Rep. Matheny claims false e-mails part of smear campaign

Matheny, R-Tullahoma, said Friday that his former political rival Doyle “Butch” Lewis Jr. sent out e-mails on his state computer under a false name untruthfully claiming that Matheny had an arrest record.

Cooley on Monday denied Matheny’s allegations, saying a heated meeting between them in 2004 was strictly related to an argument from that election season.

Lewis, a Democrat, lost his House District 47 seat to Matheny in 2002 after serving five terms. He resigned as assistant commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Insurance on Friday a few hours after Matheny’s allegations.

Matheny told The Associated Press Friday that in 2004 Cooley had threatened him and told him to “tighten his belt” in a meeting called over Matheny’s comments on misconduct in the Department of Safety.

He recounted the meeting again in a radio interview Monday.

“I have been told personally by Mr. Cooley to tighten up my belt, that they were coming after me,” Matheny said in an interview Monday on Nashville radio station WLAC and the Tennessee Radio Network. “The timing is too perfect. They’re trying everything they can to discredit me in any way.”

Cooley acknowledged having the meeting with Matheny in 2004, but said the dispute was over the lawmaker’s comments about Gov. Phil Bredesen.

“He came into my office with a very threatening tone, prior to the 2004 election,” Cooley told The Knoxville News Sentinel. “I told him to tighten his belt as we approached the election. Beyond that, he is simply wrong.

“Mr. Matheny is delusional,” Cooley said.

Cooley also acknowledged that his executive assistant, Jeanie Vogel, has been dating Lewis.

“That’s on her personal time, and that’s her business,” Cooley told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He said Vogel “has assured me that she has no knowledge of this, and I’m comfortable that’s the case.”

The fracas comes the week after state Rep. Phillip Pinion, D-Union City, filed an ethics complaint against Matheny, accusing him of advising Tullahoma-based 3D Financial on how to use contributions through its political action committee to influence legislation affecting itself, 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.”

On Monday, the state Senate inserted an amendment into its current version of the ethics reform bill to make it a misdemeanor for legislators to use official or campaign stationery to introduce a campaign contribution from a PAC representing a business entity.

Matheny says he obtained a subpoena for Internet records from BellSouth showing that a series of defamatory e-mails under the name of one of his former law enforcement colleagues were actually sent from Lewis’ state computer.

TDCI spokeswoman Kelly Brockman said Monday that Lewis submitted his resignation shortly after Matheny’s allegations become public. She said the department is investigating whether any state property was used in sending the e-mails.