TBI interviews lawmakers in Durham probe
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents recently interviewed at least two state lawmakers in conjunction with a criminal investigation into ex-legislator Jeremy Durham, specifically inquiring about bribery.
House Majority Leader Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and Rep. Andy Holt, RDresden, confirmed Wednesday they met several weeks ago with two TBI agents to discuss Durham.
“They wanted to know if I knew anything about bribery,” Casada said. “I said I don’t.”
The interviews provide renewed signs both the state and federal probes into the expelled lawmaker remain open. East Tennessee prosecutor Stephen Crump was assigned to lead the state criminal investigation after Williamson County prosecutor Kim Helper recused herself.
Crump said Wednesday the investigation is ongoing but declined additional comment.
The TBI provided no details about the interviews. But an agency spokesman seemed to indicate the TBI is working with federal investigators.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office would be the point of contact for inquiries on this,” TBI spokesman Michael Jones said in an email Thursday.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney declined to comment.
Peter Strianse, Durham’s criminal defense attorney, confirmed in August 2016 the former lawmaker was under federal investigation. Speaking about federal subpoenas at the time, Strianse said, “we feel confident once they take a look at the records and understand what happened they’ll see there’s no violation of any law.”
Strianse did not respond to a request for comment.
Casada said the agents asked him if he knew anything about Durham receiving any favors or money in exchange for sponsoring legislation. “I said I do not know anything about that,” Casada said.
Holt said he faced similar questions and that he, too, could not attest to seeing Durham accept or offer any bribes. Casada and Holt specifically said they were asked about any potential quid pro quo with Durham.
“It sounded like they were looking for something they had not yet found,” Holt said.
Holt said the agents told him the interview was part of a joint investigation by the TBI and the FBI. He said the interview, which was at the TBI’s Nashville headquarters, took about 20 to 30 minutes.
Casada said his interview, which took place in his legislative office, lasted about 10 minutes.
In addition to general questions about any possible bribery, Holt said the agents asked him about a trip to Gulf Shores, Ala., that he, Durham, and three other lawmakers went on in 2014.
The trip included Reps. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, and Jimmy Matlock, RLenoir City — who’s running for Congress in East Tennessee — and former Rep. Billy Spivey. It featured a deep-sea fishing trip and a viewing of an Academy Award-winning film at the beachfront home of school voucher advocate Mark Gill.
The group stayed at Gill’s Gulf Shores condo and ate seafood at local restaurants. They said they discussed policy but not around Gill. Holt said the agents asked if Durham received any preferential treatment while on the trip. “There was none,” Holt said.
Carter, Spivey, Matlock and Gill said Wednesday they had not been contacted by the TBI about the trip.
Durham was expelled from the General Assembly last year.
Last November, two sources told The Tennessean they had been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. A copy of a subpoena said, “The grand jury is conducting an investigation of possible violations of federal criminal laws involving, but not necessarily limited to, bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud.”
The Justice Department defines bribery as “the giving or accepting of anything of value to or by a public official, if the thing is given ‘with intent to influence’ an official act, or if it is received by the official ‘in return for being influenced.’”
In January, Eli Richardson, who has been nominated to a federal judgeship, said federal investigators are especially interested in the possibility a lawmaker carried out an official act in exchange for something.
“They typically will want to follow up to determine whether the act constituted an actual exercise of the power of the office, whether and how big a benefit was received, and whether any benefit received was a quid pro quo — that is, given specifically in return for the act taken by the officeholder,” said Richardson, a former U.S. attorney and FBI agent.
A 2016 Tennessean investigation revealed Durham sent multiple women late-night lewd text messages from his phone. The inquiry spurred a sixmonth investigation from the state attorney general, which concluded Durham had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with at least 22 women while he was a lawmaker.
The report also raised the specter of a quid pro quo relationship. Durham has denied any such relationship with anyone.
Ethics watchdogs have fined Durham nearly $500,000 for violating state campaign finance and ethics laws, which could also play a part in the federal probe.
Federal investigators from North Carolina to Maryland have used a violation of state campaign finance laws to charge someone with different crimes, including federal mail or wire fraud.