NRA

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Now On To NRA Committee Assignments

May 29, 2024 by 6 Comments

The real work of the NRA Board of Directors is done in the various committees. These committees range from the Audit, Finance, and Ethics Committee to Outreach, Federal Affairs, and Legislative Affairs. Officially, it will be new NRA President Bob Barr who selects the members for all these committees. More on that later.

There is also the Special Litigation Committee, the Nominating Committee, and the Executive Committee. This last group of committees had its members selected at the Board meeting after the Annual Meeting. The Special Litigation Committee is, by default, composed of the officers. (see correction) The Nominating Committee is a nine-member committee with reformers holding a 5-4 majority. It will now be chaired by Charlie Beers who is Chairman Pro Tem (highest vote getter).

Going back to 2019, you may remember that a number of reformist Board members were purged from their committee assignments for asking the wrong questions and given no committees upon which to serve. This was done by former NRA President Carolyn Meadows presumably with the approval of then-EVP Wayne LaPierre. Among those purged from their committee assignments were Esther Schneider, Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, Duane Liptak, and Allen West. All five ended up resigning from the Board. This retaliation against these Board members became an issue in the New York trial. The jury found that the NRA had retaliated against them in violation of New York’s whistleblower law. The video deposition of Carolyn Meadows on retaliation helped in this finding.

NRA President Bob Barr has a unique opportunity to show Judge Joel Cohen that the NRA has reformed enough that it will not need a special monitor. He can grab this opportunity if and only if he does certain things. First and foremost, he should consult with Bill Bachenberg and Mark Vaughan on the appointment of committee members and make these appointments in a balanced manner such that reformers are fairly represented. For example, I think Rocky Marshall, one of the Four for Reform, has the requisite knowledge and experience to be valued addition to the Finance Committee. Likewise, who better than a judge like Phil Journey to serve on Legal Affairs. Additionally, the appointment of the chair and vice chairs of the committees needs to be even handed.

Second, Barr needs to be transparent in his appointment of committee members. In the past, the composition of committees was rarely, if ever, disclosed. This needs to change. The members of the NRA deserve to know who is serving on each and every committee whether it is a Board member or an outside appointee.

Finally, and this is a critical point, Charles Cotton and David Coy must not be allowed to continue to serve on either the Audit or Finance Committees. Their abdication of their fiduciary duties while heading the Audit and Finance Committees was one of the reasons that the New York Attorney General’s Office was able to a) bring the lawsuit in the first place and b) successfully win their case with the jury. Allowing either of them to continue to serve on these important committees would send a sign to both Judge Cohen and the membership of the NRA that the leadership of the NRA was not serious about cleaning up the organization. Members and potential members will continue to keep their wallets closed if they remain in place. Frankly, I think the greatest service that they could do for the NRA which they profess to love would be to resign from the Board altogether.

CORRECTION: I was wrong in assuming that the Special Litigation Committee members were selected by position. That is that it was to be composed of the President, 1st VP, and 2nd VP.

According to a Board resolution in January 2021, the SLC was to be composed of Carolyn Meadows, Charles Cotton, and Willes Lee. That all three were officers was merely coincidental. After then-1st VP Willes Lee resigned from the SLC, it was later reconstituted by Board resolution to add David Coy and perhaps Bob Barr.

The key thing to remember about the Special Litigation Committee is that it only concerned matters dealing with the New York Attorney General’s case against the NRA. The rationale for even having it was that given the NRA’s then-CEO/EVP Wayne LaPierre and then-General Counsel John Frazer were named defendants in the case their participation in decision making regarding the case would be a conflict of interest.

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An Open Letter From NRA Staffers To The Board

May 19, 2024 by 2 Comments

I received this open letter to the NRA Board within the last hour. It is reportedly from current and former NRA staffers who are fed up with Charles Cotton, Bill Brewer, and most of the upper management of the NRA. The level of detail in the letter is enough to convince me it is real such as Sonya Rowling being forced to cut a check to Brewer by Andrew Arulanadam. I learned of that just earlier this afternoon.

