ProPublica: Secret Recording Shows NRA Treasurer Plotting to Conceal Extravagant Expenses Involving Wayne LaPierre

Audio Reveals Leaders Enacting a Plan to Conceal Payments for Luxury Expenses by NRA Executives

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As the Attorney General of The State of New York v. NRA trial kicked off this week, shortly after longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre resigned from his role, ProPublica and The Trace have published audio from a meeting at the office of public relations firm Ackerman McQueen during which the firm and NRA Treasurer Woody Phillips devised a plan to conceal luxury expenses. 

According to the report, executives decided in the meeting that Ackerman would issue a Platinum American Express card to Tyler Schropp, the head of the NRA’s fundraising division — and Ackerman “would then cover the card’s charges and bill them back to the NRA under nondescript invoices.” The alleged use of Ackerman McQueen as a pass-through for the NRA to conceal questionable expenses has been a key component of the New York Attorney General’s case against the organization. The audio from the meeting also describes Wayne LaPierre’s purported concerns about the optics of using NRA funds of private charter flights for himself.

More from ProPublica:

• Captured on tape is talk of LaPierre’s desire to avoid public disclosure of his use of private jets as well as concern about persistent spending at the Beverly Hills Hotel by a PR executive and close LaPierre adviser [Anthony Makris].

• During the meeting, which took place in the Alexandria, Virginia, office of PR firm Ackerman McQueen, executives agreed that Ackerman would issue a Platinum American Express card to Tyler Schropp, the new head of the NRA’s nascent advancement division, which was responsible for bringing in high-dollar contributions from wealthy donors. 
  • Ackerman would then cover the card’s charges and bill them back to the NRA under nondescript invoices.

• The use of the Ackerman American Express card, according to a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ expert witness on nonprofits, skirted internal controls that existed to ensure proper disclosure and regulatory compliance and to prevent “fraud and abuse” at the nonprofit.

• Woody Phillips: “We just have to be careful because Wayne wants to get through this whole year saying he hasn’t used private aircraft.”

• The recording shows how the NRA used Ackerman, which devised the nonprofit’s most prominent messaging campaigns, as an extension of itself. The decadeslong relationship ended in acrimony and lawsuits.

• The use of the Ackerman American Express card, according to a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ expert witness on nonprofits, skirted internal controls that existed to ensure proper disclosure and regulatory compliance and to prevent “fraud and abuse” at the nonprofit. 

• As a result, outside of a tiny group of NRA insiders, everyone was in the dark about years of charges by Schropp — who is still the head of the nonprofit’s advancement division — for luxury accommodations, including regular sojourns to the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton.
  

Attorney General of The State of New York v. NRA centers on allegations by New York Attorney General Letitia James that NRA leaders, including CEO Wayne LaPierre, improperly diverted millions of dollars from the non-profit to benefit NRA executives — including private charter flights and multi-million dollar retirement packages. 

The audio published today features potential witnesses in the trial, including Phillips, Schropp, and of course, LaPierre himself. NRA finance staffer Rick Tedrick, who is mentioned, is expected to testify imminently. Summaries of testimony from the first three days of the trial can be found at the following links: DAY 1, DAY 2, DAY 3.  The trial is beginning as NRA membership continues to wane amid financial woes and the organization’s declining influence.

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