The complaint describes payments made to “Board Member No. 5,” a person identified as the executive director of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida. State corporate records list the 81-year-old [former NRA president Marion] Hammer as executive director of the group. She has routinely identified herself with the organization when testifying on gun legislation at the state Capitol.
The lawsuit alleges that Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s longtime CEO, negotiated consulting contracts in 2017 and 2018 with Hammer, who sits on the NRA board, that increased her annual pay from $150,000 to $168,000 and then to $220,000. The final contract, approved in April 2018, was for 10 years.
LaPierre did not receive approval from the NRA’s president or vice president before the contracts were executed, according to the lawsuit.
Hammer also received grants that the NRA paid to Unified Sportsmen of Florida. LaPierre testified that Hammer receives $400,000 a year in total from the NRA, according to the filing.
The lawsuit also faults the NRA’s audit committee, claiming there were no records showing whether it looked at payments — including $256,000 to Hammer in 2016 and $134,000 in 2017 — to see if they violated conflict-of-interest rules.
The audit committee in 2018 retroactively approved $3.69 million worth of payments that had been made to Hammer over the previous 19 years, according to the lawsuit. At that same meeting, the audit committee approved future payments to Unified Sportsmen of Florida.
– Gary Fineout in Payments to Florida lobbyist flagged in lawsuit against NRA