GOP freshman files ethics complaint over cash gift
Rep. Brian Kelsey, a freshman legislator from Germantown, said he filed the complaint against the House speaker pro tem and not others because “there is a difference between accepting a campaign contribution and accepting a gift and a bribe.”
The FBI’s Tennessee Waltz investigation has led to bribery and extortion charges against five current or former state lawmakers and two other defendants identified as “bag men,” one of whom pleaded guilty Monday.
DeBerry, a 33-year veteran of the General Assembly, is not charged but has said a man who took her to a Tunica casino gave her $200 and wished her a “happy birthday.” The man was an undercover agent posing as an executive of E-Cycle Management Inc., a company concocted by the FBI as part of its sting.
Rep. Tre’ Hargett, R-Bartlett, vice chairman of the House Ethics Committee, said Kelsey on Thursday formally swore out the ethics complaint against DeBerry. Hargett said the panel’s legal counsel would review it.
DeBerry said she has “done nothing that I believe to be wrong, illegal or immoral in relation to this incident.
“I have never accepted a gift, money or anything of value in exchange for promoting or defeating legislation, or for any other action by me as a legislator,” she said.
Kelsey, whose ethics complaint was endorsed in writing by 10 other Republican legislators, said “it is not a Democratic or Republican issue.”
“I want some guidance from the Ethics Committee,” he said. “Is this sort of thing acceptable, to go on a gambling trip and accept $200?”
A state law prohibits legislators from taking gifts from lobbyist or companies that employ lobbyists, but E-Cyle never registered anyone as a lobbyist. A legal memo prepared by a legislative lawyer said DeBerry did not violate the law.
Kelsey said he didn’t “know the specifics” of Sen. Jeff Miller, R-Cleveland, accepting $1,000 from E-Cycle.
Miller has not been charged in the investigation and said he did nothing wrong. He said the January contribution was deposited in his campaign account and he intends to give the money to charity. Miller co-sponored a bill that E-Cycle officials arranged to be filed.
“Jeff Miller took five times as much money from representatives of this same company as Lois DeBerry and not only that, he signed onto the bill,” said Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Bob Tuke.
Kelsey said he wants the committee to hold a hearing on the casino gift, which DeBerry said she lost gambling.
“There is a general feeling that right now we can’t trust anybody in state government,” Kelsey said. “It is one thing to make a mistake but another to turn around and tell the public it was not a mistake. People are looking for an apology as much as anything else.”
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com