Tennessee Lawmakers Dragged out of Capitol in Handcuffs

May 26th, 2005 at 10:42 am by Preston Taylor Holmes

Early this morning, several Tennessee lawmakers were dragged out of the State Capitol Building in handcuffs by the FBI.

A few names have surfaced including Ward Crutchfield (D – Chattanooga), Chris Newton (R- Cleveland), John Ford (D – Memphis). Just heard on the Phil Valentine show in Nashville that there could be as many as 12 arrests as the day goes on. Sounds like hysterics to me, but it does appear that some serious stuff is going down in the State Capitol. And might I add… IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!

UPDATE:

Add Kathryn Bowers (D-Memphis) to that list. According to WWTN in Nashville, the Feds will hold a news conference in Memphis at 12:00 ET to announce what the hell is going on.

UPDATE 2:

(via Bill Hobbs) More details here at the Tennessean.

FBI agents had interviewed Newton and Bowers earlier this month about a bill sponsored by all four lawmakers, among others, Newton said Monday.

The bill would have allowed electronic recycling companies to contract with the state to dispose of surplus state computer equipment not claimed by school districts. Newton said it was pushed by E-Cycle Management Inc., an Atlanta-area company, and Charles Love, a Hamilton County school board member and lobbyist.

Newton said the bill was clean and had satisfactorily answered several questions raised earlier by the state comptroller’s office. But Newton said he forced the bill to stall in a committee earlier this year, after Ford became embroiled in several ethics controversies over his dealings with state contractors.

“I don’t want to be in the middle of something that even has an appearance of impropriety,” Newton said.

Newton said he had not had any conversations with Ford about the bill, which he planned to withdraw Wednesday because Love had not registered with the state as a lobbyist.

I have a feeling that’s just a small piece of the puzzle.

UPDATE 3:

The Tennessean has updated its story after the FBI press conference in Memphis. Also arrested, former State Senator Roscoe Dixon, Dixon crony Barry Myers, and Charles Love, Hamilton County school board member and lobbyist. John Ford took at least $55K in bribes according to the indictments.

UPDATE 4:

Newschannel5 Nashville has all the indictments in pdf format here.

Today, we may get a black eye in the national media for what will rightfully appear to be rampant corruption throughout our state government. However, it’s a great day for average Tennesseans (like myself) who are sick of the crooked bastards running our state government – Republicrats and Demicans alike. Let the sweeping begin! Bring in the 8-story bottle of Clorox Clean-up to clean up the filth they’ve left behind.

Other coverage of this breaking story:

• Bill Hobbs
• Nashville City Paper
• Nashville is Talking
• Legislator Stacey Campfield’s Blog
• Nashville Files
• The Tennessean
• GOP and the City
• Adam Groves
• Big Orange Michael
• Even Michelle Malkin is in on the act
• Ace thinks we’re pretty funny down here in Dixie

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 26th, 2005 at 10:42 am and is filed under Tennessee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Responses to “Tennessee Lawmakers Dragged out of Capitol in Handcuffs”

1. Eric Says:
   May 26th, 2005 at 10:59 am

   Are they trying out for the UT football team?

2. Preston Taylor Holmes Says:
   May 26th, 2005 at 11:23 am

   No, they’re too scrawny and only run a 19.5 40.

3. basil's blog Says:
   May 26th, 2005 at 12:27 pm

   Lunch: 5/26/2005
   Try one of these specials with your lunch: The Steel Deal shows the best positions in bed. With pictures! ScrappleFace says the Pentagon faces a risk from an unlikely source. A Sailor in the Desert found a surprising poll on

4. Red State Rant Says:
   May 26th, 2005 at 3:31 pm

   Ethics Reform Anyone?
   MSNBC

   NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Four Tennessee lawmakers, a former lawmaker and two others were indicted Thursday amid a federal investigation into the business dealings of a state senator from Memphis from a powerful political family, officials said.

5. Conservative Thinking Says:
   May 26th, 2005 at 3:46 pm

   Temporary Lapse of Control
   As many of you may already know I’m moving to Denver next week (if you’re in Denver drop me a line). Tomorrow starts the moving process and today starts the hectic schedule of things to do. Needless to say I…

6. Townhall.com C-Log Says:
   May 26th, 2005 at 4:17 pm

   News, Or an Excuse to Tell a Vols Joke?
   What is it they say about why Tennessee fans wear blaze orange?
   So they can wear the same outfit for the game Saturday, hunting on Sunday, and picking up trash by the roadside on Monday? These guys may be forgetting about the first two and throwing on…

7. The Jawa Report Says:
   May 26th, 2005 at 5:31 pm

   Festival of the Fatwas
   So many great blogs, so little time. If you have a post you need plugged, just send a trackback here. We’ll see if there are any takers and whether or not to make this a regular feature. Update: Of course…