NRA President Oliver North Steps Down After CEO Wayne LaPierre Accuses Him of Extortion
The National Rifle Association is in chaos after Lt. Col. Oliver North, the organization’s president, announced Saturday morning he was stepping down from serving a second term.
“This morning, at the NRA’s public meeting of members, member Richard Childress read a letter from North announcing he would not seek another term as the NRA’s president,” National Review reported.
The letter from North also said his term ends Monday, which is the scheduled time for the NRA’s annual meeting in Indianapolis. President Donald Trump also spoke at the convention on Friday.
BREAKING: Oliver North says he will not serve a second term as president of the National Rifle Association.
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 27, 2019
This statement comes just days after North threatened to release damaging information against longtime CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
On Thursday, LaPierre accused North of extortion and argued that he was pressuring him to resign.
“The extortion was simple: resign or there will be destructive allegations made against me and the NRA,” LaPierre wrote in a letter to the NRA board of executives obtained by The Wall Street Journal. “Alarmed and disgusted, I refused the offer.”
He also alleged that the NRA’s advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, had drafted a letter that contained information about financial improprieties. The letter supposedly had included “a devastating account of our financial status, sexual harassment charges against a staff member, accusations of wardrobe expenses and excessive staff travel expenses,” according to LaPierre.
North acknowledged that the letter would be “bad” for LaPierre, but would agree not to send it if LaPierre would resign.
Because of North’s contract with Ackerman McQueen to produce a television series, “Oliver North’s American Heroes,” LaPierre accused North of “attempting to oust him in order to protect Ackerman McQueen,” National Review wrote.
“And, if I supported Col. North’s continued tenure as President, he stated that he could ‘negotiate’ an ‘excellent retirement’ for me,” the CEO added.
North sent his own letter to the board on Thursday, stating that he wanted to investigate allegations of financial improprieties that LaPierre supposedly conducted. “I did this because I am deeply concerned that these allegations of financial improprieties could threaten our nonprofit status,” North wrote.
It was unclear why North suddenly decided to drop out, though National Review claims that the “long-simmering dispute” between the two major assets of the NRA “exploded into the open Friday night,” resulting in bad publicity for North.
After that, the NRA’s Board of Directors was forced to confront “public accusations and counter-accusations of financial mismanagement, attempts at extortion, and unjustifiable expenditures by their primary public relations firm,” National Review wrote.
“By Saturday morning, it was clear who won.”
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