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Wow. Wayne Lapierre sent a letter, first obtained by @WSJ, to the NRA board accusing Oliver North and Ackerman McQueen of Trying to blackmail him into resigning. wsj.com/public/resourc…
Oh boy. Things are really going down inside the NRA right now. I have no idea how this will shake out.
To sum things up. The NRA's executive vice president just accused its president and top ad firm of Trying to extort him into resigning due, in part, to the NRA's lawsuit against the ad firm.
This is all happening in the middle of the NRA Annual Meeting which 80,000 members are currently attending.
Here is the real meat of Lapierre's letter. 
According to a source with knowledge: Oliver North was spotted leaving the NRA convention and flying to DC.
It's unclear why he was leaving or what that means but the NRA Annual Meeting doesn't end until Sunday.
The New York Times is reporting that Oliver North sent his own letter to the NRA board saying he was setting up a special committee to investigate "allegations of financial misconduct related to Mr. Lapierre." nytimes.com/2019/04/26/bus…
They have a spot for Oliver North at the NRA members meeting. That seems to imply he'll be here.
Breaking: Oliver North is NOT at the NRA members meeting.
Wayne Lapierre is here, by the way, and came out to a standing ovation.
There is an empty spot on stage at the members meeting where Oliver North, President of the NRA, should be.
Richard Childress is currently reading a letter from Oliver North.
Oliver North's letter attacks the NRA lawfirm that filed suit against the NRA's leading ad firm. Talks about setting up a special committee to investigate claims of financial mismanagement. Says he won't run for NRA president again.
REPEAT: Oliver North is out at the NRA
They are opening up the floor for questioning by certain NRA members.
Adam Kraut, a gun rights activist who has unsuccessfully run for the board in the past, attempted to say something to the board members but wasn't recognized. They're currently recognizing the youngest and oldest NRA members in the room.
The atmosphere here is pretty jovial considering the NRA president effectively just resigned and accused the Wayne Lapierre of financial wrongdoing. Lots of laughing and clapping as Lapierre recognizes the youngest and oldest member in attendance.
The youngest member was born in March 2019 and the oldest was born in 1926, by the way.
This upheaval is the biggest NRA story since the 90s when Lapierre and Ackerman McQueen faced a similar controversy over the group's spending on the ad firm. Lapierre survived that controversy and appears poised to survive this one too.
This time, at least publicly, Lapierre and Ackerman McQueen are on opposite sides of the fight. But Oliver North, who had accused Lapierre of wrongdoing, is now gone and Lapierre is still here at the convention running this members meeting.
The real action will likely come on Monday when the board meets. That's when we'll see if Lapierre stays on as Executive Vice President and who will become the next president of the NRA. I'm not aware of anyone other than North who was being considered for the position.
Wayne Lapierre is speaking now. He was introduced to a standing ovation from members.
Wayne Lapierre just put the number of NRA members at 5.5 million and said it was the most they've ever had.
Lapierre is giving a speech about NRA opponents. Pretty standard stuff. Nothing about Oliver North or the accusations he leveled against him.
Lapierre's speech is almost exclusively about the legal fight with New York. Here's background on that: freebeacon.com/issues/nra-sue…
Lapierre finishes up his speech to another standing ovation.
Chris Cox, head of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, is speaking now. His section of the NRA, which does most of the actual lobbying, has stayed out of the fray of this fight, at least in public. I don't yet have insight on how Cox feels on all this.
Cox's speech is on the NRA's political accomplishments. Nothing on the leadership fight.
They're voting on resolutions now. The first one is thanking Trump for his action on the UN Arms Trade Treaty yesterday.
They just tried to adjourn but someone objected and is bringing a point of order. High drama right now.
Membership just voted down an attempt to adjourn the meeting.
They're now going to vote on a resolution expressing no confidence in Wayne Lapierre and the board committee responsible for oversight.
There have been a number of dueling resolutions here. Things are getting very heated. Some want to go into executive session which would kick the media out of the room. A number of board members have spoken against the anti-Lapierre resolution and/or going into executive session.
After an incredibly heated exchange, the membership voted to reject the executive session and refer the investigation of accusations of impropriety by Wayne Lapierre and board members to the board.
After referring a motion praising @DLoesch to the board, the members voted to adjourn.
Just asked Alan West, an NRA board member, about the accusations of wrongdoing by Oliver North and Wayne Lapierre. He told me "we have to investigate this and come up with the reforms that are necessary."
Here is my exclusive interview with Alan West on the NRA leadership fight. He called for the board to reassert control over the organization and suggested an internal audit system be implemented.
I talked to NRA board member Julie Golob about the leadership fight. She said the board owes it to the members to analyze accusations of impropriety but is reserving judgement until the board meeting on Monday.
Here's an example of how heated debate inside the NRA members meeting. The resolution proposed from the stage in this clip was eventually adopted but not before a tumultuous back and forth.
New Report: Inside the Turmoil at the NRA Annual Meeting
