[TN-Senate: Harold Ford, Jr. (D) vs. Bob Corker (R)]
There's a great big huge pile of new evidence in Bob Corker's messy, convoluted, corrupt land deal. And I just wrote this massive, elaborate diary getting into all the gory details. But you're in luck - I'm not going to make you read it.
Because this entire messy scandal just got very, very simple. Bob Corker violated the law. Clear as day. Easy to prove. All thanks to a brand new revelation...
The deal required city council approval.
Yes, it's that simple. And yes, that's new information.
On July 14, 2003, as mayor of Chattanooga, Bob Corker violated the law by issuing a "Letter of Intent" to himself, allowing the land deal to go through--even though a "Letter of Intent" requires city council approval!
This is the first time any details have come out about the Letter of Intent. And nothing could make it any more clear that this deal was outside the law.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the scandal, here's the deal: As mayor, Bob Corker turned a blind eye to the law and let his own real estate company sell a protected nature reserve to Wal-Mart for $4.7 million. Although this is clearly slimy and clearly a conflict of interest, Corker has maintained that he didn't break the law. Now we know, without a doubt, that he did violate the law.
Now we know that the deal couldn't go through without a Letter of Intent from the city saying it's okay to develop the protected land.
Now we know that a Letter of Intent required city council approval.
Now we know that Mayor Corker illegally bypassed the city council and illegally issued a Letter of Intent to himself because he wasn't going to let anyone stand between him and his $4.7 million.
Oh, and one more thing... You know how I said the deal couldn't go through without a Letter of Intent? Well, Corker sold the land and collected his $4.7 million on July 3, 2003. That's 11 days before the Letter of Intent was officially filed! Oops, another violation of the law.
There's no question that Corker broke the law. The only question left is how many times!
By the way, all this new information comes to you courtesy of Tennnessee's Open Records law, thanks to the Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis. The Commercial Appeal discovered all this and more in emails to and from the office of Chattanooga's city stormwater director. (Yes, that's apparently a real job.) These emails also reveal just how often Corker has lied about this land deal. I had all that in my original, massive diary. Maybe I'll steal some elements from it for a follow-up diary tomorrow.
UPDATE: The Forward with Ford blog did an excellent job of summing up in five short, concise paragraphs several of the new revelations about Corker's land deal. Great job! Strongly recommended! The Ford campaign should cut and paste it, and use it as a press release.