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Lawmakers Demand TBI Files on DA Investigation

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Senate Judiciary Committee members on Thursday directed the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to let them view files of the agency’s probe into allegations involving 10th District Attorney Steve Bebb of Cleveland, reports Andy Sher.
Seven members, including Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, voted in favor of the resolution. Two members, Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Lowe Finney, of Jackson, abstained.
A similar effort in the House stalled at least temporarily after Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, blocked approval of nine bills and resolutions on various matters, only one of which involved Bebb, by the three-member Delayed Bills Committee. Approval requires all three members.
House GOP leaders say they intend to put that back on track today.
Reached by telephone Tuesday night, Bebb said, “I really don’t want to make any comment right now.”
The effort to obtain the TBI’s investigation of Bebb comes after Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper on March 25 released his long-awaited report on Bebb and alleged misconduct in the 10th Judicial District, which includes Bradley, Polk, McMinn and Monroe counties.
Relying on the TBI investigation, Cooper criticized Bebb’s office for poor judgment, mismanagement and deficient record keeping. But Cooper said he found no prosecutable evidence against Bebb on allegations of prosecutorial and financial misconduct, speaking untruthfully under oath and other offenses.
Bell and Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, had called on Cooper to investigate following questions raised about Bebb last year in a Times Free Press series.
“This is not an issue I take up lightly,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, told colleagues late Tuesday afternoon. “It is not an issue that is meant to reveal information that is confidential. But it is a serious issue and it’s important for the Judiciary Committee to exercise its oversight ability.”

Link Suggested Between Campaign Contribution, Killer’s Reduced Sentence

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Sumner County Assistant District Attorney William Lamberth, who is campaigning for the 44th District seat on the State House of Representatives, is fuming over accusations from opponent Steven Glaser that he exchanged a reduced sentence in the Kenneth Lame murder case for campaign contributions, reports the Portland Leader.
“This is the type of made-up, political mud-slinging that turns people off to politics,” Lamberth said Tuesday evening after learning of a press release Glaser sent out to the media. “An open discussion of the issues that can strenghten our communities — like better, high-paying jobs, schools, and keeping taxes low — those are the things that I want to focus on as a candidate and a member of this community.”
Glaser, who refers to himself as a Judge, even though he is no longer the Judge for the City of Portland, has accused Lamberth of accepting $1,500 from a “convicted killer’s father and attorney before sentencing.”
Glaser states in his press release: “In November 2010, Kenneth Lame was arrested on the charge of shooting his wife on June 10, 2010. His trial was set for April 9, 2012 on charges of second degree murder…..On March 10th and 28th in 2012, donations were made to Mr. Lamberth from both Kenneth’s father and attorney. A week later, on April 5, 2012, the District Attorney’s office agreed to lessen Kenneth’s charge to criminal negligence….After nearly two years of preparing the evidence proving Kenneth’s guilt for second degree murder, the District Attorney’s office decided there was not enough to prove he intended to kill his wife. This was less than one week after a donation of $1,000 from Kenneth’s attorney was made to the Assistant District Attorney, William Lamberth. There is an appearance of impropriety that must be addressed.”
…Kenneth Lame was indicted in Nov. 2010 on charges of second degree murder in the death of his wife, Wendy White Lame, in June 2010; however, in a settlement plea, Lame pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced to two years with a minimum of seven months to serve. He is currently serving his sentence in Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, Tenn.
“I think it’s reprehensible that Steve Glaser tried to score political points from a tragedy that destroyed two families,” Lamberth said. “There are nine assistant district attorneys in our office. I have cases that are assigned to me and I was never involved in the Lame case at any point. Furthermore, ADA Ron Blanton, who was assigned to the case, has no knowledge of who gives to my campaign or the day-to-day workings of my campaign. The two are entirely separate.”
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Note: The article doesn’t mention it, but Lamberth is the Republican nominee; Glaser the Democrat.

