Tennessee campaign finance official questions Attorney General’s Office investigation

A board member of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance is criticizing an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into two Constitutional Republican groups, questioning the credibility of the report and raising questions about possible bias.

“They didn’t do anything close to a thorough investigation. They just did formalities,” Registry Committee member Tom Lawless said this week.

Lawless, a candidate for the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus, said he plans to call the leaders of the Sumner County and Tennessee Constitutional Republicans before the committee and explain how they operate without registering with the state as a political action committee. The committee is scheduled to meet July 23 at Tennessee Tower.

The investigation, which included seven interviews and a review of websites, took nearly five months and sparked anger from Lawless. During a public meeting earlier this year, he asked why it was taking so long. The registry board had requested the investigation in early February and received the report in late June.

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The Attorney General’s Office report does not include an analysis or overview of whether the groups are acting as political action committees. It also included a letter informing the Register that the Attorney General’s Office is not an “investigative body” and that it can explore other options if it is dissatisfied.

Members of both Constitutional Republican factions denied in interviews with the Attorney General’s Office that they raised or spent money as a political action committee. They said they acted solely as individuals in selecting and supporting candidates for political elections.

Chris Spencer, co-founder of the Sumner County group and candidate in Senate District 18, told a state investigator the organization is not a PAC. When asked about the refreshments provided at monthly meetings, he replied, “I’m sick of the questions. It’s a waste of time.”

Spencer is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin. Lawless would not say whether he believes the attorney general’s office is siding with Spencer with its weak report, but said he has spoken to staff members of Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti who told him the atmosphere is “so political that people are jumping ship.”

The attorney general’s office did not respond to questions from Lookout about the report or the politicization of the investigation.

Kurt Riley, one of the groups’ founders, insisted during the attorney general’s investigation that all money raised from the sale of Tennessee Constitutional Republicans merchandise goes to the group and “does not benefit any candidate on any platform.”

The Registry of Election Finance requested the investigation in response to an affidavit filed by Goodlettsville businessman Wes Duenkel, who alleged that the groups were acting as political action committees without registering with the state.

The Attorney General’s investigator found endorsements for political candidates on the websites of the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans and the Tennessee Constitutional Republicans, as well as a nine-member vetting committee that conducted background checks and held monthly meetings.

Riley, the group’s Sumner County chairman, had paid for the site, and the state investigator found that both websites contained a “donate” link that had been removed, according to the investigation.

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Riley, also the registered representative for conservative Tennessee Republicans, said he believes the groups are being “confused” with his former PAC, the Sumner County Republican Assembly, which is no longer active.

He said the Sumner County group does not collect money as donations, but accepts voluntary contributions to purchase breakfast at monthly meetings.

In one case, a member of the Sumner County group wanted to hire a private investigator to vet a potential candidate and did so on his own, Riley told the state investigator.

Duenkel filed the affidavit in January after discovering that the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans supported candidates for the county’s school board and recruited people who shared their philosophy, as well as offering “financial support” and advice on how to win elections. He also said the group hosted food and drink parties on election nights and that the group’s Facebook page featured a video of actor and celebrity Kirk Cameron promoting the group.

In his November 2023 complaint, Duenkel said the two groups would be considered a “multi-candidate political action committee” because they make expenditures to support or oppose two or more candidates for public office or two or more measures in an election with referendums.

In his filing, he provided documents showing that Riley said one of the groups had existed since 2018 and had sent out fundraising appeals since its inception. He also said it had spent “an incredible amount of time promoting conservatism” by designing stickers and other merchandise and hiring private investigators to vet candidates.

Sumner County Constitutional Republicans have endorsed Todd Kerr, Marie Mobley, Tracy Finegan, Timothy Crowder and Josh Graham for school board seats this year, in addition to Spencer for the 18th Senate District and General Sessions Judge Russ Edwards.

The group opposes Republican Haile of Gallatin and has released information showing that pharmaceutical companies and medical groups made donations to his campaign.

She rose to prominence in Sumner County politics in recent years, supporting 14 of 17 county commissioners who won the 2022 election and endorsing winning school board candidates. She also advocated for removing books from school libraries and pushed for a vote to include the words “Judeo-Christian” in a guiding document for the work of the Sumner County Commission.

Read more at TennesseeLookout.com.

Tom Lawless, a member of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, said the attorney general’s office did a poor job investigating two groups of Constitutional Republicans. (Tennessee Lookout photo by John Partipilo)