Friday, January 23, 2009
Legislature / Politics / Woods Mumpower Throws Susan Lynn Under the Bus
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 10:06 AM
"After the Speaker's election last week, the female victim in this case felt strongly that she didn't want this type of behavior to reemerge, since the individual named in the complaint was in a position of moral authority. So, she contacted the media. When I arrived at my office last Tuesday, I was met at 8 a.m. by a reporter bearing a Freedom of Information Act request which legally bound me to turn over my files on the matter."But wait, on her blog, Lynn gave a different story this week:
"After the election last week, I was contacted by a Nashville blogger that had knowledge of the incident two years earlier. He asked me if I would like to comment on his blog. I declined once more and immediately called my caucus leader to inform him that I was contacted by the blogger. We agreed to remain firm in our position not to comment on the incident. On Sunday night the press started calling me. I refused to comment. Their phone calls persisted all day on Monday at which time I still refused to comment. In addition, they repeatedly contacted my leadership. In the early evening on Monday some media informed our press secretary that they intended to issue a public records request to our leadership for any information pertaining to the incident. When leadership arrived at the office on Tuesday morning members of the media were waiting with their requests for public information."What's the truth? I'm leaning toward Mumpower's version. Maybe Lynn isn't quite as innocent in all this as I previously thought. Update: I asked Kleinheider to tell me what happened, and here is his reply: "Can't say."
Comments (5)
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Everybody keeps assuming that Mumpower had complete freedom of action. When a reporter filed an Open Records Request for an official document, what do you suggest he should have done?
Stonewalled?
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Mumpower looks pretty exhasted in that video. "She contacted the media" could easily have been meant to be "she was contacted by the media."
The idea of Mumpower throwing Lynn under the bus is a pretty big stretch.
Her story has a few flaws and her interview on Channel 5 she had a grin on her face. What was the grin about?
Perhaps Rep. Lynn can explain why she was reportedly seen hugging on Rep. Kent Williams after he signed the House Republican Causus vote pledge…?
Story published: 01-22-2009
Updated January 21, 2009 11:14:41 PM
Williams says alleged incidents never happened
http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=66757
By John Thompson
Elizabethton Bureau Chief
jthompson@johnsoncitypress.com
[...]
Williams’ closest ally in the House, Rep. Dale Ford, R-Jonesborough, said he did not believe the allegations of harassment. Ford said he had known Williams for many years before they shared an office during the last session.
“I know him. He would never harass anyone. There is not a woman in Nashville or Carter County who is afraid of him,” Ford said.
Ford went on to say he did not think Susan Lynn was behind the release of the memorandum.
“I was with Kent when we signed the pledge to vote for the Republican speaker,” Ford said. “Right after he signed it Susan gave him a great big hug.”
Ford admits he was not present at either of the incidents described in the memorandum, but he said if there was anything substantial to it, he believed the Republicans who opposed Williams in the last primary would have used it against him.
“Why didn’t they bring it up then? Because they knew there was nothing to it,” Ford said.
Ford said he believes Williams will be a successful speaker and warns his fellow Republicans that if Williams is kicked out of the party and he does have success as speaker “we are going to look like a bunch of dorks.”
Except for the weird country club sweater,the Tennessee House Speaker Loser Rep. Jason Mumpower errily looks like Vladimir Lenin...
The Johnson City television station/media center has disabled the click counter for this Mumpower video (WJHL should be posting it to YouTube).
