Ethics panel won’t investigate Matheny
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On Monday, the House Ethics Committee voted unanimously not to investigate Matheny on allegations he inappropriately used his office to help a political action committee distribute campaign contributions. The committee said there wasn?t enough probable cause to continue.
?The key here is it was a unanimous decision,? said Matheny. ?Both Democrats and Republicans said there was absolutely no probable cause for any type of criminal or ethical investigation. As I?ve said before, this was a frivolous, politically motivated attack against me.?
Matheny, R-Tullahoma, had received an opinion from the Registry of Election Finance that he broke no laws. For that reason, the investigation had been limited to finding out if House ethics rules were broken.
The original complaint, filed by Rep. Phillip Pinion, D-Union City, had accused Matheny of providing a letter that 3D Financial sent with contributions totaling more than $20,000 to dozens of other state legislators. The campaign stationery used the words ?Judd Matheny, State Representative.?
?I did nothing wrong and did everything by the light of day,? said Matheny. ?There?s an old way of doing things here on Capitol Hill and I?m not part of that. I believe in open government and representing the people of my district.?