Nosy…And Lonely?
Posted on September 21, 2008 at 11:23 amThe THP has completed its investigation of the unauthorized background checks performed by Lt. Ronnie Shirley but has revealed a bit more about that illustrious list of 182 which included two journalists and a country music artist:
Davidson County District Attorney Torry Johnson and U.S. Attorney Ed Yarborough will evaluate the case delivered to them on Friday. THP Lt. Ronnie Shirley is accused of running unauthorized checks on as many as 182 private citizens and state employees. Many were women, a fact that the patrol leadership has been reluctant to elaborate on.
permalink | Comment on this post
SACKED: Due Process Letter Served On Trooper Shirley
Posted on September 3, 2008 at 12:30 pmIt is official. The snooper trooper has been terminated:
“I recommended to Commissioner Dave Mitchell that Lieutenant Shirley be terminated for gross misconduct and violating the public’s trust as a Tennessee State Trooper,” stated Colonel Mike Walker. “The recommendation to terminate was based upon evidence developed during an investigation conducted by the Department of Safety’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). Lt. Shirley’s conduct and actions relative to this investigation are unacceptable for a Tennessee State Trooper. This type of behavior overshadows the majority of Troopers who are true professionals, dedicated to protecting the citizens of Tennessee with respect to their civil liberties.”
….“The investigation determined there was no political motive behind the actions of Lt. Shirley nor was he acting at the direction of any other individual,” stressed Department of Safety Commissioner Dave Mitchell. “No politicians or known elected public officials were among the individuals checked. There is no evidence whatsoever of any political motivation behind the unauthorized checks conducted by Lieutenant Shirley.”
The Price You Pay For The Life You Choose
Posted on August 25, 2008 at 11:33 amJeff Woods thinks the media is blowing the fact that THP Lieutenant Ronnie Shirley ran a background check on journalist Brad Schrade is no big to do:
Let’s stop all the whining. This is the way the world works: We write stories that people don’t like, then those people try to get back at us. Any reporter who feels intimidated by the snooper trooper ought to find a new line of work.
Murder Ink: Papers React To THP’s Investigation Of A Journalist
Posted on at 7:15 amThe editorial voice of the City Paper:
Certainly, running background checks on members of the press — particularly one fervent in monitoring the problems in the THP — appears far out of bounds of Shirley’s duties or anyone in state government for that matter. Such actions absent of any cogent, real-world explanation smack of the kind of political dirty tricks and intimidation tactics common to some of the worst moments and lowest points in our American democracy. The potential for misdeeds and a chilling effect on the press is enormous.
Gov. Phil Bredesen has classified Shirley as simply a “nosy” trooper. It would be convenient to be able to give Bredesen the benefit of the doubt, but this latest revelation about Shirley’s use of the state’s background checking ability to apparently research such a key member of the press to the THP is past the tipping point — even if in the end he proves to be the nosy type the governor suspects.
All In The Game
Posted on August 24, 2008 at 9:08 pmThe TNGOP chides Jimmy Naifeh for asserting that dropping a “poison packet” including allegedly expunged records in the mail to a candidate’s wife is just “part of a campaign”:
Question: What exactly is the beef with what Jimmy Naifeh is saying here? Are Republicans saying that they have never used opposition research to intimidate a candidate out of the race? That they wouldn’t if they could? If the Democrats indeed came by the info honestly, as they say they did, what is the problem?
Jimmy Naifeh’s suggestion that this is “just part of a campaign” is based on a certain set of facts he subscribes to — that Keith Talley, Democratic operative, got the records from the Wilson County Courthouse and then dropped them on Jason Mumpower’s desk.
Assuming Naifeh’s assumptions, not the TNGOP’s, does he not have a point?
It’s So On: Schrade One Of The Journos Investigated By Rogue THP Officer
Posted on August 23, 2008 at 11:56 pmAnd they thought Schrade had been up in their grill before:
A list of 182 people believed to have been subjects of background checks from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer includes the Tennessean reporter who revealed the highway patrol’s probe into the officer’s unauthorized activities.
