Ethics complaint filed against Rep. Matheny

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — An ethics complaint has been filed against a Tennessee lawmaker who advised title loan executives seeking favorable legislation, saying he abused his position by using personal letterhead to help them distribute political contributions.

Rep. Phillip Pinion, D-Union City, filed the complaint against Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, with the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday.

Pinion accuses Matheny of advising Tullahoma-based 3D Financial — which lends money at a high rate of interest with the borrower’s car as collateral — on how to use contributions through its political action committee to influence legislation affecting 3D Financial, according to the complaint.

Pinion said Matheny provided a letter on his campaign stationery that was included when 3D Financial’s PAC sent contributions that totaled more than $20,000 to dozens of lawmakers. In that letter, Matheny wrote “the folks over at 3D Financial have been quite proactive in the General Assembly.”

About two weeks before the letters were sent, according to the complaint, Matheny’s campaign account took in $5,000 from 3D’s PAC.

The use of the letterhead violates a statute that state lawmakers should avoid “actions which constitute an abuse of the member’s official position or violation of the member’s trust,” the complaint said.

“Representative Matheny’s distribution of political contributions on behalf of the 3D Financial PAC to other state legislators using letterhead bearing the words ‘Judd Matheny, State Representative’ constitute an abuse of Representative Matheny’s official position,” according to the complaint.

Matheny did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment, but he told The Tennessean he was just helping a constituent.

Pinion said Wednesday he could understand if Matheny was a freshman lawmaker, but he’s going into his third term and should know better.

“If he had been a freshman, I would have passed it off,” said Pinion, adding that Matheny’s actions don’t look good with the lawmakers in the midst of a special session on ethics. “But he knows better. I’m sick and tired of seeing these offices cheapened.”

Rep. Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta, was one of the lawmakers who received a contribution of $500. He said he thought the personal letterhead was odd, but “I didn’t get the impression there was a violation.”

Curtiss said if the ethics committee finds a violation did occur, he “will give the money back or donate it to a charity.”

The office of House Majority Leader Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville and chair of the ethics committee, said the complaint will be examined by the Legislature’s legal staff to certify that it’s appropriate and a ruling could come in several weeks.