June 1, 2005

A Tennessee Waltz Mystery

Who is the mysterious eighth person still being sought by federal agents in connection with Operation Tennessee Waltz, the sting operation that nailed several sitting lawmakers on federal bribery and conspiracy charges last week? In all, a total of seven people, including four legislators, one former legislator, a lobbyist and a political aide, were arrested on Thursday, May 26. But as The Tennessean reported that day in its online edition: "An eighth person was also being sought by federal agents yesterday but his or her identity will not be revealed until an arrest, federal agents said at a news conference this morning."

Interesting...

Meanwhile, Matt White is commending state Rep. Larry Miller and state Rep. Ulysses Jones, two Memphis Democrats, for refusing to accept bribes from the same folks who, it appears from the video, managed to successfully bribe state Sen. John Ford and perhaps four other lawmakers. Miller and Jones both have said they were offered bribes. Here's the kicker, however: Miller and Jones both signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation they were being offered a bribe to support, after they turned down the bribe. Why?

White writes:

I don't know if Miller or Jones called law enforcement to report it because the story doesn't say anything about it. They did, however, sign onto the bill AFTER being offered a bribe which leads me to believe that they didn't report it to anyone. Furthermore, why are they signing onto bills after being offered an envelope full of cash to support it. Is this stuff so pervasive that turning down a bribe is no big deal anymore?

I'm troubled that no one called law enforcement about this as it was happening. I can only think of two reasons why they wouldn't. First, this kind of thing really is commonplace and turning down a wad of cash is no big deal anymore. Do you call the cops everytime you see someone jaywalk? Second, they knew some of their colleagues were taking money and didn't want to upset the apple cart. Either way, it's enough to make one's stomach turn

They knew first-hand the legislation was being backed by a seemingly corrupt company. Why didn't they report the attempted bribe to lawmakers? Why didn't they go public with the information, alert the media, do something to stop the seemingly corrupt company from getting its legislation passed? Why did they agree to support legislation being backed by a company that was offering bribes to lawmakers? Why did they help the legislation come very close to passing, knowing that lawmakers were bring offered bribes to affect that very result?

Miller and Jones didn't take the bribes. Good for them. But they still didn't do the right thing.