Brad Schrade, who has reported on the highway patrol for years and first reported the probe earlier this month, received a call Saturday morning from a highway patrol special agent who said that Lt. Ronnie Shirley, the subject of the probe, had accessed Schrade’s background information.
SEE ALSO:
Bill Hobbs
Bredesen’s Watergate
Hurtt Pride
McCall Expunged DUI File Dirty Trick Claimed By House Political Director
Posted on August 20, 2008 at 11:15 amFrom the Associated Press:
A Democratic political activist says it was him - and not a state trooper who was suspended this week for unauthorized background checks - who delivered copies of a candidate’s drunken driving records to the Republican leader in the state House.
Keith Talley, political director for the House Democratic Caucus, tells The Associated Press he obtained copies of Republican state House candidate A.J. McCall’s records through a public records search at the Wilson County Courthouse.
Talley says he dropped the copies off on House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower’s desk several weeks ago in a move he describes as standard “political hardball.” He disputes the Bristol Republican’s claim that the records were placed in his locked office at night.
See Clint Brewer’s original reporting on the McCall situation and the allegations by leader Mumpower here.
NEW BLOG: Bredesen’s Watergate
Posted on at 6:09 amIt appears that someone, no doubt purely in the interest of an creating an informed citizenry, has taken to aggregating news regarding the emerging and developing controversy over THP Lieutenant Ron Shirley’s unauthorized criminal database searches.
permalink | Comment on this post
This Is Gonna Get Exciting If There Are Journalists On The List
Posted on August 19, 2008 at 6:30 amHouse GOP Leader Jason Mumpower is joining the TNGOP and House Majority Leader Gary Odom in requesting that a list of names that a state trooper made unauthorized background checks on be released to the public:
The suspicion, particularly from Republicans, is that a politically connected patrol lieutenant, Ronnie Shirley, ran the checks for political reasons. Shirley’s name is the only one to surface in connection with the allegations.
Mumpower said his concerns are compounded by a mysterious incident a month and a half ago at his legislative office in the Capitol complex.
The Bristol Republican said an envelope appeared overnight in his locked office containing photocopies of THP arrest records involving a Republican candidate for state House. The arrest had happened years ago, and did not result in a conviction.
Mumpower would not identify the candidate but said the episode smelled of political dirty tricks.
“Intimidation is the only thing I can think of,” said Mumpower, who said THP officers who work at the Capitol have keys to the legislative offices, as do cleaning personnel and some staff members.
He specifically asked Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, and the state Safety Department to release the names.
SEE ALSO:
Bill Hobbs says that THP keeps expunged records.
Chris Sanders weighs in
Naming Names: TNGOP and Democratic Leader Want To Know Whose Info Was Accessed By Politically Connected Trooper
Posted on August 17, 2008 at 4:49 pmThe Tennessee Republican Party joins Democratic state House Majority Leader Gary Odom in requesting an investigation into the developing scandal surrounding unauthorized background checks made by a state trooper with a political history. The Party believes that records may have been accessed for political purposes:
It seems there is was not a coincidence that the information about Oak Hill City Manager, Dr. William Kraus, was released publicly about his background immediately after the citizens of Oak Hill challenged Governor Phil Bredesen on the waste of taxpayer money to build an underground entertainment facility at the Executive Residence.
Recent Comments
a medal is well deserved …
A medal is not net neccessary, mega kudos will do
This is proof that there is occasionally a glimmer of hope in the Republicans.
I knew Cooper was too smart and compassionate to vote No on...
9, Begin. Please. I am more than happy to be educated on how...
Isn’t this a little late?
I predicted Cooper would jump in Nancy’s lap and do as she bid....
The...
Mikey, Do you get the reference? Goldni, The last accusations...
Oh, and apparently, the 218th vote was Bill Owens of NY-23....