椐据美国步枪协会总法律顾问和秘书约翰·弗雷泽发来的一封电子邮件，美国国家步枪协会正花费大约10万美元将其董事会突然迁至华盛顿特区新闻周刊。

周二晚上，弗雷泽向董事会宣布，计划于9月中旬在阿拉斯加安克雷奇举行的会议被取消，并在联邦立法者考虑几项枪支控制提案之际被转到美国首都。

但在5月22日给NRA高层官员的一封电子邮件中，包括该组织首席执行官韦恩·拉皮尔(Wayne LaPierre)及其新安装的首席财务官克雷格·斯普里(Craig Spray)，弗雷泽宣布，之前的分析得出结论，由于与预先安排好的供应商的取消费用以及华盛顿地铁地区较高的食宿费用，移动计划中的会议将会增加近10万美元的成本。

近几个月来，全国步枪协会受到了大量批评，因为报告和泄露的备忘录记录了该组织的巨额开支。

据透露，拉皮尔在贝弗利山服装店花了274，000美元，花在NRA的一角。他还在意大利、匈牙利和巴哈马等地积累了差不多相同的豪华旅行，他说，这些旅行包括代表挪威难民援助会的捐助者外联。

NRA副总裁兼首席执行官韦恩·拉皮尔(Wayne LaPierre)出席了2019年4月27日在印第安纳州印第安纳波利斯举行的NRA第148届年会暨展览上的NRA成员年会。

利益相关者担心NRA保持其当前挥霍态度的能力。曾有一段时间，美国全国步枪协会前主席奥利弗·诺斯中校向董事会写了一份备忘录，声称该组织的外部顾问开出的发票“以令人难以置信的速度耗尽了美国全国步枪协会的现金”

2019年第一季度，全国步枪协会为这位律师威廉·布鲁尔三世的服务每天收取近10万美元的费用。

全国步枪协会此前为自4月以来震撼该集团的泛滥的财务管理丑闻相关费用辩护。

8月初埃尔帕索和代顿发生大规模枪击事件后，一系列枪支控制提案开始在国会山流传，搬迁决定似乎受到了这些提案的影响。宣布改变地点的电子邮件指出，全国步枪协会可以更有效地影响国会议员，因为他们在8月休会后审议这些法案。

董事会成员韦恩·安东尼·罗斯告诉记者新闻周刊他对将会议从他的家乡迁走的决定感到“失望”。

“我们花了四五年的时间让董事会批准它来这里，”他在一次谈话中说。“2005年，我们让自然资源管理局董事会来到阿拉斯加。我们是联盟中全国步枪协会成员比例最高的州。”

罗斯说，根据弗雷泽的信，他昨天和他的董事会同事一起发现了这个决定。他说，他被告知，这一决定是在国会山引入枪支管制立法后的最后48至72小时内做出的，几周之后，这一决定立即成为一个明显的前景。

罗斯强调说，他没有因为放弃阿拉斯加作为东道国而“受到侮辱”，因为“我们不想退出这场在华盛顿特区的战斗”

不过，他对最终的决定颇为不满，说他认为阿拉斯加本可以提供更热情的接待。

罗斯认为:“当我们让他们来到这里时，人们非常慷慨，他们提供了很多东海岸没有的东西。”。“我可能会说华盛顿不需要它们，但我不知道真实的故事是什么。如果他们认为有必要保护持有和携带武器的权利，那么我不会反对。”

成员们抱怨说，首先决定在阿拉斯加主办董事会会议，使得该组织更不容易接触，也更少受到监督。

弗雷泽本人在5月份，也就是搬迁决定做出前几个月，对是否有可能在相对较短的时间内“找到[特区”表示怀疑

“我们的大多数会议至少提前一年预订，通常是通过多次会议合同获得更好的价格，”他补充道。

他的分析是对Spray发来的一封电子邮件的回复，Spray本人也在回复一位董事会成员的询问，询问在草根阶层的反对下是否真的不可能重新安排会议。

“恕我直言，在安克雷奇召开全国步枪协会[董事会简直是天大的愚蠢，”这位相关董事写道。“考虑到我们目前的财务缺陷，总是紧追不放的进步媒体的嗜血豺狼们将会为此大受打击。”

