Dick Armey resigns from Tea Party group

Lots of buzzing about former House majority leader Dick Armey parting ways with FreedomWorks, an organization that has close ties to the Tea Party movement.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Armey "agreed to resign" in September "in exchange for $8 million in consulting fees paid in annual $400,000 installments. The AP is citing a confidential contract it obtained.

The AP story is a follow to an exclusive by Mother Jones magazine, published Monday night, that Armey resigned as the advocacy group's chairman. The magazine obtained Armey's resignation memo to FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe.

Armey told the magazine that the advocacy group's management was "taking a direction I thought was unproductive, and I thought it was time to move on with my life."

Among other things outlined in the resignation memo, the ex-Texas congressman -- who helped usher in the 1994 Republican Revolution in the U.S. House -- asked for compensation per the terms of his "current consulting contract," which expires at the end of the year.

Armey also said in the memo that FreedomWorks "shall be prohibited from using my name, image or signature in any way or for any purpose without my written permission or in the event of my death, without my heirs written permission."

Jackie Bodnar, the press secretary for FreedomWorks, said in an e-mail to USA TODAY that the group accepted Armey's letter of resignation "and we wish him well."

FreedomWorks helped train activists who believe in the small-government, anti-tax mantra of the Tea Party, and was closely aligned with Tea Partiers in states such as Indiana where the movement is strong. Its campaign arm, FreedomWorks for America, made endorsements in key congressional races backing such GOP candidates as Rep. Allen West, who lost his re-election bid in Florida, and Ted Cruz for the U.S. Senate in Texas.