The National Rifle Association planned to buy a roughly $6 million mansion in the Dallas area last year for use by CEO Wayne LaPierre, with help from the NRA's former longtime advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, multiple people tell The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. The NRA and Ackerman McQueen, locked in a bitter legal fight, don't dispute that discussions took place to buy the mansion, but in competing statements Tuesday night, they offered sharply different accounts of who originated the idea, its purpose, and why the deal fell apart.
Ackerman McQueen said LaPierre asked the firm for help buying the mansion, it refused, and "actions in this regard led to Ackerman McQueen's loss of faith in Mr. LaPierre's decision-making." An attorney for the NRA, William Brewer III — brother-in-law of Ackerman McQueen CEO Revan McQueen — said the ad firm broached the purchase as a real estate investment, and it "was vetoed by the NRA after its full terms — including Ackerman's intent to spend NRA money — became known to Wayne LaPierre." Ackerman McQueen responded that the assertion it drove the mansion deal is "patently false" and "the truth is that Mr. LaPierre decided to proactively propose his plan to leave his current residence and purchase a new residence," he "sought the involvement of Ackerman McQueen," and "Ackerman McQueen refused to proceed with this transaction."
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