Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Document shows NRA money helped its chief search for personal mansion

  • Money
  • by Mike Spies
  • August 11, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre.

In news reports this week, the National Rifle Association’s outside counsel, William A. Brewer III, has insisted that “not a cent” of the nonprofit’s money was “ultimately spent” on a plan to buy a multimillion-dollar Dallas mansion for top executive Wayne LaPierre.

But a document obtained by ProPublica shows that NRA money was used to help facilitate the purchase of a 10,000-square-foot Texas mansion for LaPierre, setting off alarms within the nonprofit. In response to questions about the transaction, the NRA on Thursday did not provide a comment or say whether the funds were eventually returned.

NRA accountants flagged a $70,000 payment to WBB Investments LLC in a document titled “List of Top Concerns for the Audit Committee.” They asked the audit committee to examine the payment, which they said was not properly documented.

The memo warned of the payment to a company with a “vague description, company didn’t exist and address of business was the home of the Chief Accounting Officer of AcMc” — a reference to Ackerman McQueen, the NRA’s longtime advertising firm.

Ackerman has acknowledged that at the time it was helping LaPierre, who was reportedly concerned about personal security after a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, find a safe retreat in Dallas. But the accounting record of payment to the affiliated LLC has not been previously reported.

Now, Ackerman has turned over records related to LaPierre’s house search to the New York attorney general’s office, which is investigating whether the NRA violated its tax-exempt status with lavish spending and insider deals. The Wall Street Journal first reported LaPierre’s housing plan, and attributed to an anonymous source a description of a $70,000 transfer of cash from the NRA to an unnamed limited liability company affiliated with Ackerman. Disclosure of the arrangement has escalated tensions between the NRA and the company that was once its most highly paid vendor.

For its part, the NRA maintains that Ackerman conceived and shepherded the idea to purchase the home for LaPierre and his wife, Susan. The plan, the gun group says, was ultimately rejected by the organization after its “full terms” and Ackerman’s intent to use NRA money were disclosed to LaPierre.

According to Ackerman, however, the deal originated with LaPierre. “The truth is that Mr. LaPierre decided to proactively propose his plan to leave his current residence,” the firm said in a statement issued this week. “Acting outside the parties’ Services Agreement, Mr. LaPierre sought the involvement of Ackerman McQueen.”

Emails authored by an Ackerman staffer that were described to The Washington Post demonstrate that Susan LaPierre took an active interest in the luxury home’s layout. “The men’s master bedroom and bathroom need some changes,” the email said. “There isn’t much closet space. Susan will have specific input here and can probably work with the eventual interior designer to get this accomplished.”

According to the Post, the LaPierres sought to close the real estate deal on July 1, 2018. Within the next two weeks, the NRA’s accountants produced their audit committee document flagging the $70,000 transaction.

The entry on a 2018 NRA accounting document that describes the transfer of NRA funds into an LLC. The purpose of the transaction, we now know, was to help Wayne LaPierre purchase a mansion in Dallas.

The NRA accountants did not know at the time the purpose of the $70,000 transaction. According to the document, they viewed the payment as a violation of the NRA’s “accounts payable procedures.”

The NRA and Ackerman worked closely together for almost four decades. The firm shaped the organization’s public image and devised its most memorable ad campaigns, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars annually.

In April, the gun group sued Ackerman in a Virginia state court over its billing practices, and it soon after ended its relationship with the firm. Ackerman denied the allegations, and it eventually responded with a defamation suit against the NRA. The former partners are now tied up in litigation.

Ackerman has been involved in other transactions that benefited LaPierre. In May, according to NRA records anonymously posted online, the firm paid more than half a million dollars for LaPierre’s custom suits and exotic travel.

The audit committee document was part of an effort by NRA accountants last year to address a broad array of questionable transactions and business arrangements that they believed could threaten the organization’s tax-exempt status. The deals involved top NRA executives, favored vendors and consultants. Brewer, the NRA’s outside counsel, at the time called the document “obsolete and misleading.”

This month, ProPublica reported on another document authored by a former senior employee in the NRA’s treasurer’s office. The former employee, who resigned in November, alleged that Brewer tried to impede the accountants’ work. She said that he “intimidated NRA staff and threatened our professional livelihoods,” using coercive tactics such as the compilation of “burn books,” which were filled with sensitive personal information that could be used as leverage against staffers.

Brewer and his firm denied the allegations. A firm partner told ProPublica that “the notion that our research team compiles opposition research, or ‘burn books,’ regarding clients or their employees is simply not true.”

This story first appeared in ProPublica on Aug. 8, 2019. It was produced in partnership with The Trace.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Spies

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
House approves big municipal aid pledge, tax incentive bills
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

The House approved bills Wednesday pledging $100 million-plus in new municipal aid and offering tax incentives to attract data centers.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Boston Fed chief predicts strong economic recovery begins in 2nd half of 2021 if vaccine reaches enough people
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A strong economic rebound also depends on states helping those hit hardest by COVID-19, a federal reserve official said.

A pledge to share sales tax receipts with towns still goes unfulfilled. Was it a case of fiscal bait-and-switch?
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Hundreds of millions of dollars have yet to arrive, leaving municipal leaders wary of new proposed aid.

Finance panel eyes cap on property tax hikes, gears up for another battle over CT’s credit card
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Lawmakers raised bills to cap property tax hikes, and potentially battle Gov. Ned Lamont for control of Connecticut’s borrowing.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The historical basis of zoning begs for reform
by Lawrence Rizzolo

Discussions of race are fraught with emotion. Witness the zoning reforms being discussed in our legislature. I will attempt to advance a dispassionate argument that is based on government-sponsored racism that occurred during my lifetime and led to the structural problems that persist today.

Opinion Lamont must stop waffling on the Killingly power plant issue
by Tennyson Benedict

On January 19, Gov. Ned Lamont gave his bluntest comments yet regarding the controversial Killingly natural gas plant, saying, “I don’t want to build Killingly.”  Yet, Lamont still refuses to wield his executive authority to actually stop its construction, and instead offers vague suggestions that market forces will stop the plant’s construction.

Opinion Religious freedom is less than righteousness
by Spencer Hill

The CT Viewpoints opinion “Religious freedom is more than religion” shows just how entrenched is the sincerely held belief that one man’s notion of “freedom” dictates the liberty of others.

Opinion To boost economy, state should invest in the ‘last mile’ of broadband connectivity
by Thomas J. Peters, Ph.D

In his budget address on February 10,   Gov. Ned Lamont announced his intent to expand broadband connectivity in Connecticut, an effort to be lauded. Connecticut enjoys a significant competitive advantage for economic development in the Connecticut Education Network (CEN), “ a 2,500 route mile, all optical, high-performance internet network.”

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO