AG asked to look into claims against Durham
NASHVILLE — The special Ad Hoc House Select Committee on Monday afternoon approved designating Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery to investigate and advise the panel with regard to allegations of inappropriate behavior by Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin.
The move comes amid a furor over allegations from three women at the state Capitol who say the 32-year-old former House Republican Majority Whip sent inappropriate text messages to them.
The four- member panel approved the resolution unanimously without discussion. Slatery’s office will investigate the claims.
“We’ll be awaiting the report from the attorney general on the investigation,” said House Deputy Speaker Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads. “We don’t have any kind of timeline on it.”
He dismissed questions from reporters whether the move simply kicks the issue down the road.
The resolution goes directly to Slatery, whom House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, previously asked to investigate the allegations against Durham, who has now taken a leave of absence for “professional and pastoral counseling.”
Slatery’s office, rather than the ad hoc panel, which was appointed by Harwell, will conduct the investigation, McDaniel said.
“Whatever the attorney general determines, then we’ll look at what he has found and if there’s something then we need to take action on, that’s when we’ll be looking at. Right now, I really don’t know [ what action to be taken] until the investigation is complete,” McDaniel said.
In a statement issued by his office, Slatery, a Republican appointee, said, “We recognize the importance of this matter to the Ad Hoc Select Committee and to the full House. Everyone has one goal — to ensure a thorough and fair investigation while respecting the process and those involved.”
Three Republican male representatives and one Democratic female representative are on the ad hoc panel.
Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini charged the ad hoc panel was “cobbled together” by Harwell and “is another example of Republican leadership failing to fully understand or address this very serious situation.”
She said top House GOP leadership “should be investigated, too, for what they knew and when they knew it.” Mancini also took issue with the composition of the ad hoc committee, saying more women should be on it.
Because it is comprised solely from House membership, Mancini is likening the situation to a “fox guarding the henhouse.”
Contact Andy Sher at asher@ timesfreepress.com, 615-255-0550 or follow via Twitter at @AndySher1.