Filing Summary

In connection with a motion for summary judgment, defendant Woody Phillips filed a statement of material facts. As evidentiary support for certain claims, Phillips also filed the transcript of his deposition, taken by the New York Attorney General on August 8, 2021. The transcript provides some facts at the heart of the AG’s allegations in the case:

Key Points

• After retiring from the NRA, Phillips’ Statement of Material Facts indicates that the NRA gave Phillips a consulting contract that would pay him $30,000 a month ($360,000 a year), in addition to reimbursement for expenses and rented office space for Phillips.
• For that amount, Phillips claims to have done three things for the NRA: (1) investigate the potential for an online education program affiliated with the NRA, (2) working on the Young Guns program, and (3) maintaining contact and relationships with NRA donors in Texas. The deposition provides some details about what exactly Phillips did while being a party to this lucrative consulting contract:
• Phillips admitted he had no experience with online education. (83:11-15). He also testified that he didn’t know if the NRA ultimately created an online education system. (83:23-25).
• Phillips admits that he never reached out to anyone to see if they’d be interested in joining the Young Guns program. (85:6-9). When asked to describe what he had done with the program, Philips responded “just discussions with the local advancement representative. We were just starting to flesh it out and that’s how it would work, nothing formal.” (84:15-20)
• With respect to fundraising, when asked if he raised funds for the NRA, Phillips responded “I was not a fundraiser.” When asked if he referred any prospective donors, he answered “no.” (85:10-24).
• Phllips also acknowledges having a romantic relationship with a woman who was the principal of an entity that the NRA later contracted with to develop software for the NRA. (p.108: 3-23)