The National Rifle Association is in turmoil amid allegations that Oliver North, recently installed as the gun lobbying organization’s president, threatened to release damaging information about longtime CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre unless he agreed to resign.

In a letter to the NRA board of executives on Thursday, obtained by The Wall Street Journal, LaPierre accused North of extorting him and pressuring him to resign over alleged financial improprieties.

“The extortion was simple: resign or there will be destructive allegations made against me and the NRA,” LaPierre wrote. “Alarmed and disgusted, I refused the offer.”

LaPierre alleged that the NRA’s longtime advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen Inc., had drafted a letter with damaging information about him and would send it to the board if he refused to resign.

North, who hosts a documentary show on NRATV that’s produced by Ackerman McQueen, reportedly relayed this information to LaPierre’s staff on Wednesday, claiming the letter would be “bad” for LaPierre.

The letter would be “a devastating account of our financial status, sexual harassment charges against a staff member, accusations of wardrobe expenses and excessive staff travel expenses,” according to La Pierre.

North also said Ackerman McQueen wouldn’t send the letter if LaPierre agreed to resign, LaPierre wrote to the board.

“And, if I supported Col. North’s continued tenure as President, he stated that he could ‘negotiate’ an ‘excellent retirement’ for me,” LaPierre wrote.