Wayne LaPierre

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Barr: LaPierre Has Initiated Payment

January 7, 2025 by 3 Comments

According to a letter from NRA President Bob Barr, Wayne LaPierre has “initiated” payment of the $4.6 million that the New York jury determined was owed to the NRA. The letter was a “dear colleague” letter posted on Facebook in the Members Take Back the NRA group. This letter was sent out on Monday afternoon.

Colleagues:

On behalf of the Special Litigation Committee (SLC), I am pleased to announce another step forward in the NRA’s efforts to fully resolve its legal battle with the NYAG.

Following the Court’s final judgment entered on December 11, 2024, the NRA today received notice from counsel for Wayne LaPierre that his client has initiated payment of more than $4.6 million. The payment is intended to satisfy the final judgment. It does not represent a compromise, release, or settlement of legal claims by the NRA.

As previously noted, all payments relating to the final judgment are made to the NRA – not by the NRA. The NRA vigorously supports the pursuit of payments from other individual defendants, including former CFO Wilson “Woody” Phillips and former NRA executive Joshua Powell. We wrote to the NYAG today regarding both remaining payments.

I appreciate Wayne’s compliance with the court’s order. This is another step forward in our journey to fully resolve these matters – in the interests of our millions of loyal members. We now call upon the NYAG to collect and remit other payments owed to the Association.

I am proud that, collectively, we are pursuing improvements to our governance in support of our mission and the members we serve. There has never been a more promising time for the Association and its fight for freedom.

Thank you for your continued support.
Warm Regards,
Bob Barr, NRA President

According to prior settlements with Woody Phillips and Josh Powell, they have agreed to repay with interest the NRA $2 million and $100,000 respectively. These settlement were made with the New York Attorney General’s Office.

Reading through the letter, I do have some questions. When Barr says “initiated payment”, is this for the full amount plus interest in one check or is it a partial payment that will be coming over time? I would wager that very few of my readers could just write a check for $4.6 million. That it is presumed that Wayne can do it is an indication of how much money he has been paid in salary and bonuses over the years.

Moreover, will the Board of Directors be seeking reimbursement for monies paid to P. Kent Correll for Wayne LaPierre’s defense? I know there is a resolution seeking just that which will be presented to the Board on Saturday. Under New York Not for Profit Corporation Law, indemnification is not allowed where the person has been judged liable to the corporation, unless the court approves. (See § 721 through § 725) I know of no approval that was forthcoming on this from Judge Cohen.

While Barr is patting the SLC and himself on the back for their role in this case, it should go without saying that the need for the Special Litigation Committee is long over. One hopes the Board makes that clear this weekend when the resolve to dissolve the SLC. Additionally, the upcoming Board election will determine whether “improvements to our governance” will be superficial window-dressing or meaningful change. Leaving any of the cabal on the Board would be a vote in favor of the former rather than the latter.

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Transparency? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Transparency

December 31, 2024 by 5 Comments

One of the key pledges of the reform candidates is transparency. It is one of our core values. The members of the NRA have been kept in the dark for much too long.

A friend mentioned something dealing with the NRA’s 2023 Form 990 to me and I decided to investigate a little further. Part VI of the form asks about an organization’s governance, management, and disclosure. All organizations are required to answer all the questions in Part VI though Federal law doesn’t mandate any particular form of management structures, operational policies, or disclosure practices. That said, the IRS does consider the answers to these questions as being helpful in ensuring tax compliance.

There are two questions in particular dealing with transparency as evidenced by disclosure and documentation. They are Part VI, Lines 8a and 8b.

From the IRS Form 990 Instructions:

Answer “Yes” on lines 8a and 8b if the organization contemporaneously documented by any means permitted by state law every meeting held and written action taken during the organization’s tax year by its governing body and committees with authority to act on behalf of the governing body (which ordinarily don’t include advisory boards). Documentation permitted by state law can include approved minutes, email, or similar writings that explain the action taken, when it was taken, and who made the decision. For this purpose, contemporaneous means by the later of (1) the next meeting of the governing body or committee (such as approving the minutes of the prior meeting), or (2) 60 days after the date of the meeting or written action. If the answer to either line 8a or 8b is “No,” explain on Schedule O (Form 990) the organization’s practices or policies, if any, regarding documentation of meetings and written actions of its governing body and committees with authority to act on its behalf. If the organization had no committees, answer “No” to line 8b.

