National Rifle Association Hit with $100 Million Counter-Suit
Ackerman McQueen is biting the hand that feeds it. The longtime PR firm for the National Rifle Association is counter-suing the gun group for a staggering $100 million, alleging the NRA is dishonestly attempting to sever business ties — for the benefit of the gun group’s top-dollar legal firm.
The PR firm’s suit was filed Thursday in Virginia state court, just a day after the NRA sued Ackerman McQueen for $40 million, accusing the firm of “fomenting” an attempted coup and leaking confidential documents. The counterclaim sheds new light on the power struggle that has roiled the gun world. And it helps explain why the NRA’s outside counsel has been drawn into the firefight. (For more detailed background on the turmoil read “WTF Is Happening at the NRA, Explained.”)
Ackerman McQueen has shaped the NRA’s public image for decades — casting movie-Moses Charlton Heston as the group’s president, transforming longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre from a meek lobbyist into a culture warrior and producing everything from glossy magazines to the NRA’s massive annual conference that draws tens of thousands of attendees. The PR firm is also responsible for launching the gun group’s streaming service, NRATV, and shaping its extremist messaging. Ackerman McQueen’s billings have recently topped $40 million a year.
The first sign of acrimony came in April, when the NRA filed a lawsuit against Ackerman McQueen alleging the firm was not participating in an audit that was intended to prepare the NRA for regulatory scrutiny of the group’s non-profit status. That lawsuit, in turn, sparked a leadership struggle at the NRA’s national convention, in which LaPierre fended off a “coup” attempt, allegedly mounted by Ackerman McQueen and its highly-paid TV talent, Oliver North, who also served as the NRA’s president.
LaPierre won the short-term battle: North was forced to step down from his ceremonial post with the NRA. (North has not responded to repeated interview requests.) But a slate of documents, which the NRA alleges were leaked “maliciously” by Ackerman McQueen, has since cast a harsh light on the NRA’s spending. One set of leaked documents revealed LaPierre spent hundreds of thousands of member dollars on luxury suits and global travel. Other internal memos alleged the NRA has been squandering millions on excessive legal fees, spending as much as $100,000 a day on its law firm, Brewer Attorneys & Counselors.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/pr-firm-countersues-nra-100-million-839628/
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