Armey Resigns From Lobbying Firm Over Town Hall Protests

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Former House majority leader Dick Armey resigned his position at the lobbying firm DLA Piper on Friday in response to a growing chorus of critics who claim his “grassroots” advocacy group, FreedomWorks, is little more than an extension of the American pharmaceutical industry.

Naturally, Armey blamed his decision to resign on the liberal media. “The firm is busy with its business, and shouldn’t be asked to take time out from their work, to defend themselves of spurious allegations,” he told Politico. “No client of this firm is going to be free to mind its own business without harassment as long as I’m associated with it.”

FreedomWorks has not been shy about its role in inflaming protests against health care reform. Last week it released an “August Recess Action Kit” and its website even provides a ten-point action guide on “How to Organize Your Own ‘Tea Party’ Protest.” 

MoJo will have more on the astrotuf groups driving the opposition to healthcare reform early next week—stay tuned.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate