NRA

Uncategorized

Going Deeper Into Judge Cohen’s Interim Decision, Part 1

August 11, 2024 by 2 Comments

Judge Joel Cohen issued an interim decision on July 29th in the New York trial of the NRA. Beyond deciding that a special monitor was not warranted, he specified six items of relief that he was considering. He ordered both parties, the NY Attorney General’s Office and the NRA, to do a post-trial briefing and negotiation on the six items. This post will examine items one through three while a second post will look at the remaining three items.

The first item was that some or all of the “NRA Compliance Commitment to Members” be incorporated into a court order. Included in that document were a number of items that would be reported to members on an annual basis. These included, in part, a compliance officer and internal audit annual report on travel and entertainment expenses, contracts, related party transactions, and business ethics. In addition, a report from the independent auditor would be published annually, the IRS Form 990 would be signed by both the CEO and CFO, a bylaw change making the Audit Committee elected by the whole board, adoption of a policy forbidding related party transactions unless approved by the whole board, and mandatory disclosures by any candidate for the Board of Directors. There would also be a secure online portal for board and committee members to access documents prior to meeting. This was over a concern about “leaks”.

Most of these are good ideas and were developed by the entire Audit Committee. I do have misgivings about a policy to “stop leaks” as it seems counter-intuitive to their professed concern about being open with members. I will also say that as a candidate for the board myself I have not yet been asked to consent to a background check or any of the other items. This may be because it will only apply to those actually individuals whose names will appear on the ballot.

Judge Cohen’s second item goes directly to the election of members of the Board of Directors. He wants to make it easier for people to run for the Board for at least the next three years. He took note indirectly of the election of the Four for Reform as well as the Nominating Committee’s continual re-nomination of sitting directors every three years. He found the past work of the Nominating Committee “led to significant and unhealthy entrenchment of both management and the board” which made it very hard for new members to have any impact. As such, he is strongly suggesting that for the next three years that anyone who meets the minimal qualifications for election to the board be allowed to run if they so desire. The current minimal qualifications are that candidates have been a life member for at least five years. He goes on to add that there would be no need to go through the petition process.

The nominating process has already started. The time period for submission of names to the Nominating Committee has closed and documentation from candidates needed to be received by the Office of the Secretary by August 8th. The committee will meet on August 24th to review the potential nominees and make their decision. Petition candidates have until October 8th to have their petition signature sheets returned to the Office of the Secretary. Judge Cohen’s final order on this item could toss all of this. The replacement would be a long ballot consisting of those whose names have been submitted along with anyone else who wanted to run. We shall see.

Item number three on the list is a requirement that the NRA retain an independent compliance consultant of their choice for at least a three year period. This person would work with the Chief Compliance Officer “and staff to make recommendations to the board.” More importantly from the NRA’s perspective, this person would not be reporting to either the Court or the NYAG. The goal of this consultant would be to provide an independent perspective to the board and to help them implement best practices to carry out Judge Cohen’s final directives.

This item makes perfect sense to me. My primary hope is that the selection of this compliance consultant be made by Doug Hamlin without the interference of Bill Brewer or any of the Cabal. As the Chief Compliance Officer cannot be replaced by the EVP and Robert Mensinger was pushed to the NRA by Bill Brewer, any compliance consultant must be truly independent and without taint. Mr. Mensinger may be worth every bit of his $400,000 salary and be cleaner than the driven snow. However, I have a hard time trusting anything or anyone connected to Bill Brewer or Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors. The damage that Brewer has done to the NRA, financial and otherwise, is incalculable. Even Mike Bloomberg and his billions could not have done as much damage.

Part 2 will now look at the final three items in Judge Cohen’s interim decision.

Uncategorized

NRA Legal Affairs Committee Meeting?

August 10, 2024 by 1 Comment

I saw a comment on NRA In Danger that the NRA’s Legal Affairs Committee is meeting today in Fairfax. It seems to have been confirmed by a response to an email sent to NRA EVP Doug Hamlin.

Supposedly, according to both the comment and a private email I’ve received, the topic of discussion will be on terminating the services of Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors. The word is that both Sandy Froman and Bill Barr will be there.

If that is true and Brewer is terminated, hallelujah!

UPDATE: I have not heard any thing reported as a result of this meeting. In retrospect, there could be one other topic that might have been discussed. That is what is to be discussed in the face-to-face meeting tomorrow between the NYAG’s attorneys and the NRA’s attorneys as they hammer out a joint submission that addresses Judge Cohen’s six items in his interim decision.