斯普雷在回复中推迟到弗雷泽，透露他自己“去年秋天在我寻找削减预算的方法时，也质疑过这个问题。”

最终，去年秋天决定，“违反协议的成本将取代任何节约。”

(L-R)唐纳德·特朗普、美国总统唐纳德·特朗普、美国全国步枪协会前执行董事ILA·克里斯·考克斯和美国步枪协会执行副总裁韦恩·拉皮尔于2018年5月4日在得克萨斯州达拉斯的凯·贝利·哈奇森会议中心举行的美国步枪协会年会暨展览期间，在美国步枪协会-ILA领导论坛上向人群致意。

贾斯汀·沙利文/盖蒂

搬迁的最初消息是由纽约时报并随后被证实新闻周刊。但实现这一举措所需的巨额费用细节此前尚未公开。

据《每日野兽报》本周报道，拉皮尔收到了一张传票，涉及对该组织前公关公司阿克曼·麦昆的持续诉讼。作为诉讼的一部分，该公司还试图质疑Spray。

Spray是一名相对较新的NRA高管，两年前刚刚辞去家具公司Knoll，Inc .首席财务官一职。

两个州的司法部长、州监管机构和国会委员会正在调查NRA的支出行为。根据纽约州法律，全国步枪协会是特许成立的，该组织对其成员和公众负有信托责任，要求全国步枪协会收到的任何款项都必须按照其非营利使命支出。

喷雾在他的电子邮件中承认，关于在阿拉斯加召开董事会的决定，“光学系统不好”他建议完全取消董事会议，他认为这样“可以节省一些”钱，甚至考虑取消会议的成本，或者“以成本为代价”将会议转移到不同的地点

弗雷泽在回复中坚持认为，取消会议是不可能的，因为这将违反国家步枪协会的章程，该章程要求“董事会每年召开三次定期会议”，并规定了大致的会议时间。

在发出最初询问的董事会成员要求获得关于弗雷泽索赔的文件后，他回答说，“在目前情况下，我不能传送这样的敏感材料。”

弗雷泽写道:“欢迎你在下次访问总部时亲自检查它们，或者我可以在下次董事会上提出具体的项目。”。

仅在8月份，全国步枪协会董事会就有6名成员辞职，其中3人明确指出了他们声称因试图对该组织的财务进行基本监督而受到的阻碍。

这些投诉的一部分包括指控该组织拒绝向希望审计核监管机构支出的董事会成员提供足够的文件。

2019年4月27日，在印第安纳州印第安纳波利斯市中心的印第安纳会议中心外，悬挂着一个标志，上面有美国步枪协会前主席奥利弗·诺斯中校。

全国步枪协会的第七位董事会成员皮特·布朗内尔于5月辞职，此前该组织在印第安纳波利斯举行了混乱的年会，时任该组织主席的诺斯被赶下台。本月辞职的董事理查德·柴尔德里斯此前共同签署了诺斯的备忘录，该备忘录对核监管机构与外部顾问布鲁尔的财务关系提出了质疑。

两个截然不同的派别在NRA世界内部拉开了一个鸿沟，一小部分董事会成员坚持反对LaPierre，LaPierre目前得到董事会大多数成员的支持，尽管他在金融丑闻中发挥了核心作用，首次赢得了公众对集团的净负面评级。拉皮尔的批评者已经被驱逐，包括代表该组织的其他外部律师。

这倍报道称，前全国步枪协会外的律师查尔斯·库珀已经放弃了反对拉皮尔的努力。但是全国步枪协会也将所有对拉皮尔管理的怀疑者视为敌人，并试图破坏甚至来自忠诚成员的建设性批评。

一个独立的非营利组织“拯救第二世界”已经成立，其唯一使命是改革挪威难民协会的文化和治理。该组织由NRA的长期成员领导，他们说他们代表NRA的基层支持者，他们的挫折被管理层忽视了。

在回应置评请求时，全国步枪协会发言人安德鲁·阿伦南达姆(Andrew Arulanandam)写道，该组织“保护我们的第二修正案的责任高于一切，全国步枪协会是唯一能够执行这一使命的组织。

