NRA officers responses about the Ken Blackwell matter, were varied to say the least, and varied regarding the member to director email system. Again, in reference to the Ammoland article, https://www.ammoland.com/2025/02/dark-web-of-taxpayers-money-funds-anti-gun-organizations/ here are some curious emails.
This was sent to Chief Compliance Officer Robert Mensinger, and cc’d to many, including CEO Hamlin, Secretary Frazer and Director Buz Mills, and then Director Tom King, on April 4th 2025,
“CCO Mensinger,
My goal in writing you, is that, as the NRA’s Chief Compliance Officer, you will open an investigation into NRA Director Ken Blackwell. According to an article, which I’ll share below, Mr. Blackwell has taken part in a money laundering scheme, involving $21million in taxpayer funds, and funneling it to anti gun groups. If this is true, then he should be immediately expelled from the NRA via Section 3, Article 11 of the NRA’s by laws.
In addition to the possible involvement with laundering taxpayer funds, I further ask you to conduct an investigation into whether or not Mr. Blackwell has improperly used any NRA funds as well.
The Ken Blackwell mentioned in the article, has been verified by NRA Director Jeff Knox, as being the same Ken Blackwell who’s on the NRA Board Of Directors, which I believe makes this matter all the more critical for you to investigate, given he’s been identified by a fellow director. I will include the information from Mr. Knox below as well.
Also, it is all the more concerning that when I brought Mr. Blackwell’s possible involvement in money laundering to CEO Hamlin’s attention, he replied, “I don’t know what to make of the Ken Blackwell thing.” That answer from CEO Hamlin is totally unacceptable, and unbecoming of a CEO. It’s a dereliction of duty for the CEO of the NRA to just brush off this matter. It shows that CEO Hamlin is incompetent, and cannot be trusted to handle gravely serious tasks in the proper manner. Mr. Blackwell must be investigated, immediately. And your investigation and it’s findings must be made known to each and every NRA director.
I would’ve brought this to your attention sooner, but it took me ages to find your email address. Also, that leads to the issue of the NRA’s member to director email system being, either, non-existent, or in-operable, or, deliberately being tampered with. It hasn’t worked in years. And other members have told me the same thing, that like I, when they email, they NEVER get a response back. To be clear, given the board is 76 directors, I nor anyone else expects 76 replies. But, surely, a couple of replies at least. The barrier in communication is unacceptable, and further goes to show the total incompetence of CEO Hamlin in handling the even the most basic duties of CEO. This too must be investigated by you, and likewise, your investigation and findings must be made known the the entire board of directors.
Below are links, and copies of said article, and also of information from Mr. Knox. I thank you for your time, and trust you will get to work on these matters immediately.
Nicholas Olson
NRA member number 135976342
Dark Web of Taxpayer’s Money Funds Anti-Gun Organizations
Ammoland Inc. Posted on by John Crump
By now, the word of USAID funding anti-gun groups has gone viral throughout the gun community. This funding of groups working against an American’s God-given rights has led many to wonder how such spending went unnoticed for years. Multiple investigations show an elaborate web of money funneling that obfuscates the money sources.
None of the funding to the anti-gun groups came directly from USAID. What USAID did was to pass the funds to a middleman that paid out the anti-gun groups. Some think these middlemen made it so USAID could deny that they were funding politically motivated anti-gun groups like a shell game. Some would equate it to legal money laundering. It is unclear how much USAID knew about the funds’ disbursal, but the agency is supposed to monitor any taxpayers’ dollars doled out. USAID was either incompetent or complacent.
One example of the dark web of money is the tunneling of funds distributed through non-profit groups such as NEO Philanthropy, the Board of Trustees of the Lelan, and George Soros’s Tides Foundation to anti-gun organizations. These groups joined other non-profits such as Civicus World Alliance, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund to bankroll Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety to the tune of $7.5 million. Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund was responsible for a staggering $6,748,000. The next largest donor was Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, which gave the anti-gun group $300,000. Everytown took in $65,049,593 in 2022.
A large proportion of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s operating budget came from USAID through intermediaries. Over $12,809,748 was filtered through the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) and five other organizations before finally reaching its final destination. This amount is $200,000 less than the total amount of money the organization took in 2022 and over $1,000,000 more than its total contributions in 2021.
New Democrat Vice Chair David Hogg’s organization, March for Our Lives, was also heavily funded by money that originated from USAID. This money was also filtered through non-profits that received taxpayer money and issued grants to the anti-gun organization. It received $1,407,153 through these funds. In 2023, March for Our Lives took in $1,420,000.
Sandy Hook Promise also benefited from funds from USAID. Through intermediaries, the anti-gun organization took $1,417,049 from the taxpayers to advocate against those taxpayer rights. In 2022, Sandy Hook Promise took in $31,539,036. Sandy Hook Promise was founded after a school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in New Town, Connecticut.
