Former NRA President Oliver North says he was ousted after he raised concerns about corruption within the organization

By Sabrina Souza, CNN

(CNN) — Former National Rifle Association President Oliver North was ousted after he raised concerns about corruption within the gun-lobbying group, he testified Tuesday at a civil corruption trial in New York.

Prosecutors allege that top NRA members used the non-profit organization as their “personal piggy bank,” through years of illegal self-dealing and financial misconduct.

North, who gained national attention as a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s, served as NRA president for less than a year, between 2018 and 2019.

He grew concerned about financial improprieties within the organization after an NRA attorney was fired and replaced by an outside law firm, the Brewer firm, he said.

After many rejected attempts to uncover details on legal spending and rebuffs by NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre, North recommended an independent review be conducted of the NRA, specifically of the Brewer firm, North testified.

LaPierre, a defendant in the trial who became the face of the gun rights movement over three decades, stepped down earlier this month, effective January 31.

In February 2019, North said, he asked NRA general counsel John Frazer, another defendant, for legal invoices. Frazer said no, telling him it was at LaPierre’s direction, North testified.

“We want to bring in a reputable outside firm to do an audit of not just the Brewer bills but of the whole mess,” North said, raising his arms in the air. “What we were trying to do was throw you a lifeline,” he said.

“What was your reaction to LaPierre’s personal expenses?” Monica Connell, special counsel with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, asked North.

“I was stunned … this was corruption,” he said.

“I was still trying to save Wayne LaPierre, a friend’s, job – that’s why I was throwing him a lifeline,” North added.

One of those lifelines was a letter to LaPierre in February 2019, in which North said he addressed the legal spending and the Brewer firms’ invoices of more than $100,000 in expenses. LaPierre replied with a cease and desist letter and again refused to make the Brewer bills available, North said.

LaPierre told him, “Brewer is the reason why I am not going to spend the rest of my life in an orange jumpsuit,” North testified.

“He’s now in a situation I never wanted to see him in,” North said glancing at LaPierre in the courtroom.

In a response to request for comment, the Brewer firm on Wednesday provided CNN with a statement from the NRA’s Andrew Arulanandam. “The firm’s bills have always been reviewed, vetted and approved at the highest levels of the organization, period,” he said.

Arulanandam will replace LaPierre as interim CEO and executive vice president, NRA announced this month.

North testified his goal as president was “to try and stop this circular firing squad” that the parties involved were in at the time, calling for a “ceasefire.”

According to North, LaPierre also helped draft his employment contract with Ackerman McQueen, the NRA’s former advertising firm, saying, “I’ll take care of it,” referring to both North’s employment and his nomination as president.

LaPierre didn’t follow procedure when he hired him, North suggested, ignoring the NRA’s audit committee which was supposed to supervise hires. It wasn’t solely North’s employment LaPierre pushed for but his nomination for NRA president as well, North testified.

“Of course, it should have (been approved), that’s the rules,” North said. “They retroactively approved my contract.”

When asked by Connell about allegations that he attempted a coup, North replied, “It never happened, all a big-faced lie. This whole thing was concocted along the lines of being a coup participant and spreading nasty rumors about Mr. LaPierre, which is the last thing I’d done,” he said.

In the spring of 2019, North wrote a detailed memorandum titled, “The NRA Faces a Crisis,” where he asked for a formation of a crisis committee, he testified.

“I knew by the time I wrote this … I knew that I was finished,” he said, adding he knew LaPierre wouldn’t support his renomination. “This is my last act.”

He resigned but is still an NRA member, he said.

“Did you consider yourself a whistleblower?” Connell asked.

“I certainly became one,” North said.

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