他说:“如果我们在这个关键时刻更加接近，我们将最大限度地服务于我们成员的利益。”。“很简单，在国会审议枪支禁令和其他枪支控制措施时，我们不能去任何地方。”

阿克曼·麦奎因也与斯普雷和拉皮尔一道，对阿伦南达姆进行了讯问，作为该公司对NRA诉讼的反诉的一部分。

这个故事已经被更新，以包括一个来自核监管机构的声明，并更正核监管机构负责人的名字，他共同签署了北方的备忘录。NRA董事会成员罗斯的评论在发表后被包括在内。

EXCLUSIVE: NRA BURNING $100,000 TO RELOCATE ITS BOARD MEETING FROM ALASKA TO WASHINGTON, D.C.

The National Rifle Association is spending around $100,000 to abruptly relocate its board meeting to Washington, D.C., according to an e-mail sent by the NRA's General Counsel and Secretary John Frazer that was obtained by Newsweek.

On Tuesday evening, Frazer announced to the board of directors that plans to hold its mid-September meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, were being canceled and redirected to the nation's capital as federal lawmakers consider several gun-control proposals.

But in a May 22 e-mail to top NRA officials, including the organization's CEO Wayne LaPierre and its newly installed CFO Craig Spray, Frazer announced that a previous analysis had concluded that moving the planned meeting would run up costs approaching $100,000, due both to cancellation fees with pre-arranged vendors and the higher price of room and board expenses in the D.C.-Metro area.

The NRA has received substantial criticism in recent months as reports and leaked memos have documented the group's lavish spending.

LaPierre was revealed to have spent $274,000 at a Beverly Hills clothing boutique over a decade, on the NRA's dime. He has also racked up around the same amount in luxury travel to Italy, Hungary and the Bahamas, among other destinations, trips he said included donor outreach on behalf of the NRA.

Wayne LaPierre, NRA vice president and CEO attends the NRA annual meeting of members at the 148th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on April 27, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Stakeholders are concerned about the NRA's ability to maintain its current spendthrift attitude. At one point, former NRA President Lt. Col. Oliver North wrote a memo to the board of directors claiming that invoices from the group's outside counsel were "draining NRA cash at mind-boggling speed."

During the first quarter of 2019, the NRA was billed nearly $100,000 a day for the services of this attorney, William A. Brewer III.

The NRA has previously defended expenses associated with the overflowing financial management scandal that has rocked the group since April.

The relocation decision appears to have been influenced by a package of gun-control proposals that began to circulate around Capitol Hill in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton in early August. The e-mail announcing the change in venue noted that the NRA could more effectively influence Congress in close proximity to legislators as they consider these bills after the August recess.

Wayne Anthony Ross, who sits on the board of directors, told Newsweek that he was "disappointed" in the decision to relocate the meeting away from his home state.

"We worked for four or five years to get it approved by the board to come up here," he said in a conversation. "In 2005, we had the NRA board come to Alaska. We have the highest percentage of NRA members of any state in the union."

Ross said that he found out about the decision yesterday along with his board of directors colleagues, pursuant to Frazer's letter. He said that he was told the decision was made in just the last 48 to 72 hours, weeks after the introduction of gun control legislation on Capitol Hill became an immediately apparent prospect.

Ross emphasized that he's "not insulted" by the abandonment of Alaska as a host state "because we don't want to walk away from the fight" in D.C.

He was torn about the final decision though, saying that he thought Alaskans could have offered a more hospitable reception.

"When we have them come up here, the people are very generous and they provide a lot of things that they don't on the East Coast," Ross opined. "I might have argued that they weren't needed in Washington, but I don't know what the actual story was. If they feel it's necessary to protect the right to keep and bear arms, then I wont oppose it."

Members have complained that deciding to host the board meeting in Alaska in the first place made the organization less accessible and subject to less oversight.

Frazer himself voiced doubts in May, months before the decision to relocate was made, about whether it would even be possible to "find a [D.C.] location on relatively short notice."

"Most of our meetings are booked at least a year in advance, often on multi-meeting contracts to get better rates," he added.

His analysis came as a reply to an e-mail sent by Spray, who himself was responding to a query from a board member about whether it was truly impossible to relocate the meeting amid grassroots pushback.

