Aide who briefed Miller on E-Cycle bill to testify to grand jury
Waller Henry, a former research analyst for Miller, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that two FBI agents served him with a subpoena last week at his East Tennessee home.
“They just asked me if I’d worked for him (Senator Miller), and I said yes,” Henry told the newspaper in an interview Friday. “They asked me my birth date. They wanted to make sure they had the right name, and then they gave me the subpoena.”
When reached by The Associated Press Tuesday, Miller told a reporter: “I can’t talk to you. I gotta’ go.”
Henry, who left Miller’s staff earlier this year, said the subpoena calls for him to appear before the grand jury on Wednesday but didn’t say whether he is to testify as part of the ongoing Tennessee Waltz probe, which has indicted five current or former state lawmakers on charges of taking payoffs to influence legislation.
Henry confirmed his court appearance with AP on Tuesday and said he did have a conversation with agents about a company called E-Cycle Management, which sought a state contract to recycle computer equipment.
Miller, R-Cleveland, and another former Cleveland lawmaker, Chris Newton, were among sponsors of legislation that would have benefited the company. However, E-Cycle was a fake, created by undercover FBI agents trying to catch lawmakers taking payoffs.
“I handled it like I did any other legislation,” Henry said.
Miller has said he took $1,000 cash from lobbyist Charles Love, who pleaded guilty to indictments that identify him as a “bag man” for lawmakers taking payoffs. Miller called the money a campaign contribution and filed a special campaign finance disclosure in August reporting it.
Newton has pleaded guilty in the case and resigned his seat in the state House. Newton is the only Republican charged so far in Tennessee Waltz.
Henry told the Times Free Press that he looked into the legislation for Miller before the senator sponsored it and gave his boss a synopsis of the bill.
“I thought it was a great concept,” Henry said, adding that “it seemed like it gave one particular entity an advantage because they were the only ones who could participate.”
Henry said he found the handling of the bill “a little weird” because Love kept trying to add legislative sponsors to the bill.
“I kept saying, Why do you want Jeff on it? Do you want bipartisan support? He said, ‘Yes,'” Henry said.
Other bill sponsors — Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga; then-Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis; former Sen. Roscoe Dixon, D-Memphis; and Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis — have been indicted in the case.
Miller told the Times Free Press earlier this month that the $1,000 from Love “was absolutely a campaign contribution. It was received on the eve of the session on the same day that I received numerous other campaign contributions.”
Miller said he rebuffed efforts by Love to give him more money after the session started. State law bans lawmakers from taking contributions while the Legislature is in session.
“And I held up my hand and said that no, I can’t take a campaign contribution,” Miller said.