On Monday, saying he did so with “a heavy heart,” and “effective immediately,” NRA board member Richard Childress resigned from the Second Amendment organization. Childress becomes the fifth high-profile member of the NRA’s board to resign in the last couple of weeks. Childress becomes another in a steady stream of defections that began with chief lobbyist Chris Cox stepping down at the end of July due to “improprieties,” followed by three board members alleging an unwillingness on the part of NRA brass to investigate internal improprieties, and followed by the early exit of professional sport shooter and board member Julie Golob.
Childress’ resignation is not at all surprising as he was the co-author along with former NRA President Oliver North of a letter that questioned some of the financial extravagances going on inside of the organization. It was Childress and North’s letter that subsequently leaked along with Wayne LaPierre’s own leaks to the media alleging extortion tactics on the part of North and others in an increasingly ugly internal power struggle.
NPR reporter Tim Mak posted an image of Childress’ reported resignation letter.
Childress’ exit looks like another indication that ranks are closing in around LaPierre, as Ackerman McQueen, the NRA’s former PR firm and major financial backer, and the NRA accuse each other in court of financial malfeasance. Both organizations have been pointing fingers at each other, saying that big financial expenditures were the other’s doing. North and Childress’ initial volley pointed out the exorbitant costs of the NRA’s legal counsel, the Brewster firm. The Brewer firm is named for William A. Brewer III, the son-in-law of Angus McQueen—co-CEO of Ackerman MCQueen. Oh, the tangled web we weave and all of that.
One thing is clear, whether the internal financial corruption inside of the NRA comes from their leadership or their partner’s leadership, one thing is clear: the NRA has been a corrupt organization for years, spending a lot more money on their own lifestyles than on making the Second Amendment actually work for all Americans.