National Rifle Association President
Oliver North has lost his nomination for a second year as NRA president
after the CEO alleged he tried to extort him.
North said Saturday in a letter read to NRA members at the nonprofit
organization's annual meeting in Indianapolis that he hasn't been
renominated for a second one-year term as president against his wishes.
CEO Wayne LaPierre had written a letter to the board Thursday accusing
North of attempting to extort him and pressure him to resign from the
nonprofit over alleged financial transgressions. Among the claims, North
said that LaPierre had charged more than $200,000 in wardrobe expenses
to a vendor.
Earlier in the week, North had also told the board's executive committee
allegations of hefty travel expenses charged to a vendor and sexual
harassment allegations against a senior official, according to people
familiar with the matter.
"There is a clear crisis that needs to be dealt with quickly and
responsibly," North said, referring to allegations and recent news about
NRA insiders profiting from the organization, adding that the
allegations could threaten its nonprofit status.
An NRA attorney and board member said the NRA had investigated many of
North's accusations and found that LaPierre's wardrobe expenses were
justified given his public appearances.
Part of the dispute between the NRA's top executives is NRA's rift with
the advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen. The NRA sued the advertising
agency earlier this month, alleging unjustified billings, including
expenses for an NRATV documentary program produced by the ad firm, which
North hosted. The ad agency has called the suit "frivolous" and
inaccurate."
North, a former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and figure in the
Iran-Contra affair, said he joined the NRA after LaPierre urged him to
retire from a Fox News pundit job, and he "accepted a salaried position
at Ackerman Queen.
LaPierre accused North of "production shortfalls" in his documentary
series, "Oliver North's American Heroes," saying in a letter to the
board that he was paid "millions of dollars annually," by Ackerman
Queen, for a dozen episodes, but only three episodes had been delivered.
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