Travel funds given to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to speak at a conservative Christian conference broke state law, according to an opinion issued Tuesday by the Tennessee Ethics Commission (TEC).
The opinion was requested by Lee after he accepted expenses for a trip in July to speak at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Summit in July 2024, according to TEC. The only event scheduled on the ADF website for July was its Legal Academy, held on Marco Island, Florida. Lee was paid for “certain travel expenses,” though those were not detailed in a statement from TEC Tuesday.
The TEC ruled that accepting funds from the group to attend the event was a “prohibited gift.” That’s because the group’s ADF Action subgroup is a registered employer of a lobbyist in Tennessee.
Lee originally argued that the event sponsor — the overarching ADF group — and its political group were different organizations. Therefore, the the payments did not break state law. Though, he noted the two do share resources.
However, after a thorough review of state laws and the Tennessee General Assembly’s intent for enacting them, the commission said the payment — even though paid indirectly from ADF — still broke the rules.
“Even a cursory review of the information presented by ADF and ADF Action establishes a close working relationship in the pursuit of similar goals with resources shared to achieve their common purposes,” reads the opinion.
Aside from the names of the groups, another such “striking resemblance” of the two groups, according to TEC, are their mission statements. ADF advances “every person’s God-given right to live a speak the truth” whereas ADF Action advocates for “public policies supporting religious freedom, freedom of speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life and marriage.”
“ADF Action cannot escape the broad reach of the gift prohibition statute by its related organization — ADF — paying the expenses at issue, whether overtly or covertly on its behalf, or to advance their shared interests,” reads the opinion.
State Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville) applauded the ruling, calling it a “misuse of power to take luxury trips paid for by interest groups, breaking Tennessee law.”
“The Ethics Commission has stood firmly on the side of the people, making it clear that the governor isn’t above the law,” Hemmer said in a statement. “They have ordered him to pay back the trip to Florida, funded by an organization employing a lobbyist in Tennessee.
“I hope this advisory opinion will stop lobbyist groups from offering these illegal and unethical trips to influence the Lee Administration.”
Hemmer said he was reviewing legislation to strengthen these ethics laws in next year’s session of the Tennessee General Assembly.
