Ex-NRA lobbyist launches consulting firm: report

Former National Rifle Association (NRA) top lobbyist, Chris Cox, has launched his own consulting firm, Politico reported.

The firm, Capitol 6 Advisors, will help companies and political campaigns resolve legislative, political and public image issues. The name is a nod to the military term, “watch your six.” 

{mosads}“My entire career has been a policymaking and electoral laboratory, needing to solve complex problems,” Cox told Politico. “So we’ll be doing long-range strategic public affairs, crisis management, brand-positioning services, helping campaigns, causes, nonprofits, corporations deal with major problems. That’s what I’ve done for decades.”

Cox left his post as executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action in June. He had been the NRA’s top lobbyist since 2002.

Cox’s resignation came during a tumultuous time for the NRA and shortly after The New York Times reported that the organization had placed him on leave after accusing him of participating in an unsuccessful extortion scheme against chief executive Wayne LaPierre.

Cox said at the time that those allegations were “offensive and patently false.”

LaPierre himself had faced scrutiny over his spending of the organization’s money for personal reasons, as he reportedly spent $275,000 to buy clothes in California. 

President Trump, who received over $36 million in campaign contributions from the NRA in 2016, came to the organization’s defense in a tweet on July 2 attacking New York officials.

“People are fleeing New York like never before. If they own a business, they are twice as likely to flee. And if they are a victim of harassment by the A.G. of the state, like what they are doing to our great NRA, which I think will move quickly to Texas, where they are loved,” he tweeted.

The Hill has reached out to Capitol 6 Advisors and the NRA for comment.