NRA’s attorneys just filed a motion to exclude evidence of a (whole lot) of previous bad conduct on the part of NRA leadership, going back to the 1990s. The many exhibits attached give lots of insights in how things have been managed, and some are documents the NRA legal team fought to keep secret. It’s funny–the NRA attorneys seem to think the way to keep something secret is to file it in court and put it online.
The Millie Hallow deposition. She was LaPierre’s “right hand woman.” She admits to repaying the money she embezzled from D.C.’s government, says that her conviction for embezzlement wasn’t known to LaPierre when he hired her, but was known to an NRA contractor and to Carolyn Meadows. After it was exposed, “what I mostly remember are board members that were very supportive and thought I had value, and not surprising. . . .”
The Frenkel Report, which NRA’s attorneys had fought long to keep secret. As we had guessed, it was an investigation of Millie Hallow’s use of NRA money. Skip ahead to page 16 for the meat of it. An audit discovered that she’d charged over $500,000 to an NRA credit card. The most prominent charges were for clothing, followed by family travel and car repairs. “LaPierre believes that Hallow’s clothing expenses are job-related.” Chief of Staff Mary Corrigan was “extremely upset” at Hallow’s spending, including furnishing her new house at NRA expense. Because of this upset, “Phillips took over responsibility for reviewing Hallow’s card use.” In other words, the Chief of Staff was upset at the embezzlement, so we had someone else review Hallow’s account, who wouldn’t be.
Continuing. . . She also took cash advances from hotels and billed it to the NRA credit card. She charged four airline tickets, each of over a thousand dollars (first class?) to Puerto Rico, for herself, her husband, her son and his girlfriend. Not to mention using the NRA card to buy $1,129 in down comforters at Macy’s and $5,000 in auto repairs, and a loan payment of $1,255.
In the end, “Hallow caused to be paid to NRA the entirety of a bonus to cover the personal expenses.” They gave her a bonus to pay off her embezzlement? They caught an employee embezzling, and gave her a bonus?
We have to wonder if HQ was so completely corrupt that everyone had to protect everyone else, lest their own deeds be exposed? One of those situations where the city manager is corrupt, but the mayor can’t expose it without his own corruption becoming exposed, nor can the city council, because they’ve got their own scams, and so on. Not only refusing to fire an embezzler, but giving a bonus so they can reimburse the organization in that amount — that’s going very far!
The anonymous letter, a report from former NRA employees, that led to the investigation of Hallow. This is spicy! A lot beyond Hallow. NRA leadership spending a million to take people to the Super Bowl, annual cruises, LaPierre’s secret travel agent being paid a fortune, a million paid to a vendor for unknown services, Ackerman McQueen and PM Consulting taking as much as they want. Any employee tempted to complain being told they can be fired at any time. Remember, this is all 25 years ago. The corruption has been going on for a quarter century.
A 1998 complaint filed by former director Weldon Clark, attaching a bunch of documents. Lots on Marion Hammer, money laundering through state associations, rigging board elections, “Money Spent At Variance With Board Financial Policy: The Top Vendors.” The last (about halfway down the pdf) is impressive. Verbal contracts were being made to get around board requirements for approving contracts over $100,000. Of the 171 top vendors, “only a small handful” had written contracts.
Associated Television (David MacKenzie, who loaned the LaPierres his yacht) was a top vendor even back then, 25 years ago! Part of its business was producing and buying airtime for the “Wayne LaPierre Radio Show.” An invoice from Associated TV to NRA for $350,000 for commercials to promote LaPierre’s book (on which it’s likely he and not NRA got the royalties) “Guns, Crime and Freedom.” Other AT invoices that are beyond explanation: $150,000 for “network talk radio,” $290,000 for “NFL football and college games,” and so on. Hundreds of thousands changing hands based on an invoice with 2-6 words of explanation and no receipts or proof the money was actually laid out. The requirements that the president and a VP approve contracts over $100K being ignored, because there was no written contract. This has been going on for 25 years — the sums involved must exceed $100 million, and probably several times that, even a third or half of a billion in members’ money. No wonder the guy can afford a 100-foot yacht.
We should thank the NRA legal team for putting this all online!
NRA in Danger 
The Brewer team at its finest –
I reviewed the Frenkel report when I was on the board and honored my fiduciary duty to keep that confidential.
Now that it is public – Please note who the chair of the Audit committee was back during the Frenkel investigation – could it be that it is the same chair of the Audit committee today – David Coy …say it ain’t so…..
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As I’ve said before, it the organization was being run by our enemies, how could we tell the difference?
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For some reason, the name Willes Lee stuck in my head, when he got the long kiss goodbye. I could not remember why his name should be any more in my head than the rest of the board members. Then I remembered that long ago, we were asked to contact a board member each month, via email, and express our concerns about the NRA.
I got to looking in my contacts list, and he was one of the board members that I wrote to. His name stuck out to me because he was the only one who bothered to reply.
I don’t have a copy of the email, but his reply is still with me. I can’t say it word for word, but when I wrote to express my disgust with the top leadership, aka WLP, etc., his response was shocking.
