Cooper should resign his seat in the Senate

In a not surprising turn of events, state Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, was indicted on federal counts of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy. Tennessee has had more than its share of political scandal in the past year. Cooper’s indictment on very serious charges only adds to public skepticism of state government. The best thing Cooper could do for Tennessee and for his constituents would be to step down from his seat.

The seriousness of the indictment, and the fact that accusations against Cooper include using his political influence to perpetrate the alleged crimes, is just too great a cloud to hang over the General Assembly.

Certainly everyone understands that Cooper is innocent until proven guilty. But the legal battle he faces should not be underestimated. The co-conspirators in the case already pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Cooper was widely known to be the unindicted co-conspirator in the case.

Cooper is alleged to have helped his co-conspirators obtain a federally insured loan of $1.77 million on property with a falsely inflated value. He also helped them obtain a $485,000 equipment loan from the state and a Community Development grant commitment to build a rail spur. All of this involved the sale of land Cooper owned.

Together with the Tennessee Waltz investigation and indictments and lesser scandals involving the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennesseans are rightly concerned and skeptical of their state government.

Under legislative rules, Cooper already will have to give up his chairmanship of the Senate Commerce, Labor and Agriculture Committee. He should make the break with state government clean and also step down from his Senate seat.