Here is the letter in its unedited entirety. Given it is an open letter, it is meant for sharing. You might want to share it with each and every Board member that you know. I know they sent it to the NRA email address for the Board but I doubt it will be routed to Board members before their 9am CDT meeting tomorrow in Dallas.

Dear NRA Board of Directors,

We are writing as current and former NRA staff members. We choose to remain anonymous due to the almost certain retaliation from NRA executives and the Brewer firm. Since 2018, our association has been in complete peril, and no one has asked the NRA’s staff for their input. We are the ones who work day in and day out to accomplish the NRA’s mission of promoting the safe and responsible use of firearms and defending the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, it has become clear that NRA’s executives and officers are focused on ensuring a steady revenue stream for the Brewer firm. We pose this question: When will we stop the bleeding, and when is enough, enough?

Over the past six years, the NRA has become unrecognizable. The NRA of 2018 is far different from the NRA of 2024, and this convention hall is proof. This deterioration is due to the NRA’s poor leadership. President Cotton, Andrew Arulanandam, Randy Kozuch, Tyler Schropp, Doug Hamlin, and Sonya Rowling have not, and arguably never have, acted in the best interest of NRA members. The NRA’s recent misfortunes are often blamed on the New York Attorney General. While we are no fans of Letitia James, 90% of the NRA’s issues are now self-inflicted. Yes, AG James has had a gun pointed at the NRA from the start of her campaign, but NRA’s leadership continues to hand her magazines with ammunition.

We will briefly discuss each leader, avoiding rehashing old issues.

President Cotton has overseen many of the NRA’s poor decisions over the years on the Audit Committee, the SLC, and as President. It’s time to change his title from president to king because he is acting as a monarch. King Charles has been positioning himself to become executive vice president and chief executive officer. Anyone familiar with his record at the NRA knows he is not the right fit for EVP. The new NRA EVP needs to be unapologetically pro-gun, innovative, politically connected, and experienced in turning around failing organizations. King Charles is not that person. His primary focus is on maintaining his relationship with the Brewer firm. Recent reports confirmed by the Brewer firm show that King Charles and Bill Brewer even fly on private jets together. The firm claims this saves the NRA money, but this is unlikely. While the firm may not directly bill the NRA for the jet, there is nothing to stop them from increasing their billable hours. This is reminiscent of the MMP yacht situation. King Charles and Bill Brewer are the only ones pushing for the move to Texas because they are both based there. No other staff member, including NRA’s Interim CEO Andrew Arulanandam, plans on moving to Texas. King Charles’s goal is to secure a high salary for a few years as his retirement fund.

Andrew Arulanandam cannot make a good decision to save his life. Since taking his position on February 1, the NRA has continued to decline. Arulanandam exists in his position solely to follow King Charles’s orders and maintain the relationship with the Brewer firm. In fact, Arulanandam reportedly forced Sonya Rowling to pay Brewer millions of dollars today before tomorrow’s board meeting. If King Charles becomes EVP, Arulanandam will be rewarded and return to his high-paying job as executive director of General Operations, with an updated salary and maximized pension at retirement.

Randy Kozuch has been consistently overlooked throughout his career at the NRA. Kozuch is not a leader, and most of the ILA staff don’t respect him. Kozuch is a yes-man. Shortly after becoming executive director of ILA, Wayne asked him for millions from the ILA budget to keep the NRA afloat. Kozuch complied, and his newly hired ILA Finance Director quit after the first week due to discomfort. This wasn’t the first time the NRA asked ILA for millions, and Kozuch complies every time. King Charles, Bill Brewer, and Arulanandam don’t respect Kozuch; he is just the perfect puppet to help pay off Brewer’s excessive bills.