Uncategorized

Still In Denial

July 28, 2024 by 3 Comments

NRA President Bob Barr sent out an email to the Board of Directors this afternoon. It noted that the bench portion of the New York trial was coming to a close on Monday, July 29th. The gist of the email which is below is that there is no need for a special monitor, it is invasive and detrimental to the NRA, and that since 2018 the NRA has cleaned up its act. Barr went on to say he was not fully quoted with regard to recouping the $4 million plus owed to the NRA by Wayne LaPierre. In that, he may be correct.

I said in late May that Barr had the ability to regain the trust of members and to reassure the court that a special monitor was not needed through his committee appointments. I said it needed to be transparent and that Mssrs. Cotton and Coy must never be allowed to remain on the Audit and Finance Committees. I also suggested that members of the Four for Reform ought to be considered for important committee assignments.

Disappointingly, Barr all but assured that Judge Cohen will feel that he has no option but to appoint a special monitor with his committee assignments. First, not only was Charles Cotton allowed to remain as chair of the Audit Committee but was added to the Ethics Committee as the chair. Second, David Coy remains as chair of the Finance Committee. Third, the anti-reform Cabal holds all the chair and vice-chair positions on the major committees for whom appointments have been made public. Only Rocky Marshall of the Four for Reform was given a major committee assignment and “Gang of 12” reformers are in a minority on all the committees. Barr had a chance but in my opinion he blew it.

Barr and, by extension, the Board are still in denial. They can say they have made changes and point to the hiring of a Chief Compliance Officer among other things. They can say their expert witnesses all testified to improvements, to not needing a special compliance monitor, and that this is the “new” NRA. The NRA publications can write about the NRA’s “new direction” and run headlines saying “the future of the NRA is bright.”

What they fail to understand is that the rank and file members of the NRA don’t trust them. Trust, once lost, is hard to regain. Hopes were raised at the last Board meeting with the election of ostensible reformers to major positions and then the committee assignments dashed that hope. We see that the people that allowed Wayne and his pack of grifters to get away with it for years are still running things. We read that the NRA has paid at least $182 million in legal fees to Bill Brewer and his minions all the while thinking what that money could have done for the Second Amendment. We know the members voted for a Chief Compliance Officer but then hear it whispered about how he has blown off serious whistleblower complaints. And the list goes on.

I could go on but I think I’ll just post the email and let you, the reader, come to your own conclusion.

From Bob Barr as sent out by John Frazer:

Dear Board of Directors,

As you know, the NRA is nearing the end of “phase two” of the trial proceedings versus the New York Attorney General (NYAG). The bench trial began on July 15, and will conclude on Monday, July 29. As reported to the board on July 4, a focal point of the proceedings is the NYAG’s pursuit of a court-appointed monitor with sweeping powers. On behalf of the Special Litigation Committee (SLC), please note that the NYAG’s court filing, Exhibit O, reflects an invasive measure that we believe is absolutely detrimental to the Association and its mission.

Of course, it is no surprise that the NYAG, who filed suit to dissolve the NRA, is peddling its “version” of the story. However, the trial testimony has shown that, beginning in 2018, the NRA undertook to prevent any override of its financial controls. Extensive testimony has clearly established the NRA’s commitment to good governance. Importantly, there has been no evidence that the NRA is not appropriately managing its assets; and there is no ongoing or persistent violation of its internal controls – all alleged by the NYAG.

Our senior staff members, board members, and experts offered powerful testimony regarding our heightened commitment to compliance training, and the important role played by our Chief Compliance Officer and our Internal Auditor. As such, we believe there is no need for the court to impose invasive equitable relief. Doing so would have a chilling effect on our organization’s ability to fulfill its mission and cultivate grassroots support, donations, and public goodwill. For these many reasons, I am optimistic we will achieve a positive outcome for the NRA and its millions of members.

On Thursday, the court heard testimony from Daniel Kurtz, the former New York State Assistant Attorney General-in-Charge of the Charities Bureau. He testified that he sees “New York State both persecuting and prosecuting the NRA,” and noted the NYAG’s pursuit of a monitor is “crazy, unprecedented.” He added, “There’s never been a situation, to my knowledge, in which a monitor has been appointed to reform the nonprofit governance of an organization” – equating New York’s pursuit of the NRA to McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s.

In closing, know that no board officer, including myself, has ever suggested the NRA would not seek to recover any final awards owed to the NRA by individual defendants. At trial, I testified that I assumed the NRA was still finalizing its plans in this regard. My full testimony (conveniently not publicized via “X” and other social media platforms) explained this is because no final awards have yet been confirmed, and the NYAG bears the responsibility to pursue the recoveries in question. The NYAG is responsible for securing the awards because of her standing as the plaintiff in these proceedings. The NRA, of course, is committed to holding the NYAG’s feet to the fire and pursuing every dollar to which it is entitled, period. 