"With little due respect, having the NRA [board of directors] meeting in Anchorage is nothing short of big-time stupid," the concerned director wrote. "In light of our present financial shortcomings, the blood-thirsty jackals of the progressive press, always nipping at our heels will have a hey-day with this one."

Spray deferred to Frazer in his reply, revealing that he himself "queried this same issue last fall when I was looking for ways to cut the budget."

Ultimately, it was determined last fall that "the cost to break the agreements would supersede any savings."

(L-R) Donald Trump Jr., U.S. President Donald Trump, former Executive Director NRA-ILA Chris Cox and NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre greet the crowd at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas.

Initial news of the relocation was first reported by The New York Times and subsequently confirmed by Newsweek. But details about the extraordinary expense needed to realize the move have not previously been made public.

LaPierre has received a subpoena related to an ongoing lawsuit against the organization's former PR firm, Ackerman McQueen, The Daily Beast reported this week. The firm is also seeking to question Spray as part of its lawsuit.

Spray is a relatively new NRA executive, having left his most recent post as CFO of furniture company Knoll, Inc., only two years ago.

Attorneys general in two states, state regulators and a congressional committee are looking into the NRA's spending practices. Under New York State law, where the NRA is chartered, the group has a fiduciary responsibility towards its members and the public, requiring that any money received by the NRA is spent consistent with its non-profit mission.

Spray acknowledged in his e-mail, regarding the decision to convene the board in Alaska, that "the optics are bad." He suggested canceling the board meeting altogether, which he thought "would save some" money, even considering cancellation costs, or moving the meeting to a different location "at a cost penalty."

In his reply, Frazer maintained that canceling the meeting would not be possible because it would violate the NRA's bylaws, which require "three regular meetings of the Board of Directors in each year" and set forth approximate meeting times.

After the board member who sent the initial query asked for documentation regarding Frazer's claims, he responded that "under the current circumstances, I can't transmit sensitive materials like this."

"You're welcome to inspect them in person during your next visit to headquarters, or I can bring specific items to the next board meeting," Frazer wrote.

In the month of August alone, six members of the NRA's board of directors have resigned, and three of them specifically called out a pattern of obstruction they allege they were subjected to for trying to conduct basic oversight of the group's finances.

Part of these complaints include allegations that the organization refused to provide adequate documentation to board members who wanted to audit NRA spending.

A sign featuring the former President of the National Rifle Association Lt Col. Oliver L. North hangs outside of the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, April 27,2019 during the 2019 National Rifle Association Annual Meetings.

A seventh NRA board member, Pete Brownell, resigned in May after the group's tumultuous annual meeting in Indianapolis that saw the ouster of North, who was at the time the group's president. A director who resigned this month, Richard Childress, previously co-signed North's memo raising flags about the NRA's financial relationship with Brewer, the outside counsel.

Two distinct factions have opened a chasm within NRA world, with a small contingent of board members holding their ground against LaPierre, who is currently supported by a majority of the board despite his central role in the financial scandal that has earned the group net-negative ratings from the public for the first time. Critics of LaPierre have been pushed out, including other outside attorneys representing the organization.

The Times has reported that former outside NRA attorney Charles J. Cooper was let go over his efforts to oppose LaPierre. But the NRA has also cast all skeptics of LaPierre's management as enemies and has sought to undermine constructive criticism from even loyal members.

A separate non-profit organization, Save The Second, has incorporated with the sole mission of reforming the culture and governance at the NRA. The group is helmed by longtime NRA members who say they represent grassroots supporters of the NRA whose frustrations are being overlooked by management.

In response to a request for comment, NRA spokesperson Andrew Arulanandam wrote that the organization's "duty to protect our Second Amendment comes above all else and the NRA is the only organization that can carry out that mission.

 

"We will best serve the interests of our members if we are in closer proximity during this critical time," he said. "Quite simply, we cannot afford to be anywhere else while Congress deliberates gun bans and other gun control measures."

Along with Spray and LaPierre, Arulanandam was also sought for questioning by Ackerman McQueen as part of the firm's counterclaim against the NRA's lawsuit.

This story has been updated to include a statement from the NRA and to correct the name of the NRA director who co-signed North's memo. Comments from Ross, who is a member of the NRA's board, were included after publication.