The other executives are equally ineffective. Tyler Schropp, the highest-paid executive at the NRA, can barely raise money without Wayne. Doug Hamlin operates entirely in the red and doesn’t know how to run an organization. Sonya Rowling is only in her position because she is a “whistleblower,” which looked good for the Brewer firm to show a course correction. However, she is inexperienced and would run the organization into the ground without realizing it.

Finally, the Brewer firm is the most ineffective and corrupt part of the NRA. Bill Brewer excels at one thing: losing. He flaunts the money he has taken, pulling up to the hotel this weekend in an Aston Martin while losing consistently. And he is Angus McQueen’s son-in-law. The NRA has funded the McQueen/Brewer family feud for too long, at the expense of our members who faithfully support us.

Board members, when is enough, enough? You are the only ones who can stop this. Charles Cotton is not fit for EVP. Andrew Arulanandam is not fit for EVP. No one at the NRA is currently fit for EVP. The Texas move is a waste of money and unnecessary. The Brewer firm is ripping the NRA off for every dollar we have. The NRA is failing. Revenue is failing, membership numbers are falling, ILA’s power is a fraction of what it used to be, and other training organizations are outpacing us. It is so bad that NRA is liquidating investments to continue paying Brewer. We beg you, as you go into the meeting tomorrow, to stop the bleeding and hold Charles Cotton, Andrew Arulanandam, and the other officers accountable.

Save the National Rifle Association of America.

UPDATE: I was just sent what is purported to be the official portrait of NRA President Charles Cotton which will hang in the NRA headquarters building in Fairfax or Texas if they ever move.

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The Alternative Slate Of Officers For NRA Leadership

May 19, 2024 by

We currently don’t know who the Nominating Committee plans to put up as their slate of officers. From what I understand, they have and are meeting in Executive Session. I understand Rocky Marshall tried to attend and was refused entry. Regardless, they will present a slate of officers to the Board of Directors at their meeting at 9am CDT tomorrow in Dallas. More than likely, anyone who reads this blog who is not a member of the Cabal will not like the proposed slate.

Since I am one of those evil “gun bloggers” who Charles Cotton said “turned against the NRA” (sic), I take great pleasure in presenting a flyer from the alternative slate of candidates. They include Buz Mills, Bill Bachenberg, and Mark Vaughan. I might have liked to seen one of the Four for Reform included but I do realize that the first job is to have a slate that those in the middle can support.

All I can say is that if they keep their promises that it will be a great improvement over the current leadership.

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Not Willing To Be The Fall Guy For Barr

May 18, 2024 by 7 Comments

Bruce Widener, an NRA Board member, who was involved when the Bob Barr negligent discharge took place has refused to be the fall guy for him. I wrote about this negligent discharge earlier this week when discussing the two camps heading into the NRA Annual Meeting. He has since written an email about the incident and wishes it to go public.

At the time of the incident, Mr. Widener said he had removed the magazine but hadn’t checked the chamber. This made it seem like he had failed in his duty to make sure the weapon was safe and that Barr was unknowingly handling a loaded firearm. However, that was not the real story as the email that Mr. Widener has asked be made public makes clear.

After reading the email one is left wondering why Bill Brewer has such an interest in making sure that Bob Barr is the next NRA President. Is there a quid pro quo in effect saying I’ll protect you if you guarantee that I am retained as outside counsel to the NRA? Has the Cabal assured Brewer that he will be kept on and he can keep billing at his astronomic rates until such time as the NRA is out of money? I can understand Barr wanting it swept under the rug as he violated multiple rules of gun safety any which way you look at it.

Here is the email Mr. Widener sent out on it on Thursday evening. Read it in its entirety misspellings and all.

From: Bruce Widener <bruce.nra@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2024 20:25

Subject: The facts re: bob barr

The facts:

8th draft. 

Before sending this out please let me know so you have the latest version. 

This is the first time I have written a detailed report of what exactly happened in 2002 with the incident involving Congressman Bob Barr.  I’m telling this now because it has become an issue in his election effort for president of the NRA.  It all started when I became aware of the email that was sent out recently with copies of the articles about the incident. 

