Quest linked Memphis, TVA, Trump and Cohen
Chattanooga businessman Franklin Haney’s attempts to influence Memphis politics were part of a pattern. Throughout 2018, Haney sought those with influence and power to support his quest to buy, complete and sell electricity from the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Alabama.
To buy the plant, he needed billions in outside investment or billions in Department of Energy funds. To get those federal dollars, he needed to demonstrate that he could sell the electricity. He and his company, Nuclear Development, needed to sell the electricity to a major Southern city. He, and his employees, would pitch many, but they would settle on Memphis.
Haney’s effort to secure political support to buy Bellefonte went well beyond the tired floors of Memphis City Hall. It extended to the marble halls of power in Washington D.C. and the gilded rooms of Mar-a-lago, former President Donald Trump’s private club.
In a deposition given last year, Haney acknowledges that he met with nearly every member of the Tennessee and Alabama congressional delegations to discuss either buying the Bel
lefonte nuclear plant or selling power from it.
That document is among the dozens that have been unsealed after The Commercial Appeal intervened in the case. The CA is reviewing the documents as they unsealed and will post the findings as they are discovered.
Another deposition from one of Haney’s employees, Bill Mccollum, details private jet flights across the country to meet with lobbyists, politicians and pitch the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis on buying nuclear power. Each city belonged — and still does — to the Tennessee Valley Authority, the federal power provider that was going to sell Haney the nuclear plant. The deal never closed in November of 2018.
Haney is also asked about his relationship with Trump and Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, an association that was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in the summer of 2018 and confirmed, later, by the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis.
Last year, Haney expressed contempt for Cohen and called him a “crook,” but was circumspect about his interactions with then-president Trump. Matt Lembke, an attorney representing TVA, questioned him.
Q Okay. Now, did Nuclear Development hire Michael Cohen as an adviser in conjunction with the Bellefonte project?
A We did for a week or two before he was indicted and we fired him.
Q Okay, and –
A But we did not hire him as a lobbyist, though.
Q What was he hired as?
A He was hired just to see if he could help us with – you know, find people that were investors. For example, like – he didn’t do it, but like the Arabs. I mean, you know, he had all these contacts, supposedly as the President’s lawyer, but it turned out he was just a liar.
Q And how did you make the decision to retain Michael Cohen?
A Worst decision I ever made. But he really was a con guy and – he said himself that he was the President’s lawyer that turned out not to be necessarily true and had done all these great deals, which he hadn’t done. And of course when he was indicted we fired him – or when he was exposed we fired him, like many other companies that hired him. So –
Q Did he call you or did you call him first?
A He called me.
Q How did he know to call you?
A Well, because I’m a member of Mar-a-lago here, and he happened to be there and saw me and I guess I was – he thought he had a – he was just a crook. That’s all I can say about him.
Q Did Nuclear Development pay him any money?
A We did the first month or so.
Q And was it paid to him personally or to a law firm, do you know?
A I don’t know.
Q How much did you pay him, do you know?
A I don’t know the exact number.
Q And did you have personal discussions with him about what he was going to do?
A Not really. I mean, he was supposed to, like I said, set me up with people. We were looking for an alternative to DOE, which is -- we specifically forbid him to lobby DOE because he wasn’t a lobbyist, he was a lawyer.
Q Was there ever any discussion of him going to Memphis to work on that part of the deal?
A No, no, no, no
The Institute for Public Service Reporting reported that Haney said President Trump introduced him to Cohen at Mar-a-lago and Trump had also introduced Haney to someone who might invest in the Bellefonte project — the country of Qatar.
In the deposition, taken just a month after the former president was impeached for the first time, Haney is far less descriptive about Trump’s role than he was two years earlier.
Q Have you had any discussions with President Trump about the Bellefonte project?
A None.
Q None?
A None.
Q Did you ever tell anyone at TVA that you had?
A I could have said I talked to his people. I might have mentioned it to him.
But I mean, I haven’t talked any details about this with President Trump.
Q So you might have mentioned the Bellefonte project to President Trump?
A I could have in a conversation, but I’ve never, you know, lobbied him or said “this is something I want you to help me with” or I’ve never been to the White House or whatever.
Q Have you talked with any of the White House staff about the Bellefonte project?
A I haven’t.
Q Has anyone at Nuclear Development?
A They could have. I don’t know.
Q Have you ever represented to anyone at TVA that the President was interested in the project?
A I could have.
Q How would you know that the President was interested in the project? A Because he’s very pro-nuclear.
Q Well, did you have any indication that he was interested in this particular nuclear project as opposed to nuclear power generally?
A Well, except for Vogtle, there’s no other nuclear power being built right now. So I’m – that’s the only one there is.
Q Well, do you recall ever being told by anyone that the President was interested in the Bellefonte project?
A No, I don’t think so.
Q As you sit here today, can you – you said you may have had a brief discussion with the President. Do you think that occurred?
A It could have, because I see him all the time.
Q And do you ever recall mentioning to the President that there was a desire for a nine -- or for a multi-billion dollar loan from DOE?
A I would never say that.
Then the questioning turns to a contractor Haney hired, Marie Gillman, who works for Snc-lavalin, an engineering company retained by Haney’s firm, Nuclear Development, to work on the Bellefonte project. Haney is asked about emails Gillman sent.
Q Let me show you what’s been previously marked as Exhibit 116 in this case. Mr. Haney, who is Marie Gillman?
A I know that she used to work for I think TVA.
Q And you’re also aware that she worked at Snc-lavalin –
A Yeah.
Q – which was working with Nuclear
Development, right?
A That’s correct, yeah, that’s where. Now I know. That’s with government.
Q And have you ever met her face-toface?
A Yes.
Q Now, this is an email from her, it doesn’t indicate to whom it’s sent, on October 17th, 2018. Do you see that?
A Yes.
Q And if you look down, do you see about a third of the way down on page one it says: “DOE Loan Guarantee Process,” right?
A Right.
Q And at the second bullet it says: “Franklin Haney is setting up a meeting with President Trump, who has agreed to meeting, to advocate pushing DOE decision. This is expected to happen in the next two weeks.” Do you see that? A That’s not true.
Q It’s not true?
A Not true.
Q So you never told anyone that President Trump had agreed to meet with you about -- and the purpose of the meeting would be to advocate pushing the DOE decision?
A No, I have not. She misunderstood it or whatever.
Q Then in the next paragraph it says: “Help requested. In preps for meeting with Trump, the Haneys have requested that we all lobby the U.S. government administration. Please see attached talking points and reach out to all your local, state, and federal representatives and lobbyists if you have any, and urge approval action for this project.” Do you see that?
A I see it.
Q Now, did you in fact request a lobbying effort in October of 2018?
A I don’t remember doing it.
Q But you might have?
A I could have.
Q Now, as of November 30th, 2018 Nuclear Development had not finalized financing for the Bellefonte project, correct?
A Correct.
Q And still has not today, correct?
A Correct.
Fourteen months after Haney’s deposition, TVA and Nuclear Development remain embroiled in a civil contract dispute over the Bellefonte plant. The case could head to trial this year.
Samuel Hardiman: samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com