NRA EVP Search Committee

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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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More Thoughts On NRA EVP Search Committee

February 11, 2024 by 3 Comments

Since my post yesterday on Marion Hammer’s letter to the NRA-EVP search committee, I’ve received a copy of Charles Cotton’s announcement of the search committee and have spoken with others including a former board member.

Two hours before Marion Hammer’s email went out, NRA Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer sent this to the entire Board of Directors:

Dear Fellow NRA Board Members:

At the request of several NRA board members, during our last board meeting in January, I noted that we would soon form a search committee to assist with the recruiting and placement of a new EVP and CEO of the National Rifle Association of America.

In accordance with NRA Bylaws, I am pleased to announce the creation of this select committee, the EVP Search Committee. This Committee is charged with determining the process and timing of the selection of appropriate candidates to present to the Nominating Committee and, ultimately, the full Board of Directors.

The members of the EVP Search Committee are:

Congressman Bob Barr – Chairman
Professor David Coy
Carol Frampton, Esq.
Curtis Jenkins, Esq.
Sheriff Jay Printz
Barbara Rumpel
Chief Blaine Wade

Please join me in expressing our gratitude to our fellow Board Members for their dedication to the NRA and their willingness to serve in this important role.

Respectfully,


Charles L. Cotton
NRA President

Two things stand out in Cotton’s letter. First, this committee will control the process and timing of the selection of candidates for the permanent CEO and Executive VP position. Second, any person or persons selected will go to the Nominating Committee before being presented to the Board of Directors. In other words, while officially the Board selects the EVP, the Nominating Committee will select the actual candidate and present the Board with a fait accompli.

This committee is a selection of people that will represent the interests of what I call the Old Guard or my friend calls “the cabal”. You have David Coy who failed in his fiduciary duties as a member of the Audit Committee. We might not have a trial in New York if he and others had done their job properly. You have Jay Printz who, at least through last September, was a stout defender of Wayne LaPierre. You have Barbara Rumpel whose primary connection to the Second Amendment seems to be as a “Friend of Susan”. None of these people are change agents.

Reevaluating Marion’s email to this committee barely two hours after it was announced, it is evident that she is telling them that NRA staff such as Interim EVP Andrew Arulanadam and CFO Sonya Rowling are non-starters as candidates for the permanent EVP position. When she says, “reach out to Board members for information and advice”, she means listen to her and the Old Guard or Cabal on what constitutes an acceptable candidate. Her call to be “transparent” with the Board doesn’t really mean transparency for all but rather the committee should report each and every move to her and the Old Guard before they actually make it.

Going back to Marion’s original call for a search committee, in retrospect she was not calling out Charles Cotton but rather telling him what she and the Old Guard wanted. She wanted a search committee comprised of Board members responsive to the Old Guard. She was providing cover for Cotton to seemingly be responsive to the call for a search committee while keeping it under his and the Old Guard’s tight grip.

Contrast this with what was suggested by Buz Mills. He called for a search committee of Board members with business experience selected from the floor by the BOD. This group would then use the services of an outside executive search agency to recruit, evaluate, and screen suitable candidates. In other words, they would find people capable of running a large non-profit whose values were consistent with fighting for Second Amendment rights. This might be someone like a Mike Fifer who ran Sturm, Ruger for many years as CEO. The search committee would then present the candidates to the Board for a “meet and greet”. I have seen this many times in academia when a new dean or college president is being selected. You will notice there is not mention of interference by the Nominating Committee in the process. The Board as a whole would discuss the candidates and then vote on them. This would take it out of the hands of the Old Guard or Cabal and put it in the hands of the entire Board.

I don’t know the timetable for a selection. Would it be in time for the next Board meeting? Or would a candidate be selected before Judge Cohen could impose a special monitor assuming the jury finds the NRA failed in its duties to its members? Speed would be in the interest of Charles Cotton and the Cabal. Speed, like this whole committee, would not be in the interests of the members of the NRA. That would be served by the Buz Mills’ model of finding a new EVP.

To throw one more wrinkle into this, given the precarious state of the NRA’s finances it may be up to a bankruptcy judge to make the decision on an interim basis. You have to ask why did former President Trump make his speech at the Great American Outdoor Show instead of at the Annual Meeting in May. I’m sure Mr. Trump would not want to be making his speech to the NRA faithful while the organization was in the midst of a bankruptcy trial.

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I Actually Agree With Marion On This

February 10, 2024 by 7 Comments

As weird as it may seem I find myself somewhat in agreement with Marion Hammer. I was forwarded an email from her to the NRA-EVP Search Committee.

She made the point that the committee needs to look outside the current NRA operations for the person that can be a success as the next CEO and EVP of the NRA.

Here is her email and the members of the committee:

TO: The Members of the NRA-EVP Search Committee:

Congressman Bob Barr – Chairman
Professor David Coy
Carol Frampton, Esq.
Curtis Jenkins, Esq.
Sheriff Jay Printz
Barbara Rumpel
Chief Blaine Wade

Friends,

At the risk of being redundant, I must say that these are tough times for the NRA.  The right leader or leaders is essential for NRA’s future.  I say leaders because I’m not sure that you can find one person who can do the job.  

You might need someone to be the public face of NRA. To do the TV and all media coverage and essentially be the person out front representing NRA and the work we do.

You also might need to find someone to be the workhorse.  Someone to make the tough decisions about running the day to day operations who won’t be afraid to “break some eggs to make an omelet”  and who isn’t afraid to terminate people who are only interested in themselves and not the NRA and our cause.

I seriously doubt that anyone currently involved with NRA operations meets either need.  Don’t be afraid to look outside of NRA for fresh new leaders who care about NRA.  Our members are depending on you to find the right person or persons.

When I look at you, I see 2 current NRA Officers, 2 lawyers, 2 law enforcement representatives and one average person.  None of you is what I would consider a high end business person, yet we must look at the business perspective.   

Whatever you decide, Is up to you.  I wouldn’t want to be in your position with the world watching me and expecting perfection.  Nonetheless, you must live in a “fishbowl” until the job is done, and then you must live with your decisions.

Please take your time and be thorough. Please be transparent with the NRA Board and don’t be afraid to reach out to Board members for information and advice. Always remember that there are good business people with incredible business knowledge on the Board who are there to serve.  Use them.   

I wish you all the very best of luck as you embark on a mission that is essential for the future of NRA and our members.  

Marion Hammer

Now as to what bothers me in all of this.

The committee is composed of the same old Board members who allowed Wayne to get away with his grifting, who didn’t object to Brewer’s billing, and who allowed a whole host of things that has led the NRA to be reduced to a shadow of its former self. Unless I am greatly mistaken and we the members get really lucky, anyone chosen by this bunch will not renovate nor reinvigorate the NRA. The organization will continue to muddle along with same old mindset appealing to an ever aging membership.

Interesting that Buz Mills was left off the list. Likewise, it is interesting Charles Cotton is off the list. Could this be so that Cotton could be their pick for the next EVP? God forbid!