I saw Mr Barr in person in Atlanta and said that I had received an email that had been sent to various NRA board members which contained many of the articles about the incident. Mr Barr said that he had not  seen it and asked that I send it to him.  I then hand delivered a note to him marked ‘personal and confidential. For your eyes only’! Instead of talking to me about the note, Mr Barr must have given it to his/NRA’s attorney, Bill Brewer, who called me to talk about it.  He knew about everything in the note. After we talked by phone He called again and wanted to talk to me in Dallas.  Ashley and I then met with Mr Brewer .  Since Mr Barr on obviously doesn’t want to talk to me, he asked his attorney to talk to me about it then I feel I am free to go public and tell the whole story with all of the details to whoever wants to hear it. Here is what actually happened!!

In 2002, my wife, Ashley, and I had a fundraiser at my house for congressman Bob Barr (who was a sitting congressman and on the NRA board at the time) and was showing him my gun collection. 

I would take pistols out of my safe, remove the magazines and pull the slides back to check the chamber to make sure they were unloaded and safe. 

As I turned my back to say something to my son, Congressman Barr took a pistol out of my safe that I kept loaded in the event that it is needed and he pulled the trigger firing a bullet out a glass door which ricocheted under my wife’s new Lexus!

I actually thought he had shot me in the back! I kept feeling my back and looking for blood. When I turned to face Mr barr he said ‘Oh my’. I said ‘oh shit’! He later aid he was sorry and asked if he could pay for the damages to the door.  

The next day I asked my son if he has seen the spent shell casing? He told me the Congressman had picked it up!

This soon hit all the national news outlets!

Congressman Barr’s campaign attorney called me that day and TOLD me ‘this is what we are going to say! That

I had pulled the magazine out but had not checked the chamber to make sure the pistol was unloaded!! When we were handing the pistol ‘someone’ hit the trigger!

I was never asked what really happened and what I might want to say about it!! From this information all the articles in the various papers were written!

I refused to talk to the media !

22 yrs. ago when this happened, I was a young lobbyist and Mr Barr I was a sitting congressman.  My reputation as a gun person kkwas not nearly as important as his as a US Congressman and an NRA Board member.

I agreed to say things that we both knew were not true. 

Now my reputation and my legacy are at risk and being damaged AND it is much more important to me now as a member of the NRA board. The news articles make me look awfully bad.   I ALWAYS check the chamber and remove the magazines to make sure guns are unloaded and safe which is the key point of the articles.

They had said it was a hundred year old .38 caliber Colt. Actually it was a 1908  .380!

These are the facts which can be verified by son Dr. Douglas B. Widener and my sister and her husband, Mr and Mrs Jack Malott!

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David Codrea On Bob Barr As NRA President

May 14, 2024 by 6 Comments

Journalist David Codrea had an interesting article posted yesterday on Ammoland. It is titled, “Barr for NRA President Would Prove Association Has Learned Nothing.” The article deals with Bob Barr’s support for the Lautenberg Amendment while a member of Congress. For those who are unfamiliar with the Lautenberg Amendment it makes a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence a disqualification of your Second Amendment rights. In other words, if convicted of such a misdemeanor you are not allowed to purchase, possess, transport, or ship both guns and ammunition.

Now I don’t think anyone reading my blog is in favor of domestic violence in any form or fashion. If you are, stop reading now and never come back. However, with some courts now finding that non-violent felons are entitled to having their 2A rights restored, it is hard for me to argue that a misdemeanor conviction should be worthy of a lifetime denial of an enumerated Constitutional right.

Codrea points to GOA’s take on Barr when he authored a competing bill to Rep. Helen Chenoweth’s (R-ID) complete reversal of the Lautenberg Amendment. He noted that Barr endorsed the underlying concept of the Lautenberg Amendment but just not the retroactive part of the ban.

Codrea also links to a number of posts over the years he put up on his old blog The War on Guns. They are worth a look as well. I will say having a negligent discharge is one thing but going wobbly on rights is a more serious matter when it comes to being the next President of the NRA.

