Filing Summary

On August 23, 2021, Revan McQueen, the CEO of former NRA vendor Ackerman McQueen, sat for a deposition in the NRA’s litigation with the firm. That deposition transcript was made public in a November 29, 2021 filing. NRA Watch reviewed the transcript and highlighted some testimony of note below.

Key Points

• Revan McQueen testified that Wayne LaPierre was ultimately responsible for what aired on NRATV “Because he’s the chief executive of the National Rifle Association and he led […] the communication strategy for the National Rifle Association from which NRATV content was created.” (p.109) McQueen later added that LaPierre “basically hired us to create NRATV content as extensions from […] his own talking points that would be discussed in meetings that we had.” (p.117)

• Revan McQueen said that Wayne LaPierre “was scared to go on the CNN Town Hall after Parkland, and […] didn’t want to make that appearance, it was Wayne that wanted to fly Dana to Florida in order to do that.” (p.118)

• Revan McQueen testified that when his father, Angus, was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, Revan helped facilitate phone calls and thus overheard some of his conversations. In one instance, Revan testified that he heard LaPierre “talking about being a pawn on Brewer’s chessboard, and that Brewer is crazy,” referring to NRA outside lawyer Bill Brewer. (p.141)

• Revan McQueen testified to the ways in which Wayne LaPierre depended on Ackerman McQueen and its executives. He said that “there were times when Wayne would call [Ackerman McQueen CEO] Angus [McQueen], three, four, five times a day.” (p.155) Revan also said that LaPierre “would rely very heavily” on Ackerman McQueen “to judge sentiment after say a speech or a news appearance or a video release of some kind,” explaining that “Wayne found a lot of value in understanding how people viewed him, especially as he, you know, decreased his video presence, he wanted to know, per video, how much engagement, you know, he was getting.” Revan noted that he “personally thought that [LaPierre] should have been paying much closer attention to video performance beyond his own, but you know, such is — such is the draw of the ego.” (p.211-212)

• Revan McQueen testified that “the whole live aspect of NRATV was […] really developed for two reasons”: as a “crisis response tool” in the wake of mass shootings, and because “cost-wise, it was a more efficient way to produce.” (p.213-214)

• Revan McQueen testified that Wayne LaPierre had told him and others that the Trump administration “had no clue […] how to deal with” bump stocks, outlining “in great detail” a meeting LaPierre had had with President Trump, “down to what they actually ate.” (p.163)

• Revan McQueen testified that Ackerman McQueen “monthly attempts to work very closely and collaborate with an organization [the NRA] that was run like certain fiefdoms […] and everyone would talk badly about each other. No one would cooperate with each other. And, quite honestly, many of them would say that Wayne, all he wanted to do was manage by chaos.” (p.167)

• Revan McQueen claimed that “right around half a million dollars […] was actually generated through NRATV and NRATV associated content in the wake of the Parkland shooting.” (p.177)

• McQueen said he found it “preposterous after the Parkland shooting that Wayne LaPierre didn’t understand the basics of a firearm. That was shocking to me. Not only did he not understand a bump stock and how a bump stock worked, but he had to be explained […] how an AR-15 worked.” (p.256)