRATV was just Cam Edwards with Cam & Co. or special reports by Ginny Simone along with commentary from “the young guns” it was OK. Then it added programming from people like Dana Loesch and Grant Stichfield and it began to move more into other social issues. This loss of focus on the Second Amendment and threats to gun rights was when many members started having second thoughts about its usefulness.

Ackerman McQueen responded to the cessation of live production saying in part:

Ackerman, in its own statement, said it was “not surprised that the N.R.A. is unwilling to honor its agreement to end our contract and our long-standing relationship in an orderly and amicable manner.”

“When given the opportunity to do the right thing, the N.R.A. once again has taken action that we believe is intended to harm our company even at the expense of the N.R.A. itself,” the company added. It said it “will continue to fight against the N.R.A.’s repeated violations of its agreement with our company with every legal remedy available to us.”

The full letter from the NRA terminating its business relationship with Ackerman McQueen and the Mercury Group is below. The letter also demands all materials produced by AckMac for the NRA.

Uncategorized

NRA Searching For Ad Firm

June 24, 2019 by 3 Comments

What should have taken place years ago appears to be taking place now. Advertising firms are being invited to pitch the NRA their services as a replacement for Ackerman McQueen. The news comes from the British advertising news site Campaign.

Interpublic CEO Michael Roth announced that they would not be pitching the NRA account.

Roth said: “There is a review out for the NRA and we’re not participating in that. And that’s not just coming from me, it’s coming from our agencies, you know. Our people don’t want to work on an engagement like that.”

Interpublic is the fourth largest advertising company in the world with annual billing revenue of $7.5 billion. Their major advertising subsidiaries are McCann Worldgroup and Mullen Lowe Group. Some of McCann’s clients include MGM Resorts, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and GM. Meanwhile, Mullen Lowe represents companies like Burger King, Schick, and E-Trade.

This leads to the question as to whether Interpublic is just engaging in virtue signaling or does it have concerns about the NRA’s finances which might preclude them from taking the account (if they won) due to risk management. As reported last week, Ackerman McQueen is demanding to be paid for work on NRATV or they will close it down. So far that bill has gone unpaid.

The other question out there is what other advertising firms have been invited to the pitch the NRA account. The answer to that is “we’ll see”.

Uncategorized

In His Cold Dead Hands

June 21, 2019 by 1 Comment

It is Friday afternoon and it is time for a laugh after the NRA news of the week. My friend and fellow blogger David Yamane posted the picture below on Facebook. It had the following caption:

Photo from 2040 of Wayne LaPierre holding onto the Executive Vice Preisdency of the NRA in his cold, dead hands.


#guns #gunculture #gunculture2point0 #nra #2a

Great satire always contains an element of truth.

Uncategorized

The NRA, The New York Lawsuit, Ollie North, And Chris Cox

June 21, 2019 by 2 Comments

The news yesterday regarding the National Rifle Association was headlined by a story in the New York Times that said Chris Cox, head of the NRA-ILA, was suspended and put on administrative leave. This followed a late Wednesday filing in New York Supreme Court (the trial level courts in that state) in which the NRA sought a declaratory judgment that Ollie North was not entitled to his legal expenses as a director of the NRA. Also suspended was Scott Christman who served as Cox’s deputy chief of staff at the NRA-ILA.

Both Cox and Christman are accused along with NRA Board member and former Congressman Dan Boren of participating in a failed “coup” attempt orchestrated by Ackerman McQueen and Ollie North. Cox vehemently denies this.

“The allegations against me are offensive and patently false,” Cox said. “For over 24 years I have been a loyal and effective leader in this organization. My efforts have always been focused on serving the members of the National Rifle Association, and I will continue to focus all of my energy on carrying out our core mission of defending the Second Amendment.”

The New York lawsuit was filed on behalf of the NRA by outside counsel William Brewer III and his firm. It seeks a declaratory judgment stating that Ollie North is not entitled to reimbursement for legal fees and expenses incurred as a result of subpoenas in the second Ackerman McQueen lawsuit and the Senate Finance Committee’s request for documents. When a declaratory judgment is sought, it is making a statement that the facts are not in question and that the only thing sought is a declaration as to matters of law. That said, the complaint filed is a mish-mash of allegations that in no way could be considered a 100% recitation of facts. The full complaint is here.

The complaint alleges that North is an employee of Ackerman McQueen, that he had been asked to either resign from AckMac or the NRA board, that he has done neither, and that he orchestrated the “coup” attempt to oust Wayne LaPierre at the behest of AckMac. North is also accused of acting in bad faith and breaching his fiduciary duties to the NRA.

The complaint then includes this gratuitous mention of Chris Cox and Dan Boren. This is the only paragraph where either of these two are mentioned.

North and his co-conspirators orchestrated these threats through, among other
things, a string of text messages that are filed herewith. The text messages were produced in the
Virginia Litigation by Dan Boren, an NRA board member employed by one of Ackerman’s other
major clients, the Chickasaw Nation. Boren relayed the contents of Ackerman’s threatened letter
to North and helped to choreograph the ultimatum they presented to Mr. LaPierre. Moreover, in
email correspondence transmitted over non-NRA servers, Boren admitted his knowledge that
Ackerman may have been invoicing the NRA for full salaries of employees who were actually
working on the Chickasaw Nation account. The same text messages and email messages
demonstrate that another errant NRA fiduciary, Chris Cox —once thought by some to be a likely
successor for Mr. LaPierre—participated in the Ackerman/North/Boren conspiracy.

The text message can be seen in this exhibit. It should be noted that from what I’ve been told that exhibits are not usually submitted when asking for a declaratory judgment. Reading the texts between Boren and Cox, I fail to see this as a “coup” attempt. Rather, in my opinion, it seems they are concerned about the war between AckMac and the NRA and its future impact on the NRA. Cox is correct when he calls what had been going on “a tragic mess”.

This whole affair is so Byzantine. It reminds more of a Soviet-style purge where ministers and members of the Politburo are being purged after the head of the KGB whispers in the ear of the aging General Secretary that they are plotting against him. Insert Wayne LaPierre into the role of the aging General Secretary and William Brewer into the role of KGB head and there you have it.

Uncategorized

The Spiro Agnew Of The NRA

June 12, 2019 by 1 Comment

Those of us of a certain age will remember former Vice President Spiro Agnew. He was President Nixon’s running mate in 1968 and 1972. Prior to that he had been the Governor of Maryland and the Executive of Baltimore County. His service in those prior positions would come back to bite him but more on that later.

Agnew’s primary role as Vice President always seemed to me was to serve as Richard Nixon’s attack dog. Whether it was with the press or with other administration opponents, Agnew was ready at a moment’s notice to go on the attack. His way with words was excellent due in no small measure to having William Safire as his speechwriter. Perhaps the most famous phrase written by Safire for Agnew was “nattering nabobs of negativism” in reference to the administration’s critics.

It seems to me, and this is my opinion only, that someone somewhere in the NRA’s hierarchy has deemed that this should now be the role for 2nd VP Willes Lee. If you have been following his posts on Facebook such as the one below, you will understand what I mean.

Saving freedom and the Second Amendment is important. Otherwise, we’d do something else, or nothing. Thank you for your support, encouragement, & prayers.
You are either with us, or you’re not. Just how it is in today’s world.
Good 2A folks do not have to take abuse from haters, Dems, bots, nor trolls (heh, all the same). No one here will appease your bad behavior. You have others who kowtow to & mollify you.
This may help:
My page. My rules. I’m not an employee, this page is mine (& FB). This page is for people who want to save freedom. I came to fight. Don’t care whether the fight is for the Second Amendment & for freedom or against gun control, Democrats, & haters. Don’t like the rules? Wah, wah.
1. We give as many answers as possible. Scroll the page. Do your homework. You won’t get a response to an answer already posted.
2. Send snark? Get snark in return. I decide what is snark, & I’ll mock you for 101-level crap.
3. Show disrespect to NRA? Get disrespect in return, if anything. I decide what is disrespectful.
4. Nasty gets nasty in return. If you can’t take it, don’t send it.
5. Profanity on this page is ok.
6. Name calling gets you poofed. The more haters who self-ID, the better.
7. I decide what hater notes to keep so we can see that you have no intention of helping the movement.
8. Disgusting gets deleted. Good members shouldn’t see your depravity.
9. Bots & trolls abound. I decide if you’re a bot or troll.
PS. This is the most fun “tell”. If someone yells “snowflake” in a crowded room & you think they are talking to you, then YOU have a problem.
A lot of good folks are working hard for 2A. I appreciate every good member who helps & wants us to be successful, to defend freedom, to defend the Second Amendment. Be polite. Be respectful. Or, ha, get what you get.
Thank you. Thank you, very much.