I have a t-shirt that I picked up at, of all places, an NRA Annual Meeting. I’m not sure who was giving them out but if Barr is elected President then the message on that shirt still stands. It reads “Negotiating Rights Away.”

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A False Flag Operation?

May 3, 2024 by 5 Comments

I received an email out of the blue yesterday evening from a supposed NRA staff member based in Fairfax. The email was sent to “undisclosed recipients”. I know one of the recipients was Jeff Knox as he had received the same email and was suspicious about it. The email alleges that private jets are still in use by NRA leaders including Charles Cotton and Randy Kozuch.

Here is the email in its entirety:

nraexposed <nraexposed@proton.me>Thu, May 2, 8:01 PM (15 hours ago)
to

I am a current staff member of NRA based in Fairfax. NRA President Charles Cotton frequently flies on Bill Brewer’s private jet (I don’t know if the jet is owned or chartered). Despite ILA Chief of Operations John Commerford testifying under oath that no one at ILA has flown private since Chris Cox left, this is not true, maybe he was covering for his boss Randy Kozuch, who has flown private dozens of times since Chris Cox left.

Now the question is why Jeff, I, and presumably others are getting such an email on the same day that the results of the 2024 NRA Board election are released and that reformers took three of the top five spots. Moreover, it is from a Proton Mail account in Switzerland which promises “end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption.”

While the accusation could be true, so what? If the NRA is not charged for any of these flights do we really care if Charles Cotton flies on Brewer’s supposed jet? A check of the FAA records does not find any aircraft owned by William Brewer III. And what is the purpose of trying to implicate Randy Kozuch who seems a decent enough guy in improprieties?

What makes me really suspicious that this is some sort of false flag or disinformation campaign is what happened when I responded to the email suggesting if this really was the case then they ought to contact the NYAG’s Office.

I got this:

Address not found
Your message wasn’t delivered to nraexposed@proton.me because the address couldn’t be found, or is unable to receive mail.
The response from the remote server was:
550 5.1.1 : Recipient address rejected: Account recently deleted

The KGB was famous for running false flag operations in order to sow confusion.

What a better time to bait the reformers into making false claims than after they’ve just been elected. I don’t know who is behind this but that seems to be their aim in my opinion.

As I said earlier this week, if you are going to levy criticisms against the existing Board and its leaders, you better have documentation to back it up. An email coming in out of the blue like this making serious accusations is just the sort of thing that demands documentation and it is nowhere to be found.

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Marion Hammer’s NRA Contract Terminated

April 22, 2024 by 16 Comments

Monday is turning out to be a big news day. I was just sent an email that said Interim NRA EVP Andrew Arulanadam had terminated Marion Hammer’s contract. The email was from Marion Hammer to John Frazer bitterly complaining that her contract had been terminated with four years left to go.

From the email:

From: marion hammer <mphammer1@aol.com>
Date: April 22, 2024 at 12:07:03 PM CDT
To: John Frazer <john.frazer@nrahq.org>
Subject: NRA has dumped me

Today Andrew Aarulanandam called me and terminated my retirement contract with NRA.

Earlier, Randy Kozuch, ED-ILA suddenly quit providing grants to pay my monthly salary (last December 2023).

That leaves me totally without employment or retirement income. 

I was hired by NRA in September 1978 by NRA CEO Harlan Carter and the NRA Executive Director of ILA  — over 45 years ago  I was instructed to set up and run Unified Sportsmen of Florida (USF) as the Florida arm of  NRA and to also lobby for USF/NRA.  I was promised that a grant would be provided to USF to pay my salary as long as I was employed by USF.

Every ED-ILA since then has honored that promise. Until last year when Randy Kozuch broke that promise and simply quit providing the grant to pay my monthly salary. He didn’t fire me, he just quit paying me.   

In other words, I have not had a monthly paycheck since November 2023.  