DA’s Dealings With Drug Money, Public Property Questioned

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The Chattanooga Times-Free Press takes a lengthy look at questionable activities in the 10th Judicial District – Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties – under District Attorney General R. Steven Bebb.
According to the results of research and interviews done by the Times Free Press:
* Bebb and some of the people he oversaw routinely used public property and money as if it were their own — from cars to phones to cash.
…Bebb also is chairman of the board of the 10th District Drug Task Force, which brought in more than $5 million between 2007 and 2010, mostly from stopping drivers on Interstate 75 and seizing cash, vehicles and other assets, according to Department of Safety records.
The Times Free Press found that Department of Safety files show numerous cases where drug task force agents took large sums of cash from drivers on Interstate 75 without ever charging them with crimes and sometimes without finding drugs.
…he money drug task force agents took off the highway paid for them to travel the country for law enforcement conferences and training. Task force financial records show that the task force — with 14 to 16 agents — spent at least $100,000 between 2008 and 2010 on hotels, meals, mileage and airfare. They took dozens of trips to locations as close as Opryland and Gatlinburg and as far as Washington, D.C., Sandestin, Fla., and Charleston, S.C.
…Former DTF Director Mike Hall’s drug task force credit card was used to charge more than $50,000 between 2008 and 2010 on meals for himself, task force members and guests at local restaurants, as well as gifts, flowers and goodies for co-workers and office secretaries, credit card receipts show.
…In numerous cases, Bebb shelved TBI investigations into allegations of officer misconduct without taking action, state records and newspaper archives show. He routinely declined to charge cops for behavior that would have landed civilians in jail — from abusing prescription pills and beating up spouses, to shooting up a neighborhood with an assault rifle, to driving drunk and wrecking a vehicle with methamphetamine ingredients inside, records show.
…Court records and judges’ opinions contain repeated allegations and findings that 10th District prosecutors withheld evidence, tolerated and even participated in law enforcement misconduct, and violated judicial orders and defendants’ rights in criminal cases.

Pruitt Faces Two Challengers in House District 58

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Two years after longtime state Rep. Mary Pruitt held off an upstart Steven Turner by 167 votes in a primary election, both Democrats are running again for the same seat against the son of another tenured lawmaker.
Further from the Tennessean’s review of the race:
The primary race among Pruitt, Turner and the Rev. Harold M. Love Jr. will determine the outcome for the district. No other candidates, Republican or independent, are running to represent the majority African-American 58th District in the state House.
For Turner, who runs a small electronics business in southeast Nashville, his near-election in 2010 was a major reason he decided to run again.
“It was something I owed to my constituents. To have us come so close to victory required us to go for it again,” he said.
Two years later, the district all three candidates are running in has seen its share of changes. Redistricting announced in January turned a district that used to include downtown and parts of Germantown and Belmont into a district stretching from Bordeaux and the areas near Fisk and Tennessee State universities around to greater parts of East Nashville and Murfreesboro Pike.
“Thirty-five percent of this district has never voted for a Pruitt, Love or a Turner,” Turner said. “That presents an opportunity for us to be there and fight for that vote.”.

