Yet Another LaPierre Deposition

This looks like the first of them, in the bankruptcy case.

P. 25: goes into his remark that he wouldn’t hire General Counsel John Frazer to handle a traffic ticket: he admits saying it, but says it was a joke.

P. 26: he doesn’t know if attorney Brewer bills his leased jet flights to NRA.

P. 32: he holds NRA to “high ethical standards.” (LOL!)

P. 40-41: he can’t remember his own cell phone number.

P. 73: he’s stressed NRA’s “compliance seminars” for employees, but has never attended one.

P. 90: former treasurer Woody Phillips is still being paid hundreds of thousands by NRA, he doesn’t know why.

P. 99-100: a member donated two hunting trips to NRA, he can’t say whether an officer or director might have taken them.

P. 102: $2-3 million was transferred from ILA to NRA. (ILA is a subdivision of NRA, but they keep separate financial books, because ILA is funded solely by member donations meant for political purposes. There were rumors that one of the reason Chris Cox was let go was because he was asked for money and pointed this out).

P. 120. His billing NRA for leased corporate jets on trips when only his wife or her niece was present was a problem, so it was decided he’d repay the $300,000 spent this way, which for tax purposes was treated as “excess benefits.” After this was disclosed on a form 990, he discussed with with many directors. “A lot of them just shook their heads about this.”

P. 120 on: discusses trips with wife to Super Bowl, NBA All Star game, Safari Club, etc. Apparently by leased jets.

P. 148-153: he knew of Oliver North’s arrangements with Ackerman-McQueen. (At time time when North was purged, the claim was that LaPierre and others knew nothing of these).

P. 155: Leased jet flight DC to Van Nuys and return, with unnamed guests. Over Memorial Day weekend. Might have flown with Tyler Schropp. Cost $65,468. P. 163: it was to meet with David Stanton, owner of MMP and Associated TV, both NRA vendors.

P. 168-169: Same to Nassau, in the Bahamas, with wife, her niece, and niece’s husband.

P. 170-171: Other trips to Santa Fe, and to NASCAR event in Miami, cost $18,835. Plus more to Dallas Safari Club, Weatherby Gala, Starkey Weekend Gala.

P. 187: he speaks of NRA’s “100%” review of compliance, but never checked out billings on Woody’s Phillips’ NRA AMEX card.

P. 189. Ackerman-McQueen loaned him one of their AMEX cards to cover his trip to Italy.

P. 193-94: he billed NRA for mosquito control at his home, since the bugs were bothering his security detail.

P. 198: Millie Hallow is still working for NRA, though he cannot remember her job title.

P. 198-208: she billed her son’s wedding to NRA via her AMEX card. Tony Macarench and Josh Powell told him this. He knew they didn’t like her, so when she denied it he “just assumed” it was their backbiting. She was recently told to repay it or be fired. “I thought that sent her message enough.” She’s still employed at NRA (at the time of the deposition) and at the same salary. He talked with Carolyn Meadows, Charles Cotton, and Willis Lee about this, and they agreed it was enough.

P. 209: in 2020, NRA paid Bill Brewer’s law form $15-20 million. (Actual figure, from the 2020 IRS 990, was nearly $24 million. That the CEO can be off by millions here speaks for itself).

P. 212: he made decision on bankruptcy filing, after consulting with the “Special Litigation Committee. Can’t explain why, when the SLC was created because he had a conflict of interest (being named as a defendant in the New York lawsuit), this wasn’t a conflict of interest.

P. 228: NRA sent $5 million to Brewer’s firm trust account, to cover costs of bankruptcy case.

P. 235: he didn’t tell treasurer Craig Spray about plans to file for bankruptcy. Has not talked to him since filing.

P. 238: clarifies that he talked to him on the phone. (At the time, it was announced that Spray resigned for health reasons, which Spray denied, said LaPierre just called him and said NRA was moving in a new direction — suggesting that Spray wasn’t part of that direction). New version of story: Spray was disabled by heart attack, wasn’t functional full-time, LaPierre just meant that the new direction meant a full-timer.

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