Basically, he told me that I was the only member of the entire NRA that had ever contacted him with any concerns of any kind. The rest is kind of lost to my 63 year old memory, but mostly I recall it being fluff, like you would tell your 4 year old whose friend would not play with him that day. You know, “there, there little Timmy, maybe Bobby had a bad day, but tomorrow I am sure that he will play with you again.”
I do wish that I could find that reply, but I have changed computers and accounts a couple of times, and even if it were still out there somewhere, I don’t care to dig for it. I just know that his response at first shocked me, to think that no one had contacted him, when I thought that a number of people were contacting the board. And second it offended me, to think that he thought that I could just take a pat on the head and run along, keep paying your dues like a good little drone. Well I continue to pay my dues, but I no longer am the naive member I once was.
I am just one nobody who happens to be a member of the NRA. But that is what the strength of the NRA used to be, a whole bunch of nobody’s with the one thing in common, the preservation of our 2nd amendment rights, and to help spread that message in a positive way.
I don’t know who wrote the letter, acting as a sort of whistle blower, but they deserve thanks for the attempt to right the ship. As for Col. Lee, when I saw some of his social media posts, the thought came to mind that he was stepping in a big pile of something very smelly and it would come back to bite him and hard. My wish for everyone involved with the debacle that has become the NRA and it’s legal problems is that justice is served. Looking from the outside, I suspect that some of them are going to be spending some time being supported by the taxpayers, in a prison somewhere.
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Functionally NRA has a self-perpetuating board. The board is not regularly refreshed with new talent and new ideas. The nominating committee makes this possible by turning the NRA board into an insular and unresponsive body that ignores the needs of NRA members and the mission of the NRA. The board has become an ossified rubber stamp for the dictates of the LaPierre and Brewer duo. Consequently, the prognosis for NRA’s continuation is bleak. We are witnessing a case of corporate self-destruction.
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The Frenkel Report link requires a login to the court system. Guess Brewer managed to get that restricted.
Hopefully someone downloaded a copy.
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The “Anonymous Letter” is very interesting. Obviously written in the early to mid-2000s, after my father was pushed out of the chairs in ’97. Dad and the Board were trying to correct this stuff in ’96/’97, but Wayne managed to hold them off until after the ’97 Board elections (in which he managed to purge many of his critics from the Board — including almost taking out Dad), and then trotted out Heston at the ’97 Members’ Meeting to push Dad out of the VP position. Dad was finally pushed off the Board entirely in 2003, thanks to Wayne’s control of the magazines and the planting of many negative stories about him in big, anti-NRA media like the NY Times.
In ’96, a majority of the Board was prepared to fire Wayne for the chicanery, but they couldn’t muster the 2/3rds majority needed to actually fire him.
The writer of the letter obviously was high enough on the staff to see and hear about a lot of the crooked stuff going on, but not high enough to see that it was all being done with the blessings and support of Wayne.
Perhaps that’s why this is the first time I’ve seen this letter. If Dad had received it, I think he would have shown it to me and written about it. I was working closely with him from mid-2003 until his death in January 2005. I guess this anonymous writer was a Wayne sycophant and bought into the BS that the rift between Dad and Wayne was personal, so he didn’t consider bringing it to Dad.
What’s really astounding though, is that none of the anti-NRA media ran with any of this. If it did go to the NY Times, the Washington Post, and the AP, as the header suggests, why didn’t any of them report about it? If it was before 2005, I would have expected them to at least call Dad to ask about it, and if it was after 2005, I would have expected them to call me. Very strange, but very illuminating and damning to LaPierre and crew, especially in light of what we know now.
Just a reminder that David Coy is up for reelection in the coming NRA Director Elections.
Coy is the current 2nd VP, and was Chair of the Audit Committee throughout the 2000s and 2010s.
He remains Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee to this day.
It would be really good if NRA members sent a message by doing their best to keep Coy from being reelected.
And please don’t forget that there are 4 Reform Candidates trying to get on the ballot for the coming NRA Director Elections. Petitions can still be signed by NRA members, and are available at http://www.FirearmsCoalition.org.
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I’m really ashamed that as I was working on my easy pay life membership back then, in my early 20s, that I bought the propaganda against your father. I had a friend of a friend that said he would never join the NRA, despite being a huge gun guy. When asked why just said ‘Knox’. Really wished I’d asked him more about it at the time.
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At this juncture what is the point of voting for anyone given that NY State will most likely decapitate the senior leadership team and some or all of the BOD. I am a 40+ year life member and the entire organization needs to start from scratch. I haven’t voted in several years as what is the point when the game for 30+ years has been rigged in favor of a select few. Does anyone really believe the current structure and the ridiculous 76 BOD and associated committees are worth saving as I don’t.
The only things worth saving are the programs (hunter safety, competitions, training and similar long time programs). If the new NRA or whatever it is next year doesn’t have any interest in funding competitions then please give all of it to the CMP and stop the insanity. Having 20-30 shooters at a “National Championship” is a joke. Something has needed to change for the last ten years.
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