Is 'extortion' too strong a word for Dick Armey's $8M payoff from FreedomWorks?

[janedrake]

Check this out from TPM:

Dick Armey On FreedomWorks Exit: ‘Couldn’t Leave With Empty Pockets’
In another interview concerning the circumstances of his departure from
FreedomWorks in September, former House majority leader Dick Armey said this week
he accepted an $8 million settlement from a board member of the organization
because he “couldn’t leave with empty pockets....”

According to Armey, Stephenson stepped in with an offer to pay him $400,000 a
year over 20 years because he “was concerned I was going to resign [from
FreedomWorks] and sue them before the [presidential] election. He didn’t want an
uproar. We all understood if I take any action that made it at all public it would be a
press nightmare and we didn’t want that before the election.”

“So (Stephenson) was saying, ‘You know, Armey, my family and I have heard your story,
about how you can’t afford to retire and we want to help with your retirement,’”
Armey, who is 72, also said.

As part of the agreement, Armey said he will serve as a consultant (insert eyeroll here) to Stephenson.

Full read:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.co...ockets.php