I didn’t realize until just now that as I was reading through Willes’ Facebook timeline that I am now officially “a hater”. I was a guest on Eye on the Target Radio with Amanda Suffecool and Rob Campbell in which I discussed the Ack-Mac lawsuits, the leaks, and other stuff related to the NRA’s current problems. I concluded by saying we need the NRA and that it is up to us to make the changes needed. I knew there was another guest that would follow me but didn’t realize that it was Willes.

Sunday.
For people who want to know what’s going on. Interesting format, challenging questions. BFF to all Amanda Suffecool Rob Campbell hosted first half hater, second half me. Never enuf time to hit all the juicy gossip but we got a lot. With the pot stirred today, you’ll want to listen.

The funny thing about being called “a hater” is that in 2017 when Willes Lee was just another guy running for the Board of Directors and I endorsed him, he couldn’t thank me enough. Even in 2019 when I bullet voted for Adam Kraut, I said Willes was worthy of your vote.  I might be considered “a hater” or a “nattering nabob of negativism” in Agnew’s terms but like Pete Townshend of The Who wrote, “I won’t be fooled again.”

If those of us who have been calling for changes in the NRA and for it to clean up its house didn’t give a damn and didn’t care if we had a strong, effective advocate for the Second Amendment, we wouldn’t be writing or talking about it. I have been a Life Member and then an Endowment Life Member of the NRA since 2010 and an Annual Member on and off since I was 17 years old. Hell, when I first became a member you had to have either a Life Member or a public official sign your membership application. I had my neighbor Rep. Charlie Phillips of the NC House sign my application. One wonders how long people like Willes have been members of the NRA and if it is just another step in their career path.

As Paul Harvey often said, now for the rest of the story. Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace from the Vice Presidency. On October 10, 1973, Agnew, in a plea bargain, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of tax evasion and was sentenced to three years probation. He resigned the Vice Presidency that same day. Agnew had been taking kickbacks from contractors doing business with Baltimore County and then the State of Maryland. The cash payments even continued after he became Vice President.

UPDATE: The episode of Eye on the Target Radio where I gave my views on the NRA issues for which Willes has deemed me “a hater” has just been posted. You can find it here.

Uncategorized

At Least His Heart Is In The Right Place

June 10, 2019 by 6 Comments

The Washington Post ran an article yesterday that discussed the monies that flowed to certain members of the Board of Directors. According to the article, 18 Board members received some sort of compensation over the past three years. Some of this is already well known such as the amount of money paid to Marion Hammer for lobbying in Florida. Some of it was merely the commission NRA recruiters earn for new members.

Without getting into the meat of the article, one quote just stuck out.

After learning about the money his fellow board members received, Malone
said he was concerned.

“If these allegations are correct and 18 board members received pay, you’re
damn right I am,” he said. “If it’s correct, the members who pay their dues
should be damn concerned, too.”

Karl Malone has never attended a board meeting and, to the best of my knowledge, has never even been sworn in as a Board member. Nonetheless, the Nominating Committee put him up for reelection and he was reelected in April to another three year term with the 16th highest vote total.

 Perhaps it is cynical of me to think that Mr. Malone’s concern is a bit late in the game. If he had bothered to attend meetings, he might have been aware of this and might have had an impact. Then again, he was selected for the Board of Directors due his celebrity status and not expected to have an actual impact on the running of the organization.

Well, at least his heart is in the right place which is more than I can say about certain other members of the board.