We already know National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre used the gun group's funds to pay for lavish trips abroad with his wife and to buy designer suits worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he also used NRA funds to buy a new home according to records turned over by the NRA's former marketing firm Ackerman McQueen.
When LaPierre was looking for a new house last year, he reportedly asked McQueen to find one for him and the gun lobby payed them at least $70,000 for their services.
The NRA says the plan to use the gun lobby's funds to buy a new mansion for LaPierre was McQueen's idea, but McQueen says it was LaPierre's idea and they seem to have the evidence to prove it.
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.”
In the battle over who is the biggest grifter -- Ackerman McQueen, LaPierre, or the NRA's legal counsel William Brewer -- Brewer still seems to hold the lead but LaPierre is edging closer to him.
Of all of their various schemes, however, LaPierre's probably poses the greatest risk to the gun lobby which may lose its tax exempt status because of his self-dealing.
Virtually everyone involved in this story is terrible for their own reasons. Ackerman McQueen produced NRATV and was primarily responsible for slowly transforming gun lobby into a domestic terrorist organization. LaPierre is a world-class grifter who occasionally appears on stage to warn that the liberals are coming. And William Brewer is the shady lawyer behind the curtain doing everything he can to hide the NRA's finances.
I'm rooting for the New York attorney general's office. And a meteor.
This is obviously beside the point, but the phrase "men's master bedroom" jumped out at me. Does LaPierre have a men only bedroom? What does a men only bedroom even look like? Does this mean him and his wife don't even share a bedroom?
I suppose I wouldn't want to share a bedroom with LaPierre either.