Nonetheless, I have continued to work for NRA and train the NRA designated replacement lobbyist.  Who,  by-the-way, is a fine young man and who works for Randy Kozuch, and to my knowledge, is not a part of this.

I have survived on the retirement income contract that Wayne LaPierre put in place for me in 2018,

Today, April 22, 2024,  Andrew Aarulanandam, with Vanessa Shahidi in the room, called and informed me that he had decided to terminate the retirement contract that Wayne LaPierre put in place for me in 2018.

The 10-year contract was actually a replacement for the NRA retirement program which I had not been allowed to participate in.  The contract (with 4 years remaining) was to provide retirement income since I had never been included in NRA’s retirement program.

I have faithfully served NRA and NRA members for well over 40 years. As of today, I am no longer being compensated for the work NRA hired me to do.  I have not been fired, they have just quit paying me. 

I just thought you’d like to know what those in charge are doing to those who have faithfully served NRA and our cause.

Bottom line, as of today, I have no employment income and no retirement income.

Later this week (April 26th) I’ll be 85 years old.  So much for over 40 years of dedicated service and work for NRA.

Respectfully,

Marion P. Hammer

I sincerely doubt that Arulanadam unilaterally made this decision on his own. It leaves me to wonder if this was Bill Brewer’s doing or whether NRA President Charles Cotton was behind this. It could have been the two in combination.

You will remember that Marion called out Cotton’s EVP search committee in February and earlier in January had called for a search committee to fill the spot. The January missive was a shot across the bow of those who were trying to install Cotton as the successor EVP. Marion’s February email to the Board also said she didn’t think any internal NRA candidate, e.g., Arulanadam, was qualified to fill the EVP spot.

I really could not be more surprised by this contract termination than if you told me Kris Brown of Brady was going to be the next EVP.

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NRA Foundation Enters Into Consent Decree With DC

April 18, 2024 by 3 Comments

The NRA Foundation which had been accused of diverting donations to the NRA entered into a consent decree today to settle a lawsuit brought by the Attorney General of the District of Columbia. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2020 by then-AG Karl Racine. Interestingly, this lawsuit was filed on the same day that New York Attorney General Letitia James had filed suit against the NRA itself.

According to the New York Times’ Danny Hakim, the NRA and its attorneys are portraying the consent decree as a win for the NRA.

The N.R.A., in a statement, portrayed the settlement as a victory, saying it had “proved that all funds” taken from its foundation “were applied exclusively in furtherance of its charitable programs and that there was no misuse” of resources.

Charles Cotton, the N.R.A.’s president, called the lawsuit a “political attack” and said his group had been vindicated, while the group’s lead outside lawyer, William A. Brewer III, called it a “politically motivated action.”

DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb obviously disagrees. In his own characterization of the consent decree, he said in his release:

“Donors are entitled to know that their charitable contributions will be used in furtherance of a nonprofit organization’s stated charitable mission. The NRA Foundation—the charitable arm of the NRA—violated this sacred public trust, allowing the NRA to use them as an unchecked piggy bank,” said Attorney General Schwalb. “Caving to pressure from the NRA, the Foundation diverted millions of dollars to the NRA in grants and risky loans that were repaid only after OAG filed its lawsuit. Tax-exempt nonprofits are a form of public trust—abusing that trust as the NRA did violates both the public interest and District law. Today’s outcome builds on our longstanding commitment to safeguarding nonprofit donors’ money and ensuring that all nonprofits operating in the District of Columbia follow the law.” 

His release notes that DC’s non-profit law doesn’t authorize the collection of penalties but rather seeks to bring the offending non-profit into compliance. The initial lawsuit included a demand for a constructive trust be placed over the assets loaned to the NRA, a modification of the Foundation’s governance policies, non-profit training for all of the Foundation’s board members, and a court-appointed monitor.

The consent decree, while not providing for a constructive trust or a court-appointed monitor, does include the other items.

