A text message conversation between state Rep. Jeremy Durham and WSMV reporter Alanna Autler went awry today and ended with the Franklin Republican accusing her of trying to cover for her boyfriend, who reports for The Tennessean.
Autler asked the House majority whip to give her a different statement, one that didn't mention The Tennessean. Durham had referred to the staff of the paper as "lunatics."
How do we know this? Because Durham has now posted pictures of the conversation on his Facebook page.
Durham has been attracting the attention of all the city's reporters lately, after revelations about his recent past. A drug task force recommended a grand jury indict Durham for prescription fraud and forgery in 2013 — they declined to do so — and three months later, Durham wrote a letter seeking leniency for a former youth pastor convicted of possessing child pornography.
His conversation with Autler involved an apparently illegal robocall that began making the rounds over the weekend, in which a woman who identifies herself as "Carol" calls for him to resign.
Durham's photos appear to leave out portions of the conversation. What they do show is Durham offering a statement on the matter, Autler asking for a different statement — one that doesn't mention the paper — and things going downhill from there. In particular, Durham accuses her of seeking to protect The Tennessean because she is in a relationship with Dave Boucher, who is an investigative and state government reporter there. Autler declined to comment to Pith on the conversation.
The full conversation — via screenshots in case Durham decides to delete his post — appears after the jump.
