Oliver North out as NRA president

Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North announced Saturday he would not serve a second term as president of the National Rifle Association. The announcement came after North attempted to oust longtime NRA CEO Wayne LePierre over a dispute involving the group’s finances and media operations and was made at the group’s national convention in Indianapolis, with North not in attendance.

“Please know I hoped to be with you today as NRA president endorsed for reelection. I’m now informed that will not happen,” North said in a statement read by Richard Childress, the NRA’s first vice president, that was met by prolonged silence by the hundreds of NRA members in attendance.

The dispute between North and LePierre first came to light after the NRA filed a lawsuit against the group’s Oklahoma-based public relations firm. The suit accuses Ackerman McQueen of refusing to hand over its financial records to justify its billings. Some in the NRA have cited concerns about North having a conflict of interest because of his personal $1 million contract with the firm. His American Heroes program appears on NRATV, an online platform created and operated by Ackerman McQueen.

The NRA has also come under fire for various financial and regulator irregularities in recent years, including an attempt by the state of New York, where the NRA is chartered, to strip it of its nonprofit status. In North’s statement, he called for a committee to review the NRA’s finances and operations. “There is a clear crisis and it needs to be dealt with” if the NRA is to survive, he said.