Nov 02 2009
House Ethics Committee Investigating Shuler
It would appear as if Shuler’s land shenanigans have caught the eye of the House Ethics Committee.
Before he was elected to Congress in 2006, Shuler invested in a real estate development called the Cove at Blackberry Ridge near Knoxville. The investment is worth from $5 million to $25 million, according to his financial disclosure reports. In August 2008, the News-Sentinel reported that the TVA gave the Cove waterfront rights to build a boat dock in exchange for other land the real estate venture owned. The swap was made while Shuler sat on a House transportation subcommittee that oversaw the operations of the TVA, an entity chartered by Congress to manage the Tennessee Valley and its resources.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the TVA released redacted pages of a companion inspector general’s report that said the inspector general had determined that the “employee denied knowing Congressman Shuler held an ownership in Blackberry despite evidence [that the employee] was fully aware of his ownership status.”
The TVA declined to identify the employee or provide any more details about the employee’s knowledge of what took place in negotiations over the waterfront parcel, stating that the information was being withheld to “protect personal privacy, witness statements and the deliberative process,” the News-Sentinel reported.
The inspector general’s office forwarded its report to the ethics committee in Washington.
So the employee who had a hand in negotiating this land swap on behalf of the TVA said he had no idea Shuler had an investment in the property, but then we find out, oops, yes he did. So was this a special favor to Shuler and if so, what did the employee get out of all of it? I imagine these are the questions the Ethics Committee will be looking for answers on in coming weeks.
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