McClatchy News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The president of the National Rifle Association, or NRA, said he would not serve a second term on Saturday, U.S. media reported, amid an internal power struggle and just as the attorney general of New York launched an investigation into the organization.

In a letter read out at the annual gathering of the gun rights group in Indianapolis, Oliver L North said he had learned he would not be renominated for a second one-year term, according to The New York Times.

North is a revered figure to many American conservatives, famous for his role at the center of the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal.

His exit was announced a day after media reported that NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre had accused North of trying to force him out by threatening to reveal damaging information about him if he did not leave.

It also came as New York’s attorney general launched an investigation the group’s tax exempt status and alleged financial improprieties.

Letters had been sent to the NRA and its affiliated entities telling them to preserve relevant financial records and some had also received subpoenas, the Times reported on Saturday citing people with knowledge of the probe.

North appeared to refer to the probe in his letter, saying the group had a “clear crisis” that needed to be dealt with “immediately and responsibly,” adding that he had recently created an internal committee to investigate the allegations of financial wrongdoing.