NRA fights internal conflicts and external pressures as Oliver North resigns as president

The president of the National Rifle Association, Oliver North, was ousted in an internal conflict and external pressures.

In a statement read at the NRA's annual meeting in Indianapolis on Saturday, North said he would not seek a second term, citing clashes with board members and donors about what they called exorbitant payments to a law firm, a lawsuit against the group's long-standing public relations. corporate and press reports of alleged financial mismanagement.

"There is an obvious crisis," said North in his letter, which was read by NRA Vice President Richard Childress. "We must deal with it immediately and responsibly so that the ANR can continue to protect our second amendment."

North's announcement to set up a committee to review the organization's finances comes a day after Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the NRA, sent his own letter to the board. NRA, claiming that North had tried to extort him.

According to this letter, North reportedly told LaPierre that he would send the commission a letter alleging the sexual harassment of a staff member, a "devastating account" of the NRA's financial situation and accusations excessive spending on clothing and travel unless LaPierre resigns. and removed the NRA from the lawsuit it brought against Ackerman McQueen, the public relations firm that she has been using for decades.

"I believe that the purpose of the letter was to humiliate, to discredit our association and to reveal reprehensible acts that hurt our members and the second amendment," LaPierre writes in this letter, reported for the first time by the Wall Street Journal. "I think our board and our dedicated members will see this as what it is: a threat to intimidate and divide us. I choose to fight and hope to attract 5 million members with me. "

The NRA Board will meet on Monday to determine next steps. Tom King, a board member and president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said he supported LaPierre.

"I trust Wayne to make the right decisions," he said. "It's been 40 years since he's doing it."

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The tragedy and the internal conflicts arise while external pressures are exerted on the organization, which is entangled in several lawsuits. His financial reporting forms show that he is operating with a significant loss. And he has been confronted with allegations of close ties with Russian leaders.

The Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, has opened an investigation into the tax-exempt status of the organization, which is licensed in New York.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation related to the National Rifle Association (NRA). As part of this investigation, the Attorney General issued subpoenas, "James wrote in a statement, noting that the bureau would not make any other comments.

James' office sent letters Friday asking NRA, its charitable foundation and other affiliated organizations to keep their financial records.

William A. Brewer III, the external advisor to the NRA, said the organization "would cooperate fully with any investigation of its finances" and that "the NRA is ready for this, has full confidence in its accounting practices and its commitment to good governance ".

Last week, the Giffords Firearms Group filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission for failing to take action against the NRA for alleged violations of campaign funding.

And on Friday, a federal judge sentenced a Russian gun rights activist who pleaded guilty to conspiring with a senior Russian official to infiltrate the NRA and other groups in order to to establish behind-the-scenes communications without registering as a foreign agent.

The organization is also feeling pressure on Capitol Hill. In February, representatives Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) And Kathleen Rice (DN.Y.) wrote to LaPierre, stating that they were "increasingly alarmed by the complex network of relationships" between people associated with the NRA and Russian officials.

Much of the internal conflict within the organization appears to result from a lawsuit filed by the NRA against Ackerman McQueen. The company is largely responsible for the image of the NRA, thus helping to push the organization towards the current trend in the firearms division.

There have also been reports of divisions within the organization over NRATV – managed by Ackerman McQueen – that broadcasts dreadful dystopian programming that often has little to do with guns. A segment digitally added Ku Klux Klan hoods to the Thomas the Tank Engine's children's station trains to criticize it for diversifying its characters.

As part of this lawsuit, the NRA alleged that Ackerman refused to deliver commercial documents, including those relating to billing. According to the lawsuit, Ackerman reportedly refused to comply with a service contract, "notably by launching a campaign to" kill the messenger "when the NRA requested access to documents or proposed cuts to the budget. the AMC … "He claims that the organization" has made ANR's outside lawyer a scapegoat "and refused to respond to inquiries.

Some of the documents sought by the NRA relate to the amount of North paid by Ackerman McQueen and the cost of production of the North American show NRATV, "American Heroes".

LaPierre said in its Friday letter that the organization had tried to strengthen its efforts to "document and verify the compliance of our suppliers" with purchases and contracts.

Ackerman McQueen and NRA have not responded to requests for comment.

The gun rights group, which spent $ 31 million to help elect President Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, has been operating in the red since, according to financial records. During fiscal 2017, the NRA reported a loss of more than $ 17 million. in 2015, the amount was over $ 33 million.

In a lawsuit filed last year by the NRA against the state of New York, which had discouraged insurance companies from selling its insurance product, the organization claimed that she would be "unable to exist" if she could not collect donations or protect her assets.

The NRA has faced challenges from American companies, students, activists and politicians since a shootout in February 2018 at a Florida high school that left 17 dead.

The NRA has also been dealing with firearms advocacy groups that had outpaced its spending in the 2018 mid-term elections and were working to thwart gun-friendly legislation in the palaces of the country. State and Washington.

Despite the presence of a supreme court that now leans in favor of the rights of the Second Amendment, a Republican President and, until November, a Republican-controlled Congress, the United The organization was not able to advance much of its program in Washington.

"The Trump era should be a sign of great celebration for the NRA. . . and inside, it looks like they're imploding, "said Adam Winkler, a professor at UCLA Law School. "And this comes at a time when the gun control movement is stronger than it has been."

But Winkler, along with current and former members of the NRA board, believe it would be wrong to count on the organization, which has seen many ups and downs in its 147 years of history.

"They have been in a deplorable state, their obituaries have been written more times than everyone else knows," said Richard Feldman, a former NRA lobbyist. "Anyone who denigrates the ANR makes fun of themselves. They will come back. "

Anu Narayanswamy contributed to the reports.