Under the terms of the settlement, the NRA Foundation must:

  • Adhere to its articles of incorporation and bylaws in all decision-making processes, in and outside of formal Board meetings.
     
  • Conduct annual nonprofit compliance training for every Board member or officer.
     
  • Form an Audit Committee to ensure Foundation’s financial affairs are in order and work with an external auditor.
     
  • Establish a new conflict-of-interest policy.
     
  • Adopt new policies governing grantmaking, loans, shared services, and other activity with the NRA to ensure transparency, Foundation independence, and adherence to the Foundation’s nonprofit mission.
     
  • Report any Foundation policy changes to OAG within 30 days of approval for the duration of the agreement.

The consent decree (embedded below) also provides that any loan to the NRA above $250,000 must adhere to a conflict of interest policy that must be adopted within six months of today. Moreover, any grants to the NRA for program purposes require a written grant application, the grant must be used only for 501c3 permissible purposes, a post-grant accounting, and a return of any grant monies not used in accordance with the grant application. The Foundation must send copies of all the mandated policies to the DC Attorney General and failure to live up to any part of the consent decree will result in the case being reopened.

I really don’t see this as a win for the Foundation or the NRA as the DC Attorney General got most of what he wanted. The only win for the NRA came from avoiding the imposition of a court-ordered monitor. It seems the constructive trust would not be in play as the loans were repaid after the lawsuit was filed. If I had to hazard a guess, the NRA and Bill Brewer wanted this case off their plate so that they could focus on the second stage of the New York trial. I do wonder just how much money had been wasted on legal fees paid to Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors just to end up with a consent decree.

H/T NRA In Danger

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NRA EVP Search Committee Plans Meeting (Updated)

April 3, 2024 by 6 Comments

NRA President Charles Cotton appointed a committee of insiders to search for an Executive Vice President and CEO back in February. This move by Cotton came after criticism he was seeking to circumvent the process in order to be named EVP himself. More importantly, as the letter from long-time director Bill Bachenberg makes clear, there was little to no input from the rest of the Board on this move.

Yesterday, an email came out that announced the EVP search committee would be meeting in Atlanta at the end of the month to hear from Board members on their ideas and insights about a new EVP. You can read the full email below:

As you know, on February 10th  President Cotton appointed the Executive Vice-President Search Committee, which he asked me to chair. The Committee has been working diligently to fulfill the charge given it by President Cotton to “determin[e] the process and timing of the selection of appropriate candidates to present to the Nominating Committee and, ultimately, the full Board of Directors.”

An important part of the Committee’s work has been to solicit and consider input from all Board members regarding the procedures to follow in making recommendations to the Board, including suggested names of candidates to consider as EVP. The Committee has sent two emails to all Board members asking for input, and as noted previously, that invitation is a continuing one.

The Committee also specifically extended an invitation to  all former NRA presidents and current President Cotton to appear personally before the Committee at the Committee’s next in-person meeting on April 13th to offer suggestions based on their unique perspective on the position of NRA EVP.

The Committee considers it extremely important also that every Board member have the opportunity to not only send ideas to the Committee, but to appear in person to offer their insights and ideas.

Board members are invited to attend a scheduled meeting of the EVP Search Committee on Saturday, April 27, 2024, beginning at 9:00 AM EDT.  This meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Airport Hotel located at 4700 Southport Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30337. Board members who attend will be provided a reasonable opportunity to make a presentation and engage in dialogue with Committee members.

Please note that Board members will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses. The Secretary’s Office will make every attempt to reserve a room at the hotel at NRA’s negotiated rate.

The Committee respectfully requests that any Board member wishing to attend the April 27th meeting inform Committee Secretary Nick Perrine by Friday, April 20, 2024, in order to allow for appropriate scheduling of the presentations.

Thank you for your dedicated service to our Association, and for your support of the Committee’s important task.   