The Consortium for Election and Political Process Strengthening not only funded the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence but also funded Giffords through the same five layers of organizations to the tune of $8,292,189. Giffords took in $12.8 million in 2023, including a large chunk of taxpayer money.
The Consortium for Election and Political Process Strengthening is responsible for filtering over $21,000,000 of taxpayer money to anti-gun groups. The group was founded in 1995 by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Its mission was supposed to be to strengthen the democratic process. The group was supposed to be non-partisan, but the funding of anti-gun groups tells a different story.
IFES runs most of the CEPPS. It is also heavily funded by USAID. It was founded in response to President Reagan’s call to strengthen democracy. Although a Republican founded it, the organization’s current co-chair is s William Carlton Eacho III, who served as Barack Obama’s ambassador to Austria. The second co-chair is Ken Blackwell, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
If the money is cut off from USAID to these anti-gun groups, it could heavily damage their ability to wage war on the right to bear arms. Currently, a judge ordered the lifting of the three-week halt of foreign aid via USAID. If the domestic cuts hold, these anti-gun groups can be facing a reckoning of apocalyptic portions that could see many collapses or be forced to make heavy cuts to their programs.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
My understanding is that the Brewer firm has been removed from all cases and replaced by new attorneys who are reviewing and strategizing on the best approach to handling these cases.
Remember that this legal transition only began in early to mid January.
I believe Mr. Blackwell has announced his intention to resign from the NRA Board at the close of this Board-Year at the Annual Meeting of Members in Atlanta in April. I’m not sure how the funding and granting process for those Reagan-established groups worked, but I think it plausible that money given to the umbrella organization might have been evenly split to the two Republican and Democratic subsidiary organizations, with neither of them having knowledge or a say in what the other was actually doing with it.
I’ll mention that in my limited contact with Mr. Blackwell, he has struck me as a very knowledgeable and committed defender and supporter of the right to arms, but he was also a very vocal defender of Wayne LaPierre. At the Members’ Meeting in Houston(?) a couple of years ago, Blackwell was among the first of several Directors to stand and attack me for daring to question the integrity of Mr. LaPierre…
Final note: With Blackwell’s announced resignation and notice that another Director has entered hospice care, it appears that the current election will be deciding at least two additional seats for the coming year. This doesn’t change the voting rules. Vote for NO MORE than 28 candidates, including write-ins!!!! But it does mean that for practical purposes, the candidates who come in 29th and 30th will move onto the Board, plus one of the folks who didn’t make the cut will be elected to a one-year term at the NRAAM, so that’s 31 total seats being decided (at least to a large degree) in this election.
Jeff Knox — NRA Director since May, 2024
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The next day, the 5th, I recieved this in reply, from CEO Hamlin,
“Nicholas,
You are making this personal and teetering on slander. I don’t appreciate your tone. Are you working for Soros and Bloomberg? Come and spend a day with me at NRA Headquarters. You will see the complexity in running the USA’s oldest civil rights organization. Be part of the solution!
One of favorite quotes below from the late great NRA Member President Teddy Roosevelt.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Doug Hamlin
EVP/CEO
National Rifle Association”
My reply to CEO Hamlin, and cc’d to many others, same day,
“CEO Hamlin,
You said my email’s are “teetering on slander”? And ask if I’m “working for Soros and Bloomberg”?
That’s preposterous.
You sir, instead of addressing my concerns, like the allegations of an NRA director being implicated in a $21million taxpayer money laundering scheme to anti gun groups, ask if I’m working for Soros and Bloomberg? If I were working for them, why would I be bringing this matter to your attention? Why would I be bringing it to CCO Mensinger’s attention? Or Secretary Frazer’s attention? Or attempting to bring it to the attention of the Board- who’s email system does not work and is also a problem which I’ve brought to attention which you sir, still have NOT addressed? These are examples of your incompetence.
When I first brought the allegations regarding Mr. Blackwell to your attention you said, “I don’t know what to make of the Ken Blackwell thing.” That’s an unacceptable and wholly unbecoming of a CEO. It again shows your incompetence. You sir, should’ve been on the phone to CCO Mensinger as soon as you read that email and demanded an investigation. I have provided the article, an article I did not write, it was written by Mr. John Crump, whom I am certain is NOT working for billionaire anti gunners. I have provided the blog comment where Mr. Jeff Knox says the Mr. Blackwell mentioned in the article is the SAME Mr. Blackwell whom is on the NRA’s board of directors. I am likewise certain Mr. Knox is NOT working for a billionaire anti gunner. Yet you say I’m teetering on being slanderous and working for Soros and Bloomberg? All this goes to show you are an incompetent CEO since you have refused to take this matter seriously, and resort to accusing a life member, who’s reporting these most serious allegations to the NRA’s leadership in good faith, of being slanderous and working for billionaire anti gunners.
