Oliver North’s Plan to Oust Wayne LaPierre at NRA Backfires, Now North Is Out as President

This past week, NRA President Oliver North threatened to ruin NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, citing financial improprieties and an ongoing battle with the group’s PR firm, Ackerman McQueen, but his plan backfired and now North has been told he will not be renominated as the group’s president, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“Yesterday evening, I was forced to confront one of those defining choices — styled, in the parlance of extortionists — as an offer I couldn’t refuse,” LaPierre wrote in a Thursday letter to the NRA board. “I refused it.

North, who came to prominence as a figure in the Iran-Contra scandal, also wrote a letter of his own in response to his ouster, which was read to the NRA’s annual convention on his behalf. In the letter, North said there is “clear crisis” at the organization and “it needs to be dealt with,” the New York Times reported. North also said that he had hoped to stay on as president for another term, but, “I am now informed that will not happen.” He also recommended the NRA form a committee to look into its finances.

As Rolling Stone has reported, the NRA has been in financial trouble for a while. And as America’s anti-gun movement grows, the attacks are coming from multiple angles. The NRA admitted it has been unable to secure insurance. The group Everytown for Gun Safety recently sent a letter to the IRS asking them to look into its tax-exempt status as a non-profit because of financial irregularities. And New York regulators led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo are also investigating the NRA’s tax exemption and seeks to block the NRA’s access to financial services.