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A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 11 noveMber 2019
NRA turmoil creates rift among some big donors

By LISA MARIE PANE for anti-NRA organizations
Associated Press and openly campaigned
Joe Olson was once such against our cause and our
a passionate supporter of Association. End of story,"
the National Rifle Associa- Meadows said.
tion that he pledged to be- While some big donors such
queath several million dol- as Olson and Dell'Aquila
lars from his estate to the have pulled back, other
gun organization upon his big donors have doubled
death. down.
But the steady drip of inves- Janet Nyce, a longtime
tigations and misspending member who along with
allegations and a shakeup her husband has contribut-
at the top ranks of the NRA ed hundreds of thousands
compelled him to alter his of dollars over the years,
will. The NRA will no longer said she called up NRA
get his money. headquarters and felt they
"The rot had gotten worse were open and honest
and I simply decided: No, about the challenges fac-
I'm not giving those people ing the organization, assur-
my money," Olson said. ing her that the donations
Olson reflects what has be- were being well spent.
come a new challenge for When she got a call one
the NRA as its legal and fi- day from another NRA
nancial issues stack up: the member asking if she
loss of big donors. wanted to participate in
The NRA attributes much a movement to withhold
of its success and power to donations, she and her hus-
rank-and-file members who band instead pulled out
contribute a few dollars their wallets and wrote out
here and there through- checks to the NRA.
out the year, but it's the "We are supporting the
big-ticket donors who fuel NRA, there's just no two
the organization's finances. ways about it," she said.
They also play a role in who Joe Gregory, who is the
serves on the board of di- CEO of an investment firm
rectors and are active on and founder of the NRA's
the NRA social and fund- Golden Ring of Freedom
raising scene, whether it's — a group of NRA donors
at galas or hunting trips. who have contributed or
And there are signs that pledged at least $1 million
some of them are grow- — chalked up the turmoil
ing uneasy over the NRA's This Oct. 28, 2019, photo, shows David Dell'Aquila in his home Monday, Oct. 28, 2019, in Nashville, to internal politics and de-
troubles. Tenn. fended LaPierre's expenses
One of them went so far to Associated Press as a necessary part of be-
as to file a lawsuit against ing a CEO.
the NRA claiming misuse of In 2017, the NRA received ter that meeting that he donations were being The demands pushed by
funds and started a web- seven donations of more decided to contribute big spent, he said he didn't get Dell'Aquila, he said, "border
site that seeks changes to than $1 million, includ- sums to the NRA, seeing sufficient answers. on being unrealistic and
the NRA — from the ouster ing one for more than $18 it as an organization that "I was just getting lip ser- not serious."
of longtime CEO Wayne million, according to tax would help preserve gun vice," he said. He's especially disappoint-
LaPierre, to halving the size records. The NRA's 2018 rights. A few months ago, he filed ed to see some of his fellow
of the 76-member board of records are not available He went in with gusto, be- a lawsuit against the NRA big donors start to abandon
directors. yet, meaning it's too early coming a member of the claiming it has engaged the NRA, particularly as the
The donor, David to know how the recent Charlton Heston Society, in fraud and financial mis- 2020 presidential election
Dell'Aquila, also claims that turmoil engulfing the group an elite group of NRA faith- conduct. The lawsuit cites approaches and the NRA's
he has gotten others like affected contributions. ful. Then, earlier this year, many of the allegations influence in preserving the
him to withhold millions of Despite the handful of mil- Dell'Aquila started to hear that have emerged in Second Amendment is at
dollars. lion-dollar-plus donors, the the rumors and see media other legal cases in recent stake. "It's important that
Over the years, Dell'Aquila group saw its overall contri- reports of excessive spend- months, including that LaPi- we stick together," he said.
has given about $100,000 butions plummet from $124 ing by NRA leaders. He wit- erre expensed hundreds For Dell'Aquila's part, he's
and he and his wife million in 2016 to $98 million nessed the showdown that of thousands of dollars in not ready to back down
pledged to bequeath sev- in 2017. spilled out in the public dur- wardrobe purchases at a from his fight.
eral million dollars from an An NRA member for about ing this year's annual meet- high-end clothier. He's even planning to at-
estate he amassed after 20 years, Dell'Aquila be- ing, when then-President Carolyn Meadows, the tend next year's annual
a career as a technology came more heavily in- Oliver North was denied a NRA's new president, called meeting, which will again
consultant. volved after attending an second term after seeking the lawsuit "a misguided be held in Nashville. He said
Large donors have long annual meeting for the LaPierre's resignation. and frivolous pursuit." he wants to see if LaPierre
been a reliable source of first time in 2015 in Nash- When Dell'Aquila asked "Here's all you need to and others in the inner cir-
money for the NRA, helping ville, Tennessee, where he some NRA directors and know: This lawsuit par- cle will talk with him.
fuel the clout that it wields lives. A longtime hunter, others at headquarters for rots claims from an indi- "I'm not one to back down,"
in American politics. Dell'Aquila said it was af- more information on how vidual who has worked he said.q