That’s pathetic.
Further you have failed to even mention, the either, non existent, or non operable, or perhaps deliberately tampered with, NRA member to director email system. The communications problem has been a years along affair, and you’ve said nothing about it. This should’ve been addressed by you during your first week as CEO. Instead, you can’t even address the matter to me, let along fix it. I suggest you order CCO Mensinger to conduct a thorough investigation into the member to director email system, immediately. Again, more incompetence by you.
Instead of addressing my concerns, mentioned above, and in countless other emails, you, the CEO of the National Rifle Association, resort to getting angry, defensive and down right insulting to a life member, who’s acted in good faith countless times, and whose concerns have gone unaddressed by all in NRA leadership. And to include a quote from Col. Roosevelt? Are you serious? This is NOT how a CEO is supposed to conduct himself when being made aware of such serious matters involving his organization by a life member.
This raises the absurdity of your administration of the NRA to a whole new level. Another example of your incompetence.
Now, you say I’m being teetering on being slanderous, by saying you’re an incompetent CEO?
Word’s just come out that the NRA is suing Ackerman McQueen again…
Yes, Mr. Hamlin, I stand by my statement, you are an incompetent CEO.
Col. Roosevelt believed in a “square deal”. So do I. And NRA membership isn’t getting a square deal from you.
Nicholas Olson
NRA membership number 135976342″
And, one should note, it is impossible to write “slander”. I would think the former NRA Publications Director, and current CEO, would know what “slander” and “libel” are.
I received this, on the 5th from CCO Mensinger,
“Mr. Olson,
Thank you for reaching out to me regarding this matter.
I’m sorry you couldn’t find my email, but most reports are made to the NRA Integrity Hotline, where anyone can report misconduct or noncompliance issues concerning NRA internal operations. The contact information for the hotline is published on our website, and I have implemented a reporting system to ensure that anyone outside the Association can submit reports (Statement of Corporate Ethics | National Rifle Association).
The webpage also features an area for member inquiries, titled ‘NRA – Contact Us,’ and I believe you have the Secretary’s email address. I don’t know what other email addresses or messaging systems you were trying, but I believe the Secretary’s email address is used for inquiries or communications related to the Board. If you have another system you’d like me to check, I can do so.
Permit me to make a few clarifications before I address your issue:
-If you have a compliance-related issue that you would like to report, there is no benefit in copying other entities and individuals. The best practice is to report an issue directly to Compliance, and I will evaluate the next steps, including whether to initiate a confidential investigation. This also helps protect the integrity of any potential investigation.
-The EVP is aware of his reporting obligations concerning internal compliance matters.
-The CCO position does not report to the EVP, so the EVP cannot “order” the CCO to investigate, as you mentioned. This would infringe on the independence and autonomy of the CCO position. With that said, the CCO and EVP do work together to mitigate risks affecting the organization, and the EVP may request that the CCO investigate certain matters.
As far as the media report goes, I’m sure we share the same opinion as most of the country regarding the USAID funding issues. I believe Mr. Knox is correct that the Director that you referenced is resigning in a couple of weeks. It appears from the limited information that Mr. Knox may be correct, suggesting that the “umbrella organization might have been evenly split between the two Republican and Democratic subsidiary organizations, with neither having knowledge or a say in what the other was actually doing with it.” Mr. Knox is usually a good source on these issues.
In any case, based on the information I currently have, I would not consider this an internal compliance matter that would be investigated by my office. Generally, Compliance does not investigate Directors’ affairs that are external to the NRA. I agree that some external issues may have an adverse impact on the NRA’s reputation, but this does not seem to be an internal compliance issue that my office would handle at this time.
Thanks again for reporting,
Bob”
Now also on the 5th, I emailed President Barr, and cc’d among others CEO Hamlin, and included all the above emails as well,
“President Barr,
I ask that you read these emails, and begin investigations into Mr. Blackwell and the NRA member to director email systems problems immediately.
Thank you for your time,
Nicholas Olson”
On the 6th, President Barr sent this to me, and cc’d it to CEO Hamlin and CCO Mensinger,
“Thank you, Mr. Olson. I have discussed your email (which I did read completely) with Chief Compliance Officer Bob Mensinger.
Best regards.
Bob Barr
President”
On the 7th, I reply, only to President Barr,
“President Barr,
I thank you for looking into these issues.
Nicholas Olson”
Now you’re probably wondering what happened to Blackwell and the member to director email system… If I ever get an answer to either, I’ll publish it.
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