Throwing North under the bus to protect the status quo perhaps? I don't doubt the NRA is rife with corruption simply because of its size and age.

It's fascinating to me, but I think of large organizations (governments, companies, etc.) as organisms. Any threat against the status quo - internal or external - is dealt with no different than a biological systems immune response - or auto-immune response. Even if proper "whistleblowers" of whatever form, might be best for both the longevity and public interest; it will always end badly for those opposing the "quo". I'm also of a belief that corruption is an ingrained aspect of human sociology on an organizational scale. Logic would seem to make you think that entities -including governments, law enforcement departments, lobbying orgs, large churches, etc. would regularly purge their corruption as it almost always would serve the future interests of both that entity and the public. YET, you never, ever see that happen, because insidious corruption seems to be a natural aspect of our sociology that despite it's adverse effects, in large scale we unwittingly, but reliably, will always defend it from within. Even those that do not want to be participants, still seem to reliably defend entity-level corruption, and you can pretty much guarantee it's existence in any organization of sufficient size.

Now, if Wayne was purged would it resolve the problem? Probably not. The NRA has been around for so long, and with the massive influx of money (and theoretical purpose of putting itself out of business), its all but a guarantee that if not already corrupt; it will be. On top of that, it will never be motivated to cut itself off from the revenue stream... e.g. the NRA requires drama (has been plenty for a few years) but it will foster it if necessary - because without controversy, you can't get a $200k wardrobe.

I wish it (sociology - entity level corruption) was better studied.