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« Ethics Proposal | Main | Back From Iraq, Lance Seeks 278th Stories, Photos » November 10, 2005A Wilder TaleMatt White notes some interesting facts in an AP story yesterday about Lt. Gov. John Wilder's involvement with a Texas law firm that sought to change Tennessee law to allow them to conduct business in the state. The AP story reports that Wilder is downplaying any part he may have had in changing state law to permit outsourcing collection of unpaid taxes. However, records obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press show he was a key player in changing the 2003 legislation months before he arranged several meetings between top state officials and Texas law firm Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson interested in a contract to collect delinquent Tennessee taxes. Wilder acknowledged he may have talked to the bill's sponsor, but he said: "I wasn't active in it, and I doubt I even knew when it passed."And then there's the interesting factoid: Wilder said he traveled to the firm's headquarters and watched hundreds of employees at work. He said Linebarger Goggan quickly tracked down a man who owed a 20-year-old $250,000 judgment to a Wilder law client.White comments: How nice. The firm helped him collect $250,000 for a client in no time at all. This whole episode piqued my curiosity which has been fanned by rumors from Capitol Hill sources, so I decided to employ an innovative research technique that the newshounds at the AP apparently don't know about -- Google. I searched for the following words, Linebarger, Goggan and bribe. Let's have a look at the results, shall we?The results: old news stories, including one about a former name partner of Linebarger, Goggan, pleading guilty in 2004 to one charge of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bank fraud, and another about the firm facing a RICO suit and allegations of fee gouging. White comments: Is John Wilder involved in any underhanded dealings with a firm whose record is spotty, at best? No one can say with any degree of certainty. But it seems clear that bribery, alleged RICO violations and fee gouging warrant a closer look at Wilder's involvement with this firm. Apparently, he doesn't remember much about his relationship with the firm (except they collected a $250,000 judgment for one of his clients) so we need to dig up some details and refresh his memory. I am not accusing Gov. Wilder of anything, but there's enough smoke here to justify a search for fire.In the post-John Ford/post-Operation Tennessee Waltz era, the people of Tennessee deserve answers. Posted in Tennessee Government News
Comments
I learned to rely on Chattanooga news outlets a long time ago. Chattanooga newspapers, radio shows, and Web news-sites have been doing investigation and reporting of stories, and dissemination of important press releases (including state legislators' releases about bills), that the MSM and alternative papers in Nashville should be doing. The Tennessean likes us dumb and deluded. Posted by: Donna Locke at November 10, 2005 10:40 PMPost a comment
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