As you can see in the screen shot below, the NRA answered Yes to 8a and No to 8b. This means that the NRA kept contemporaneous minutes of their Board meetings (8a) but the committees of the Board did not (8b). The committees authorized to act on behalf of the full board include the Executive Committee, the Audit Committee, and the Special Litigation Committee.

Let’s go to a screen shot of the relevant portion of Schedule O to see the explanation of why the NRA answered No on Part VI, Line 8b.

We see that the Executive Committee kept documentation in the form of approved minutes. That’s good.

We also see that the Audit Committee kept documentation of their actions in the form of both approved minutes and written reports. That’s good as well.

And then there is the Special Litigation Committee which meets “informally”.

Informally? You are meeting to discuss litigation that originally called for the dissolution of the NRA and you are only meeting “informally”? WTF!

Whose idea was it to meet “informally” and what was the rationale behind it? Was the purpose to keep the rest of the Board and the members of the NRA in the dark? Mind you, the discussions on the litigation between the members of the SLC and the attorneys from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, would have been privileged and not ordinarily discoverable by the NY Attorney General’s Office.

I have been told by one board member when he questioned this that the SLC always met in executive session and thus didn’t keep minutes. So is executive session normally considered “informal”? While I am not a lawyer or an expert on NY Not for Profit Law, I really don’t think so.

Then there is the whole business of approving almost $200 million in invoices for legal fees and only documenting it by email. While a valid method per the IRS, the amount of money expended would seem to demand much more documentation and in a more formal manner. This is especially true as this has drained the coffers of the NRA. Moreover, who received these emails and were they made available to the Board as a whole?

The whole rationale for even having a Special Litigation Committee was that both Wayne LaPierre and John Frazer were named defendants in the NY trial. In a normal litigation, they would have been the two most involved as CEO/EVP and General Counsel. This leads me to ask whether either of them met with the SLC and the attorneys to discuss the litigation and its strategies. Did Wayne get special briefings on the litigation from Bill Brewer and his associates? I can’t imagine Wayne would just go along his merry way staying in the dark about the trial other than what concerned him directly without asking questions of Brewer. Remember, Wayne was in charge of keeping the NRA in existence so as to further his own lavish lifestyle.

This whole lack of transparency with regard to the decisions of the SLC just stinks. Documentation of almost $200 million in legal billings merely by email also reeks. While the SLC will probably be officially disbanded at the NRA Board of Directors’ winter meeting in Dallas, this is an issue that demands answers. At the very least, an audit – preferably a forensic audit – of the billings by Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, is called for.

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Claw Back Of Wayne’s Legal Expenses

December 19, 2024 by 5 Comments

NRA Director Dennis Fusaro sent me this about a week ago. It is a resolution that will be presented at the NRA Board of Directors’ meeting in January to be held in Texas. Dennis is urging a claw back of some of the legal expenses that the NRA paid on behalf of Wayne LaPierre in the New York trial.

It is my understanding from Dennis that a newer copy of the resolution has been submitted with more signatures attached. I am posting this copy with his permission.

You will note that the resolution specifies that Brewer Attorneys and Counselors cannot be used in this effort. I like that!

I think Dennis has a point. While it might be hard to argue that 100% of the legal fees expended on behalf of Wayne should be clawed back, the jury’s finding does negate any expectation that the NRA (and its members!) are responsible for the whole amount.

It will be interesting to see where the Board goes with this.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Nepotism Lives On At The NRA

March 9, 2024 by 9 Comments

One might be under the impression that the NRA has cleaned up its act, put new procedures in place, is respectful of the member’s money, and that the misdeeds of the LaPierre era are never to be repeated. Indeed, that is the premise of the NRA attorney’s arguments as they head into the next phase of the New York trial. Attorney Sarah Rogers of Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, wrote in a letter to Judge Cohen, “The remainder of the trial should focus on the sole remaining triable issue of fact: whether any of the statutory violations established in the jury phase are continuing or are imminently likely to reoccur.”

Unfortunately, as I found out yesterday from multiple sources, regardless of the new procedures, nepotism and the disrespect for the members’ money lives on at the NRA. That is because a mere 21 days after Wayne LaPierre’s resignation from the NRA became effective, his niece Colleen Sterner was promoted to be Director of Events for Advancement. She will continue to live and work from her home in Nebraska. According to my sources, insiders are saying her salary is estimated to be in the $300,000 range.

Making the promotion was Tyler Schropp, the Executive Director of the NRA Office of Advancement, and the second highest compensated employee at the NRA according to the NRA’s 2022 Form 990. His total compensation was reported to be $854,219. As exhibits in the New York trial make clear, Schropp went by the “Wayne said/Wayne OK’ed it” modus operandi and actual procedures and documentation be damned.

The NRA Employee Handbook, Sec. C1.12, states that relatives of current employees including nieces and nephews can be hired if qualified. Sterner was first hired by the NRA in 2015 to work for the Women’s Leadership Forum which was led by her Aunt Susan (LaPierre) on a volunteer basis. Sterner supposedly helped organize “national events” but, as an article in The New Yorker points out, her assignments tended to be basic tasks such as helping out with registration.

According to Andrew Arulanandam, an N.R.A. spokesperson, Sterner “played a leading role in producing” the affair. Yet one of the summit’s organizers told me, “I’d never met Colleen before the event started, but Susan had mentioned she’d be part of the staff. She didn’t work at headquarters, and she wasn’t on the regular planning calls or meetings that we had. Her status was never clear to me.”

Internal N.R.A. records show that Sterner was assigned a half dozen basic responsibilities, such as providing “registration support as needed” and serving as a point of contact for a trap and skeet shooting activity. Multiple people who worked the summit said that it was often difficult to locate Sterner.

The article in The New Yorker by Mike Spies which includes many interviews with NRA employees casts serious doubts on her actual work for the NRA. This correlates with what my own sources have told me about Sterner. I would say read the entire article and make up your own mind about whether Sterner is now qualified for a $300,000 director level position. While Spies does write for The Trace and I would disagree with much of his conclusions, the guy gets his facts correct.

The private jet and helicopter flights that the jury in the New York trial found Wayne LaPierre liable for repaying include those that diverted to Nebraska to pick up Sterner as well as a helicopter flight to a NASCAR race in which her husband Terry was a passenger. It is also why Wayne was found to have breached his fiduciary duty under the Non-Profit Corporation Law.

The NRA is currently recruiting for a Meetings Manager. This would be at least one level below a director. Requirements include a college degree, 5+ years of experience, and preferably hold the Certified Meeting Professional designation. Part of the job requirements including contract review and negotiations. Unless I am grossly mistaken, I just don’t see Sterner holding the requisite qualifications other than, perhaps, a college degree.

One has to wonder if the promotion of Sterner to be Director of Events for Advancement was not a quid pro quo negotiated by LaPierre with Schropp in his final days at the NRA. It would not surprise me in the least if it were. Given that Judge Cohen was reportedly leaning away from appointing a monitor to oversee the NRA, this could and should give pause to that. It is more evidence that new leadership is needed, that the house (including upper level NRA managers) must be cleansed, and that the Old Guard and their supporters cast out if the NRA is to be saved as an effective Second Amendment organization. Members, current, former, and future, are not going to donate unless this happens.

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NRA Trial – It Is Now In The Hands Of The Jury

February 16, 2024 by 2 Comments

The trial began on January 8th with the attorneys for the New York Attorney General’s Office making their case against the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, Woody Phillips, and John Frazer for breaches of the Estates Powers & Trust Law, breaches of fiduciary duties under the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, related party transactions, violation of New York’s whistleblower law, and false filings. Josh Powell had earlier entered into a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $100,000 in restitution. The state’s case was concluded on February 5th and then the attorneys for the NRA and the individual defendants began to make their cases for acquittal. Finally, today both sides gave their closing arguments and the jury will begin deliberation tomorrow.

