NRA Television Imperiled as Ad Firm Seeks Immediate Payment

(Bloomberg) -- The National Rifle Association’s divorce with its longtime advertising agency took another ugly turn when the firm warned it could shut down NRATV and other promotional services within days, unless the gun-rights group posts a $3 million letter of credit.

Ackerman McQueen claimed in a court filing Wednesday that the NRA owes it almost $1.7 million for promotional work. The legal fight began in April when the NRA sued the ad agency, claiming it couldn’t get details about the firm’s multimillion-dollar contract with Oliver North, who also served as the NRA’s unpaid president.

But the ad agency’s filing directly contradicts the NRA’s claims of ignorance about North’s employment terms.

“The NRA actually directed the amounts of payment in some cases, such as with Lt. Col. North,” Ackerman McQueen said in the filing in state court in Alexandria, Virginia.

North had raised questions about spending by the NRA’s executive vice president and Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre. North was then ousted during the NRA’s annual meeting.

After Ackerman McQueen countersued, it said it would wind down its work with the group over 90 days. But in the new filing the agency claims it “will suffer immediate irreparable harm” that will require it to fire or put 40% of its staff on leave, unless its request for a letter of credit is granted.

Such a step would effectively end NRATV, which has been produced by Ackerman McQueen and has drawn fire for politically charged rhetoric.

The NRA is skeptical of Ackerman McQueen’s claims because of the agency’s “repeated failure to provide backup for its invoices,” NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said in a statement. The filing suggests the firm “cannot sustain its facilities, operations, or employees without continued support from the NRA. ​The NRA is confident that we will prevail, and we look forward to a complete airing of all the facts relative to Ackerman’s behavior and practices once and for all.”

About half of Ackerman McQueen’s 169 employees work on NRA projects or services, and about 25% are “essentially virtual employees of the NRA,” according to a written declaration by the firm’s Chief Financial Officer Bill Winkler.

LaPierre and the NRA’s treasurer negotiated contracts for North and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, who appears regularly on NRATV, “either directly with that individual or used AMc as an intermediary,” the firm said.

Ackerman McQueen spent nearly four decades working for the NRA, crafting ad campaigns, developing the organization’s web and media presence, and creating its national image, according to the filing.

“Today, the NRA is regarded as one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the country,” Ackerman McQueen said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Neil Weinberg in New York at nweinberg2@bloomberg.net;David Voreacos in New York at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Peter Blumberg

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