Erik Uebelacker

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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?

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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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Day Five And No Verdict In NRA Trial Yet

February 22, 2024 by

According to posts by Erik Uebelacker and Rachel Scharf, the jurors in the NRA’s New York trial have requested the transcript of Woody Phillips’ testimony. They still have not rendered a verdict as earlier this afternoon.

We do know however what they had for lunch!

One person asked what is taking so long. Uebelacker responded that this is a complicated case and I would agree. As he notes, it is like four trials in one. You have the NRA plus the three individual defendants.

As my friend Danny the Mac humorously noted, if the jurors are getting paid by their employers plus the court stipend plus lunch, why not wait until after lunch on Friday to render a verdict. He’s got a point.

UPDATE: Rachel Scharf has this on jurors’ request for more info.

UPDATE II: According to a tweet by Erik Uebelacker, the three witnesses that Rachel Scharf references above are Charles Cotton, David Coy, and Sonja Rowling. Presumably, the attorneys for both sides will need to examine these transcripts before Judge Cohen releases them to the jurors.

That said, I find it very interesting that the jurors want to re-examine the testimony of the chair and vice-chair of the Audit Committee (Cotton and Coy respectively). Moreover, I understand that Coy is chair of the Finance Committee. With the addition of Rowling to the mix it would seem they are interested in improper expenditures and who approved them.

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Tomorrow May Be The Day When The Jury Returns

February 22, 2024 by

Since I’m not in New York and since the state refuses to televise trials, I have been relying upon the reports of others with regard to some aspects of the NRA trial. Documents that have been filed I can access but I can’t see what is happening in the courtroom.

For the day to day reports on witnesses and the arguments from both sides, I have been depending upon NRA Watch. I do realize that it is a tool of Bloomberg’s Everytown but it has fairly reported courtroom proceedings. Other sources such as Courthouse News Service, NRA In Danger, and Stephen Gutowski’s The Reload have been very good but not quite as up to date.

Twitter or X has been very helpful in following the trial since the closing arguments and the case has been sent to the jury. Erik Uebelacker (@Uebey) has been very good. A new source I discovered today, Rachel Scharf of Law360, has been even better.

Here are a couple of her posts from earlier today:

Given this tweet by Erik Uebelacker, I think we are getting close to the end of the jury’s deliberations. They may have skipped around but my gut tells me that they have been taking each item in order.

I also received a text from Judge Phil Journey who also expects a decision as soon as tomorrow. Given his experience as a trial judge, I’d say he has a good feel for how juries behave.

I’m not making any bets on what the jury will return. They have asked for all the exhibits, have sent multiple notes to Judge Cohen including one that asks the meaning of “monetary harm to the NRA”, and a computer with trial transcripts. With the exception of the last item, I believe that have gotten what they have requested. This leads me to believe that they are doing their due diligence, examining every charge carefully, and are working hard to reach the various verdicts fairly. I don’t think anyone will be able to say that they didn’t do their jobs.

So, with any luck, we will see the jury return with their verdicts sometime tomorrow. I plan to keep checking Twitter throughout the day and will report if I hear anything.