NRA sues longtime contractor, claiming smear campaign

The National Rifle Association sued its most prominent contractor on Wednesday, even as the gun group declared that it was “now moving forward” from an ugly power struggle that had consumed its leadership at the highest levels.

In the lawsuit, the group accused Ackerman McQueen, its longtime advertising firm, of breaching its contract by orchestrating a smear campaign against the NRA and its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre. The legal action came about a month after the NRA filed a separate lawsuit against Ackerman, asserting that the company had concealed details about how it spent the roughly $40 million that it and its affiliates receive annually from the association.

The previous lawsuit touched off a power struggle that pitted Oliver North, an employee of Ackerman who also served as the NRA’s president, against LaPierre. The dispute unfolded at the NRA’s annual convention last month in Indianapolis — where President Donald Trump addressed the group — and culminated in North’s ouster.

The schism has been a shock, given how close the two organizations have been. Ackerman, based in Oklahoma, continues to operate NRATV, the NRA’s online streaming service, and has defined the group’s voice, going back to the “I’m the NRA” campaign in the 1980s. LaPierre’s wife, Susan, once worked for the company, and Tony Makris, Ackerman’s top executive in the Washington area, is a former business associate of LaPierre’s.

But the latest lawsuit lays out how bitter the fallout has become.

“For decades, the NRA trusted AMc to shape and disseminate authorized public communications on its behalf,” the group wrote in the lawsuit. “Unfortunately, in a remarkable, material breach of that trust, AMc undertook a campaign to tarnish and ultimately destroy the public image of the NRA and its senior leadership.”

In a statement, Ackerman said, “Once again the National Rifle Association leadership’s new lawsuit is another reckless attempt to scapegoat Ackerman McQueen for the NRA’s own breakdown in governance, compliance and leadership.”

The dispute is connected to an investigation into the NRA’s tax-exempt status by Letitia James, the attorney general of New York. Last summer, threats of an investigation by James prompted the NRA to audit its contractors. The NRA has said Ackerman then refused to turn over key financial records, raising concerns about its billing practices. Ackerman has disputed those claims.

Last month, shortly before the NRA’s convention, LaPierre said North threatened that Ackerman would release damaging information unless LaPierre resigned. In recent days, the kind of information that was the subject of the threat was anonymously leaked. Among the details: LaPierre billed $275,000 for purchases at the Zegna luxury menswear boutique in Beverly Hills, and $267,000 on personal expenses, including air and limousine travel to the Bahamas, Florida, Nevada, Budapest and an Italian lake resort.

The NRA said that these details were actually among the records it had been seeking from Ackerman, and that many of the expenses were “incurred in connection with AMc projects, based on AMc’s advice.”

The gun group also said that it “was advised by multiple confidential sources that leaks were emanating from AMc” and that Ackerman had “flatly refused to ask any of its employees to affirm they had honored their confidentiality obligations.”

Ackerman said the NRA was making “shameless and inaccurate attacks on our integrity and our personnel.”

The new lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of $40 million as well as other damages and relief, claiming that Ackerman violated confidentiality clauses in its contract and its fiduciary duty.

The action came on the same day that the NRA’s board expressed fresh confidence in LaPierre.

“Wayne has been standing shoulder-to-shoulder with all of us for most of his professional life,” said a letter written by Carolyn Meadows, who replaced North as president, and 11 other prominent board members.

“He has our support,” it said. “A campaign to oust him failed — as the facts emerged, true motivations became apparent, and we agreed as to who should lead our fight for freedom. We are now moving forward.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

NRA sues longtime contractor, claiming smear campaign

The National Rifle Association sued its most prominent contractor on Wednesday, even as the gun group declared that it was “now moving forward” from an ugly power struggle that had consumed its leadership at the highest levels.

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