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2 Nov, 6 tweets, 3 min read
From MISFIRE: The first look at the NRA's 'first lady':

Susan LaPierre thought because the NRA had spent $30mil+ on supporting Trump, that he owed her. She insisted she would be ambassador to Slovenia. Here's what happened:

rollingstone.com/politics/polit… Image
"When Susan wanted something, she pestered Wayne constantly. She knew his character, once describing her own husband’s management style as 'no management style at all.' ... She luxuriated in that power, that status as Wayne’s wife... "

rollingstone.com/politics/polit… Image
Susan preferred to use a makeup artist whose clients included Reese Witherspoon and Taylor Swift... meaning flights + luxury hotel suites for her stylists.

But here's how she treated her own staff:

rollingstone.com/politics/polit… Image
"The NRA had created a narrative about being for middle America, often stoking cultural resentments to do so.
Meanwhile Susan was playing off this to go to Lake Como on a private jet, all while treating her staff like dirt"

rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
The thing is, Susan LaPierre had this hidden hand in the NRA -- Wayne didn't use email or electronics. If you wanted to reach him, you tried to find Susan:

rollingstone.com/politics/polit… Image
"To outside observers, their relationship can seem to be more professional than personal. When Wayne had a health scare in 2018, he took a business associate, not his wife, along with him to the Mayo Clinic to confront his medical crisis."

rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

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More from @timkmak

Tim Mak Profile picture
4 Nov
Good morning from the set of @CNN's @NewDay!

I joined to discuss 'MISFIRE: Inside the Downfall of the NRA.' -- Doing interviews all day today! Image
@CNN @NewDay Joining the WVON Morning Show in Chicago shortly, to talk with @rufuswilliamsjr about 'MISFIRE: Inside the Downfall of the NRA'! Image
@CNN @NewDay @rufuswilliamsjr Next I'm heading to Detroit, to talk to Stephen on @wdet!

Read 14 tweets
Tim Mak Profile picture
2 Nov
It's publication day for my book, 'MISFIRE: Inside the Downfall of the NRA'!

It's based on 120+ interviews and 1000s of pages of secret depositions, internal emails & private documents: tracing the behind the scenes story of the org

You can get it here:
bit.ly/MISFIREbook
.@mikeallen included MISFIRE in @Axios AM this morning, describing it as a "hot read" with "deep reporting on the NRA"

The book goes into Wayne LaPierre's wedding to the reaction at NRA HQ after Sandy Hook, into the infighting and corruption that led to Oliver North's ejection..
@mikeallen @axios And a shoutout from @Politico @playbookdc this morning as well, which says that 'MISFIRE: Inside the Downfall of the NRA' is a book that "spills the secrets of the nation's powerful gun lobby."
Read 11 tweets
Tim Mak Profile picture
28 Oct
The first excerpt of MISFIRE, my book on the inner workings of the NRA, is up on Vanity Fair.

We start at CEO Wayne LaPierre's wedding -- when he doesn't show up.

"Where the fuck is Wayne?"

vanityfair.com/news/2021/10/t…
One of the reasons I wanted to write a book about the NRA is that it really is a black box.

This powerful organization, at the center of controversy -- and no one knows anything about the personalities and characters.

That's what I tried most to do with MISFIRE
Wayne LaPierre doesn't want to get married. His best man places a hundred dollar bill and suggest they leave.

The portrait of Wayne LaPierre in the book is one of a remarkably weak-willed man who somehow becomes head of a $400 mil a year organization.

vanityfair.com/news/2021/10/t…
Read 6 tweets
Tim Mak Profile picture
28 Oct
ProPublica:

Sen. Richard Burr's brother-in-law called stock broker a minute after getting off phone with the senator

Burr himself dumped $1.6 million+ of stocks in Feb 2020, just before the COVID market crash

propublica.org/article/burrs-…
Another important story: Pharma lobbyists, a billionaire, investment firm execs and lawmakers pitch in to Senator Burr's legal defense fund:

forbes.com/sites/zachever…
The SEC revealed that there is an ongoing insider trading investigation into Burr's trade, even as federal prosecutors decided ultimately not to charge him:

propublica.org/article/burrs-…
Read 4 tweets
Tim Mak Profile picture
22 Sep
I started noticing this trend of TikTokers obsessively following Nancy Pelosi's stock trading disclosures -- and fell into this crazy world where retail investors are mimicking Congressional stock trades:

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…
This isn't a one-off or a fad: people really are buying stocks based on what they see in House/Senate stock disclosures, per research done by a prof at Augusta University.

He found stocks prices got a bump after purchases were disclosed by Congress

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…
There are apps where you can get a push notification every time Pelosi's trading disclosures are released.

"I'm at the point where if you can't beat them, join them," said the app creator.

npr.org/2021/09/21/103…
Read 8 tweets
Tim Mak Profile picture
18 Aug
THREAD: In order to renew their license to fundraise in N Carolina, the NRA had to file a financial statement, which they labeled a 'draft'

The figures in that document show just how far the NRA has fallen since its peak in 2016.
With the NRA, hard to compare apples to apple because you need two presidential years to make a good comparison.

Revenue and spending typically rise in presidential cycles as members/donors get activated.

But from 2016 to 2020, NRA dramatically shrunk in both revenue/spending
Let's take a look at revenue:

In 2016, the NRA took in approx $378 million, including $163.5 million in membership dues.

In 2020, revenue was $284 million, with $119.7 million in dues.
Read 6 tweets

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