Breaking News: TN Lawmakers Arrested by FBI
The FBI arrested four Tennessee lawmakers: Sen. Ward Crutchfield, (D) Chattanooga; Sen. John Ford, (D) Memphis; Sen. Kathryn Bowers, (D) Memphis; Rep. Chris Newton, (R) Cleveland.
There may be additional arrests. Federal agents on Capitol Hill said they were waiting for someone else.One legislator, Frank Buck, (D) Dowelltown, said he was surprised to see fellow lawmakers being led out in handcuffs.
Rumors are flying as to the reason, but there’s little doubt that it concerns ethics violations regarding legislation introduced by these politicians, perhaps in regards to the massive TennCare program. The FBI questioned Newton and Bowers on Friday about legislation introducted by Ford:
“As Shelby County legislators, we have sponsored a number of bills together, and I guess they are looking at all of the bills that John Ford sponsored,” Bowers, D-Memphis, said Friday. …The longtime state senator is being investigated for his connections with Doral Dental, a TennCare contractor. Ford received as much as $429,000 in payments from a consulting partnership with the company.
Newton estimated that 75% of the agents’ questions during the hour-and-a-half interview were “directed toward those contracts (with Doral Dental), and what I knew about John Ford and Doral Dental and their parent company and those kinds of things.”
They also asked Newton about legislation he had sponsored or co-sponsored with Ford, including a bill that would allow companies to buy and sell used electronic equipment from the state.
Immediate thoughts: First, I am hoping that the as-yet-unarrested party is Naifeh.
Second, what will this do to Harold Ford’s Senate aspirations? (Harold is John Ford’s nephew.)
Update: Half-Bakered Mike is all over this at Memphis Red Blogs.
10:40 Update: According to a poster on Free Republic, radio announcer Steve Gill says that Roscoe Dixon and mayor of Memphis Willie Herenton was arrested, and perhaps as many as six other people.
This would be great news indeed if true. King Willie has been rumored to be under FBI investigation for quite some time.
11 am Update: The FBI just held a press conference. It was a two-year sting operation that netted the four above as well as two others for ethical violations as they took money to help a phony FBI corporation do business in Tennessee. Naifeh and Herrenton have escaped. So much for rumors.
Seeing Sen. Fords name jogged my memory. Sure enough, a search “at home” discovered my story on him where he claimed in juvenile court he had 2 wives and 2 sets of kids.
All in an effort to beat child support payments.
“Naifeh and Herrenton have escaped. So much for rumors. ”
Seriously??
Corruption-O-Rama
Okay. So, I’m having trouble keeping up with what has been reported as fact and what is still unsubstantiated. Blogging this from a newsroom means I hear the gossip and rumors about what might happen and must remember not to…
Herenton, I’ve learned, was a mistake made by Nashville reporters who heard that Roscoe Dixon worked for the “mayor.” They assumed Memphis’ Herenton and not the County Mayor AC Wharton. It’s fascinating that they then *assumed* Herenton had to be guilty of something and was arrestable.
Never heard anything about Naifeh, but if you watched him during the press conference he was scanning the crowd like someone watching for the assassin’s bullet.