Tennessee Dems Target GOP Candidate With Dirty Tricks; Democrats' Cover-Up Well Underway

Gov. Phil Bredesen said he doesn't believe the information was part of a bigger political plot.

"I think it's just somebody who has some time on their hands, which is a problem in its self, who is doing this kind of thing to show that he had access or to answer a question about somebody," said Bredesen.

However, Republican Party Chair Robin Smith is skeptical of the governor's response.

"The facts that are involved could impact very drastically the outcome of this November's election, so we're not talking about an internal affairs matter of impropriety. We're talking about strong allegations that cross both party lines," said Smith.

The Tennessee newsmedia is abuzz with reports on a growing scandal in which a high-ranking state trooper with deep political ties to state Democrats has run unauthorized criminal background checks on dozens of people. While Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen claims the trooper's actions were not political in nature, the Nashville City Paper has revealed that expunged records of a Republican legislative candidate's 15-year-old DUI arrest mysteriously showed up on the desks of two state House Republican leaders one morning despite their legislative offices being locked overnight. The records were in plain manilla envelopes.

Copies of the candidate's old DUI arrests - long ago "expunged" from the public record - also were mailed to the candidate's wife.

Political observers say it is a classic attempt at political intimidation aimed at convincing the candidate not to run. He is running against an entrenched Democrat incumbent and if he wins it is very likely the GOP would take control of the state House for the first time in history.

The governor claimed yesterday, at a widely reported news conference, that there were no political figures on the list of people whose records were illegally checked by the politically-connected trooper, but his assertion is belied by the facts.

Meanwhile, the Democrat administration is refusing calls from a variety of public officials, including some ethical Democrats, for the investigation to be turned over to an outside entity such as the FBI or a federal prosecutor. Instead, the Democrat administration is letting the Tennessee Highway Patrol handle the investigation.

That's the same Tennessee Highway Patrol that benefited from the governor's "pay-for-promotions" program in which troopers received promotions in exchange for generous campaign donations from the trooper and their families. It's the same Tennessee Highway Patrol that refused to discipline a high-ranking officer who fixed the Deputy Governor's speeding ticket. That officer is, by the way, the same officer who made hundreds of unauthorized criminal background checks.

Republicans need to gain only four seats in the 99-seat state House to gain a majority. The state's Democrat machine is pulling out all the stops to prevent losing power, and the Republican candidate, businessman A.J. McCall, is one of their key targets. In addition to the above-mentioned dirty tricks, the state Democrat Party is likely to try to sink McCall by allocating significant resources to the campaign of incumbent state Rep. Stratton Bone.

If you can help McCall, please visit his website at www.ajmccall.com and make a donation to his campaign.

Here are the key other news links: The Tennessean: Trooper Snooped on 182

WSMV TV Department Of Safety Won't Release Names Of Individuals On List

TerryFrank.net Blogger Terry Frank details how the Bredesen administration is trying to spin away the facts

BillHobbs.com The Democrats may have been hunting for expunged records

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