The bottom line is, I remain optimistic that despite attempts to distort the NRA’s commitment to good governance, the court appreciates and understands our record. The NRA and its many witnesses have presented a true picture of the Association – one that is dedicated now and in the future to achieving the best interests of our members in all we do.

Thanks,

Bob Barr, President 

Uncategorized

The Most Brutal Tweet About The NRA

July 25, 2024 by 2 Comments

The Firearms Policy Coalition attracted the attention of The Trace for calling out Kamala Harris as being authoritarian. Given that the FPC has it roots in California I think they know of what they speak. The Trace said the FPC was “even more strident than the NRA” which is correct in my opinion. I think The Trace’s writer was horrified that someone would drop the F-bomb when speaking of the selected (not elected) Democratic candidate for President.

This led to someone who goes by Factotum leaving this comment:

That has got to be the most brutal tweet I’ve ever seen about the NRA. I don’t necessarily agree with it but I can see why someone would write it given the NRA’s long history of accommodation. One need only look to the NRA’s role in the recently overturned bump stock ban to see that.

Uncategorized

What Do You Mean, You Don’t Know

July 19, 2024 by 2 Comments

John Frazer served as NRA General Counsel from January 2015 until May 21st of this year. That is when Doug Hamlin separated the positions of General Counsel and Secretary and appointed Michael Blaz as the new General Counsel. Frazer retained his position as Secretary.

Frazer was on the stand today in the remedial phase of the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit. He was asked about how much money the NRA had paid Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, since 2018. Additionally, he was asked how much the NRA had paid for the defense of Wayne LaPierre and himself.

As reported by Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News who has been following the trial:

While I might give Frazer a pass on how much has been paid to Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, for their work on the NYAG’s case, it is only because the Special Litigation Committee was formed to make decisions on that case – and only that case – due to Frazer and Wayne being named defendants. However, William Brewer and his firm have done plenty of other legal work for the NRA ranging from the multiple lawsuits against AckMac to the Vullo case that went before the Supreme Court. Brewer’s firm even handled the lawsuit against former NRA President Oliver North which is currently on hold pending the outcome of the NYAG’s case.

He certainly ought to have an idea how many billable hours have been spent on his defense by William Fleming of Gage Spencer and Fleming LLP. How hard is it to multiply hours billed times a per hour fee? Moreover, to say he has no idea how much has been paid to Brewer is ludicrous. He might not know the exact figure but he certainly has to know a ballpark figure.

If he doesn’t, then what was he doing as General Counsel all these years? Unless I’m greatly mistaken, doesn’t the Office of General Counsel have to approve bills submitted for NRA legal work before it is passed on to the Accounting Department for payment?

Frazer was never a grifter like Wayne. I will give him that. However, I do expect a certain level of responsibility from an officer of an organization when he is being paid a substantial 6-figure salary. That responsibility includes making sure the members’ dues spent on outside lawyers is well spent. It is impossible to do this if, as Frazer testified, he didn’t know how much was being spent on his defense, on Wayne’s defense, and on the myriad of legal issues being handled by Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors.

To all those who have insisted that membership and revenues are down because Tish James initiated a lawsuit against the NRA, think again. It is down because members, both Life and annual, have had the blinders pulled off their eyes and don’t want to waste their hard earned cash on an organization that seems intent on just pissing it away. Can you blame them when the former General Counsel says he has no idea how much has been spent on legal expenses?

Uncategorized

Forge Of Freedom Podcast With Alex Ooley

July 17, 2024 by

I was a guest last night on attorney Alex Ooley‘s Forge of Freedom Podcast. It was Episode 144: The NRA’s Fall from Grace Corruption, Trial, and Declining Influence. As you can guess by that title we discussed the New York Attorney General’s suit against the NRA.

Alex and I discussed what led to it the lawsuit, how it evolved, the jury phase, and now the remedial phase. We also discussed the impact the trial has had on the advancement of Second Amendment rights.

The podcast went for about an hour and 15 minutes. You can watch and listen to the whole podcast below.

The show notes for this episode are here. It also gives you time breaks if you want to skip to certain sections.

If YouTube is not your thing, the podcast can be found on Rumble and on Spotify.

Uncategorized

NRA Hasn’t Decided Yet To Collect The Money Wayne Owes?