Bob Barr

Chairman, EVP Search Committee

One must ask why the majority of the Board must travel to Atlanta at their own expense if they want to have a voice in the selection of the new Executive VP and CEO. They should have been heard from the very beginning as well as have been involved in the actual selection of the search committee. That they were not is another indication that the Old Guard aka the Cabal wants to maintain the status quo despite the jury in New York finding a breach of fiduciary duty. This presumably would include the continued employment of Bill Brewer and his firm.

Reading this email I was struck by the deference being paid to Charles Cotton and the past presidents of the NRA by the committee. They will be given a special opportunity on April 13th to make their voices be heard on the selection of the replacement for Wayne LaPierre. When Barr speaks of the “unique perspectives” of past presidents I would wager house money that he is not speaking about Ollie North or Pete Brownell. Rather he is referring to the Marion Hammers and others of the long-time “friends of Wayne” that allowed the problems currently facing the NRA to fester.

While it hasn’t been publicly mentioned, I have heard rumors that some of the Cabal are seeking bylaw changes that would exclude certain candidates from being considered. This would include the exclusion of former ILA General Counsel and Deputy Director Wade Callender who has the support of a number of GOP attorneys general as well as some on the Board itself. The rationale for keeping Callender out of the running for EVP is that he would be a change agent. The Old Guard’s desire is to keep everything as it is with them in charge regardless of how disastrous it is to the future of the NRA.

Rigging of the bylaws to exclude anyone should be a non-starter. It certainly is not in the interest of the members of the NRA which should be the primary consideration of this committee as well as the Board. However, what is in the interest of the members rarely seems to be given much consideration.

UPDATE: NRA In Danger has some very interesting comments on this meeting. Moreover, he (or she) notes that when the Legal Affairs Committee recently met in Fairfax they, too, had invited Board members to attend – at their own expense. They were there to hear from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, on how things went at the New York trial. One must wonder if anyone bothered to ask them how much it all cost and what the NRA was getting for its money.

I like the appeal for a reincarnated Harlon (Carter) and Neal (Knox) to return and lead the organization. Oh, how the Friends of Wayne would be howling like banshees if that were to occur!

Read the whole post!

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My 2024 NRA Ballots

March 11, 2024 by 3 Comments

Here are my ballots for the 2024 NRA Board of Director election and for the bylaw change.

Now to explain my votes. It should go without saying that I support the Four for Reform. I signed and promoted their petitions to be on the ballot as well as have supported them here. I would love it if they ended up as the top four winning candidates.

I would have voted for Owen Buz Mills except that he told Jeff Knox that he wanted people to bullet vote for the Four for Reform. As to why I added Rick Ector as the fifth candidate, his “missionary work” in Detroit in which he has introduced thousands of women is worthy of recognition. Just as importantly, he bucked the Old Guard aka “The Cabal” when he endorsed Wade Callender to be the next Executive VP of the NRA. These two factors were why I added Rick to the list of candidates for whom I voted.

While I consider the bylaw change to add a Chief Compliance Officer independent of the EVP as closing the barn doors after the horses have escaped, it is a reform in the right direction. I worked for 25 years in the financial services industry and we always had a Chief Compliance Officer. There were times I thought they were a bit “nit-picky” but their goal was to protect both the company and the client. If I had questions on something such as a political contribution, I knew I could reach out to them for advice on the best way to handle it.

While the appointment of a Chief Compliance Officer must wait until the vote is tallied, it appears that a candidate has been hired in anticipation of the bylaw change. Robert Mensinger was hired by the NRA in September 2023 as a Managing Director. He holds a law degree, has had an extensive career as a compliance and business integrity officer, and spent almost 25 years working as a Special Agent/Criminal Investigator for the Small Business Administration, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Treasury Department. My only reservation about Mensinger is that he was selected for his present job by Wayne LaPierre upon the advice and counsel of Bill Brewer. Other than that, he seems ideal for the job. Only time will tell if I was worried about nothing which is my actual hope.

UPDATE: This is just a reminder that you should vote by NAME and not by NUMBER. There are 5 or so different ballots and the order of the names varies. It is randomized as a security measure.