The National Rifle Association and its former advertising agency Ackerman McQueen Inc. have settled a long-running legal dispute in which each had accused the other of financial misconduct.
Details of the deal weren’t disclosed in a Dallas federal court filing Thursday, just days before the case was expected to go to trial. The NRA and attorneys for Ackerman McQueen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The dispute began in 2019 when the NRA accused Ackerman McQueen of over-charging, falsifying invoices and misleading its senior executives about the performance of NRA TV. At the time, top NRA officials were embroiled in an internal squabble amid press reports of self-dealing and financial malfeasance at the gun-rights advocacy group.
As the internal disputes intensified, the organization accused Ackerman McQueen of conspiring with the NRA’s former president, Oliver North, and former chief lobbyist, Chris Cox, in a failed coup against the NRA’s longtime leader Wayne LaPierre. Ackerman McQueen has denied wrongdoing in its dealings with the NRA and filed counter-claims.
Ackerman McQueen, based in Oklahoma City, served as the NRA’s main advertising agency for almost four decades. It was widely credited with helping shape the group’s public image and for supporting the emergence of LaPierre as its leader and best-known spokesperson.
Thursday’s settlement comes a day after a New York judge rejected a bid by the NRA to dismiss a suit filed in 2020 by Attorney General Letitia James, who alleges the nonprofit misused millions of dollars of assets. The NRA, which is chartered in the state, has denied wrongdoing. The judge in that case also rejected James’ effort to shut down the NRA as a result of her allegations of financial wrongdoing.
