Wayne LaPierre reportedly ousted Oliver North in an NRA power struggle

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last updated 27 April 2019

It looks like the brief power struggle at the highest ranks of the National Rifle Association is over — and Wayne LaPierre is the victor.

In a letter sent to NRA board members Thursday, LaPierre, the organization's chief executive, claimed the board's president, Oliver North — yes, the Oliver North of Iran-Contra Affair fame — was trying to extort him into resigning, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. LaPierre said North told him the NRA's longtime advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen, would send a letter to the board through North that would be "bad" for LaPierre. The letter reportedly would contain "destructive allegations" made against LaPierre and the NRA, The Washington Post reports. LaPierre said he refused to comply with the threat.

North sent his own letter to the board in response, writing that his actions were "for the good of the NRA" and that he was forming a crisis committee to examine financial matters inside the organization, the Journal reports. But on Saturday, North announced that he would not serve a second term as board president, though he did maintain that the organization is dealing with a "clear" financial crisis.

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The power struggle reportedly stemmed in part from a dispute between the NRA and Ackerman McQueen. The NRA sued the firm earlier this month, claiming Ackerman McQueen refused to provide records justifying its billings. North reportedly was hired by Ackerman McQueen last year to host an NRATV documentary program, which LaPierre said results in "millions of dollars annually" for North. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.