In the interim, Wayne LaPierre’s reign over the NRA ended on January 31st. He announced his resignation on January 5th. One thing I did notice almost immediately after LaPierre’s announcement is that the attorneys from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, went from “keeping Wayne out of jail” to saying it was “all Wayne’s fault”. They have argued that Wayne, Woody, and company kept the NRA Board of Directors in the dark and, as such, the NRA can’t be held responsible for their actions.

The New York Attorney General’s Office’s Second Amended Complaint listed 15 causes of action against the NRA and the individual defendants. At the conclusion of the state’s case, attorneys for the NRA asking for a directed verdict saying, in effect, the Attorney General’s Office had not proved their case. Likewise, attorneys for the individual defendants argued that they were not liable under some of the causes of action. This past Monday, February 13th, Judge Cohen ruled on these motions. He rejected the NRA’s argument that the 1st Cause of Action – Breach of the Estates Powers & Trustees Law be dismissed over “vagueness”. He dismiss similar causes of action (6, 7, and 8) against the individual defendants holding that they could not be classified as “trustees” under the EPTL. With the exception of the related party transaction involving LaPierre which he dismissed today, all the other charges against the individual defendants remain.

One thing that has been often overlooked is that the victims in this case are those of us that are members of the NRA. Beyond paying for the private planes, suits, and trips for LaPierre, it has been our dues and contributions that have been used to pay the legal bills for both the NRA and the individual defendants. While I can’t speak for Woody Phillips, I am sure that both LaPierre and Frazer will submit bills to the NRA for their legal expenses to be reimbursed under the Directors and Officers insurance policy. This would be over and above what is being spent with Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors where it takes approximately the dues from 22 annual members to pay for one hour of legal representation.

I will cover the closing arguments in a separate post in order to keep this post from being too long.

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Quote Of The Day

February 2, 2024 by

While I have been following the NRA’s trial in New York, I have been holding off writing about it until the New York Attorney General’s Office has rested their case. Based upon what I have read, that appears to be this coming Monday, February 5th. There is a lot there and I want to make sense of it all before tendering my complete opinion.

That said, the quote of the day comes from Stephen Gutowski of The Reload. It involves the testimony of NRA Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer.

Stephen wrote:

In it, the NRA’s top lawyer defended his integrity. When asked if LaPierre had breached his trust when he failed to disclose his now-admitted use of NRA funds for personal expenses, Frazer said he wouldn’t characterize it that way.

“I think Mr. LaPierre has always been very open and honest with me in terms of communications that we would have and then trying to rectify the issues,” he said.

But, when asked if LaPierre breached the trust of NRA members, he took an agonized pause before responding.

“I’d have to say probably yes,” Frazer testified.

LaPierre walked slowly out of the courtroom–and the NRA–on that note.

While I am glad that Mr. Frazer is finally recognizing that Wayne LaPierre breached the trust of the NRA members, it is sad that Frazer is only now coming out and saying it. His fiduciary duty which included a duty of loyalty was to the organization which means the members and not to Wayne LaPierre. He is not alone in that breach of fiduciary duty. There are many members of the Board of Directors who likewise breached their duty in their loyalty to Wayne instead of the members. Whether it was due to ignorance or a willful choice, it really doesn’t matter.

The victim in this trial has never been the state of New York. It has always been the members of the NRA who paid their dues and donated what they could to the organization because they believed in the mission. In return, they were used as the personal piggy banks to support the avaricious lifestyles of the Millies, the Waynes, the Susans, and those of their ilk.

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Another AG Weighs In On NRA EVP Succession

January 17, 2024 by

As I posted last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) endorsed former NRA-ILA General Counsel Wade Callender to succeed Wayne LaPierre as the permanent Executive VP and CEO of the NRA. He was joined in endorsing Callender by Texas St. Sen. Drew Springer (R-30th).

Now Callender has been endorsed for the position by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes (R-UT).

Obviously, two of the state attorney generals who worked with Callender in submitting amicus briefs in support of the NY State Rifle and Pistol Association in the Bruen case think very highly of him. I would not be surprised if more of these state attorney generals weigh in with support of Callender.

This must cause a bit of dismay in Fairfax where those still in denial that there is anything wrong within the NRA seem to be backing Charles Cotton to be the successor to Wayne.

Too bad!