July 16, 2024 by 5 Comments

NRA President Bob Barr was on the stand today in the second day of the remedial phase of the New York trial. According to Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News, Barr just said moments ago that the NRA has not yet decided if they will actually try to collect the $4.4 million the jury said Wayne owes.

What do you mean you haven’t decided to try and collect the money Wayne looted from the NRA?

WTF, Bob! That’s the members’ hard-earned dues and contributions we are talking about.

Uncategorized

What Goes Around, Comes Around

July 16, 2024 by 1 Comment

The bench phase of the NRA’s trial in New York City opened today. The first witness to take the stand was former NRA President Charles Cotton who now chairs both the Audit and Ethics Committees. Among the things he included in his testimony was the following regarding succession planning according to AP reports.

Charles Cotton, an NRA board member, was the first witness to take the stand. He revealed that the organization did not have a succession plan in place when LaPierre announced his retirement in January, just before the start of the trial’s first phase — suggesting his exit was hasty and not expected.

If only they had listened to one of their members who offered a resolution asking the Board of Directors to draft and adopt a formal succession plan. That resolution was offered at the NRA Meeting of Members held in Tucson, Arizona in October 2020. Mind you that this was in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the most vulnerable population included senior citizens like LaPierre. That meeting was being run by 1st VP Charles Cotton as then-President Carolyn Meadows was absent due to health concerns.

As you can probably guess by now that resolution was soundly defeated. One of the arguments offered against it was that the NRA Bylaws provided a succession plan in that the Executive Director of General Operations would take over as the Interim EVP and CEO. This is exactly what happened when LaPierre resigned. Another argument was that the NRA was not the same as a for-profit corporation where succession planning is a best practice.

Among those testifying against the resolution in favor of succession planning was Joel Friedman who now sits as Vice-Chair of the Ethics Committee. Friedman is also a member along with Charles Cotton on both the Bylaws and Resolutions Committee and the Finance Committee. He is only on the Board now because Carl Rowen, Jr. was convinced to resign in order to allow Friedman to ascend to a directorship.

This truly is a case of what goes around, comes around.

As to the Endowment Life member who offered that serious resolution of succession planning, it was me. Perhaps if the Board had listened to the members instead of kowtowing to the Cabal, the NRA wouldn’t be in the position it is now.

Uncategorized

Hopes For Reform At NRA Dashed

July 11, 2024 by 2 Comments

When the NRA Board of Directors meeting ended on the Monday after the NRA Annual Meeting many, including me, had high hopes that reform was finally coming to the organization. Reformers had won two out of three of the officer positions, the EVP, and a majority on the Nominating Committee. This was on the heels of the resounding victories of the Four for Reform. Doug Hamlin, the new CEO and EVP, started making good changes and signaled a new openness.

However, as I noted at the end of May, how newly elected NRA President Bob Barr handled committee assignments would be the key to showing the court in New York just how much the NRA had changed and embraced reform. I went on to add that Charles Cotton and David Coy must not be allowed to serve on the Audit and Finance Committees respectively.

I began to be more than a little concerned when it came out that Barr had made Cotton the new chair of the Ethics Committee. That was the harbinger of more to come as it became obvious that Barr had ignored his mother’s warning about running with the “wrong crowd”.

Yesterday, Barr’s appointments to the Audit, Finance, Ethics, Bylaws and Resolutions, and Legal Affairs Committees were announced.

NRA President Bob Barr has announced some committee assignments:

Audit

Charles Cotton – Chairman
E. Wilkinson – Vice Chairman
Charles Beers
Curtis Jenkins
Rocky Marshall

Bylaws & Resolutions

Carol Frampton – Chairman
Charles Cotton – Vice Chairman
Scott Bach
Bob Barr
Larry Craig
Joel Friedman
Jim Wallace

Ethics

Charles Cotton – Chairman
Joel Friedman – Vice Chairman
Clel Baudler
Jay Printz
Barbara Rumpel
Mark Vaughan

Finance

David Coy – Chairman
Ron Schmeits – Vice Chairman
Joe Allbaugh
Bill Bachenberg
Isaac Demarest
Patricia Clark
Allan Cors
Charles Cotton
Joel Friedman
Curtis Jenkins
Carolyn Meadows
Bill Miller
Buz Mills
Amanda Suffecool
Mark Vaughan

Legal Affairs

Sandra Froman – Chairman
Scott Bach – Vice Chairman
Bob Barr
Charles Cotton
Carol Frampton
Charles Hiltunen
Curtis Jenkins
John Sigler

The first thing you will notice is that Charles Cotton is on every single one of these important committees and retains his chairmanship of the Audit Committee to go with his newly appointed chairmanship of the Ethics Committee. The next thing you notice is that David Coy has retained his chairmanship of the Finance Committee.