House District 58: A Combative Democratic Primary

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Nashville’s House District 58 is apparently the only place in the state where there’s a serious primary challenge to an incumbent Democratic state legislator that wasn’t created by Republican redistricting. (There are four races where one Democratic incumbent is running against another because of redistricting.) The Tennessean has a rundown on the race:
Two years after longtime state Rep. Mary Pruitt held off an upstart Steven Turner by 167 votes in a primary election, both Democrats are running again for the same seat against the son of another tenured lawmaker.
The primary race among Pruitt, Turner and the Rev. Harold M. Love Jr. will determine the outcome for the district. No other candidates, Republican or independent, are running to represent the majority African-American 58th District in the state House.
For Turner, who runs a small electronics business in southeast Nashville, his near-election in 2010 was a major reason he decided to run again.
“It was something I owed to my constituents. To have us come so close to victory required us to go for it again,” he said.
…. Redistricting announced in January turned a district that used to include downtown and parts of Germantown and Belmont into a district stretching from Bordeaux and the areas near Fisk and Tennessee State universities around to greater parts of East Nashville and Murfreesboro Pike.
“Thirty-five percent of this district has never voted for a Pruitt, Love or a Turner,” Turner said. “That presents an opportunity for us to be there and fight for that vote.
…While Harold Love Jr. hasn’t been on a ballot as recently as Pruitt or Turner, he might be able to make up for it with name recognition in North Nashville.
He’s the pastor at St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Bordeaux and the son of Harold Love, a beloved state lawmaker who represented North Nashville for 24 years. His slogan, “Put Love in the House,” harks back to his father’s re-election call to “Keep Love in the House.” His father’s role of neighborhood leader also is inspiring him to try to be an area leader whose goal is “engaging in and transforming the lives of the community.”
He sees the state representative’s office as one that can connect the state to the district, and would use his position, if elected, to improve the health, education and small businesses of the neighborhoods he represents.
“I would put together a measurable plan, something that we could say, ‘In six months, we could do this,’ ” he said.

DesJarlais Pushed Speedy Approval for Federal Loan Guarantee (despite letter to the contrary)

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Republican members of Congress investigating federal loan guarantees to now-bankrupt energy companies told Energy Secretary Steven Chu last week that they never asked him to speed up similar projects in their states, according to USA Today.
But that’s exactly what some did, according to a review of 484 congressional support letters obtained by USA TODAY. Some letters, for example, urged quick approval of a $2 billion loan guarantee for the American Centrifuge, a uranium enrichment project projected to create hundreds of jobs in states including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
“It is imperative that this application move forward now,” said a letter signed by five members of Congress, including Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa.
“Any delays put the project at risk,” said a letter to the Office of Management and Budget signed by 15 members, including Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., and Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C.
And even as late as Nov. 4, DesJarlais signed on to another letter saying “quick action is paramount” and asking for “immediate action on funding.”
That was two months after the bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra despite a $535 million federal loan guarantee. Solyndra’s failure prompted Congress to hold hearings about pressure by the White House to speed up a decision on the loan guarantee so that Vice President Biden could announce it.
At one hearing last Nov. 17, Chu testified that he had received nearly 500 letters from members of Congress supporting the loan programs. “We appreciate the support that the loan programs receive from many members of Congress who have urged us to accelerate our efforts and to fund worthy projects in their states,” he told a House subcommittee.
But in a letter to Chu last week, 19 GOP members of Congress — including Pitts, DesJarlais and Myrick — defended those letters, accusing Chu of “intentionally making misguided and far-reaching statements to cover your own failures.”
“These letters should in no way give you and your staff the belief that members are specifically asking you to ‘accelerate’ taxpayer funds and push them out the door without proper oversight,” they wrote.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., crafted that letter. She said in an interview that the main point was to request information about the decision-making process that led to the failed loans. And while she did not send letters supporting loan guarantees, she also defended members who did write Chu.

Commissioner Says Plaza Protesters Costing Thousands of Dollars

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By Lucas Johnson, Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee General Services Commissioner Steven Cates said Friday that Occupy Nashville protesters on the Legislative Plaza near the state Capitol has cost the state thousands of dollars, but he didn’t give a specific figure.
Cates spoke to reporters following a budget hearing for his department. He said there are areas of the plaza that have required pressure washing because of a lack of sanitation facilities.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has said unsanitary conditions were part of the reason he implemented a curfew and protesters were arrested. A federal judge has since temporarily struck down the curfew. At least two donated portable toilets have been placed near the plaza.
Cates didn’t address the arrests because of litigation. He said the protesters’ occupancy of the plaza for nearly a month has been costly.
“It’s very, very expensive to pressure wash and use solutions that don’t totally damage the surface,” Cates said.
He said there’s also costs associated with protesters running long cords from inside state buildings to power their laptops, as well as safety concerns if “plugs … don’t have the right rating.”

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