The only one of the Four for Reform members to be appointed to any committee was Rocky Marshall who was appointed to the Audit Committee. I find this disappointing as their election is being used by the NRA in its court filings to assert that things have changed and no special monitor was needed. While Rocky’s appointment is good and proper, why was not Jeff Knox put on Bylaws and Resolutions as he probably knows more about the Bylaws than any member of that committee. Likewise, would not it have been wise to put Judge Phil Journey, the only jurist on the Board, on the Legal Affairs Committee.

With the exception of the Finance Committee which has has four known reformers on it (out of 15 total members), the remaining committees have one and perhaps two known reformers on them. If Barr wanted to signal to the members of the NRA and to Judge Cohen that things had changed at the NRA, this certainly was not the way to do it.

While I don’t have a crystal ball on what will happen in the remedial phase of the New York trial, I think the odds are better than even that a special monitor will now be appointed to oversee the NRA’s finances. It should be noted that this monitor will have nothing to do with functions and programs of the NRA including its political functions. While this will put me at odds with some friends on the Board who are reformers, I think that the special monitor will be a requirement if the NRA is ever to crawl out of the morass it finds itself in.

UPDATE: I can fully understand the frustration that Judge Phil Journey must have felt that caused him to file a motion to intervene in the New York trial. That was on July 3rd and he obviously saw things that are now only coming to light. It has been suggested to me that the appointment of Charles Cotton to head the Ethics Committee was specifically meant to go after Judge Journey for having the temerity to break ranks.

Stephen Gutowski has more on Journey’s motion here along with the NRA’s denials.

Uncategorized

The NRA, LaPierre, And Frazer Appeal

July 8, 2024 by 6 Comments

Attorneys for the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, and John Frazer all filed appeals in People of New York v. National Rifle Association of America et al on Friday. They are appealing Judge Cohen’s decision and “order on motion” in which he denies their motions to set aside the jury’s verdict and enter a judgment for them as a matter of law. Frazer’s motion was to only set aside part of the jury’s verdict but that was also denied. Attorneys for Wilson “Woody” Phillips had filed a similar motion to set aside the verdict but are not appealing. As noted earlier, it appears he has settled with the New York Attorney General’s Office.

The appeals will go to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First
Judicial Department. That same court has denied all previous appeals made by any of the defendants and have upheld all of Judge Cohen’s rulings in this case. The Appellate Division is the intermediate appellate level in New York State with the Court of Appeals being akin to Supreme Courts in other states.

Noah Peters of Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, is arguing on behalf of the NRA. His argument centers around whether there enough evidence to find that the NRA payments for Susan LaPierre’s hair and makeup, to David Keene, and to Woody Phillips were anything other than “de minimis”. He goes on to question whether people like Phil Journey, Craig Spray, Rocky Marshall, Ollie North, and others should really be considered “whistleblowers”. Finally, he questions whether the jury had sufficient cause under New York’s Executive Law to find the NRA submitted false filings.

The attorney for Wayne, Kent Correll, is arguing that the Attorney General lacked the “power, authority, capacity or standing to seek or procure a judgment” under New York law to seek monetary damages against an officer of a not-for-profit, to seek the removal of such officer, and to bar the re-election of a person who is no longer employed by the non-for-profit. He also attacks the sufficiency of the evidence against Wayne.

John Frazer’s appeal argues that since the jury did not find grounds for either monetary damages or removal from office, it erred in finding he failed in his fiduciary responsibilities. Moreover, since no claim of false statements were made against the NRA’s accountants, they should not have found he knowingly signed off on a false filing.

Given the past history of appeals in this trial, I really don’t seeing any of these defendants winning their appeals. Moreover, with the exception of Frazer who is essentially fighting to stay employed, I think the other appeals are going through the motions because a) they will generate more billable hours and b) for the public relations aspect of it. Wayne is fighting to say he really wasn’t a grifter and the NRA is trying to assert that the jury should never have agreed with the Attorney General because, you know, she hates us and wants us gone.

Vendetta or no vendetta, the attorneys for New York had a strong case against the NRA and the individual defendants. Josh Powell and Woody Phillips have realized it and settled. That the NRA has not settled like that did with the Attorney General for the District of Columbia is a shame. I think what they will get now in terms of punishment is going to be worse than if they had settled. The only winners are the attorneys who will rake in even more fees that are being paid out of members’ dues or, at least, that is the case for sure with regard to the NRA. Who is paying the fees for Wayne and Frazer and whether it will ultimately be the NRA is up in the air.