Tennessee Sen. Brian Kelsey Monday called his federal indictment in a campaign finance conspiracy a “political witch hunt,” taking no questions from the media and saying he looked forward to being cleared at trial.
“Look, this is nothing but a political witch hunt,” Kelsey said. “The Biden administration is trying to take me out because I’m conservative and I’m the number one target of the Tennessee Democratic Party. I won my seat with only 51 to 49% last time and the Democrats think this will make the difference. They’re wrong.”
Kelsey was the subject of a federal grand jury probe as early as 2019 when Republican President Donald Trump was in office. “I welcome any investigation because all donations were made in compliance with the law and on the advice of counsel,” Kelsey said in 2019.
The two-minute statement from Kelsey and his attorney was given hours after the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville announced that Kelsey was indicted in a campaign finance conspiracy alongside a Nashville social club owner.
More:State Sen. Brian Kelsey, Nashville club owner indicted in campaign finance conspiracy
A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment charging Kelsey, 43, and club owner Joshua Smith, 44, with violating multiple campaign finance laws as part of a conspiracy to benefit Kelsey’s 2016 campaign for U.S. Congress.
Smith owns The Standard, an elite Nashville club that also operates its own state political action committee. There, the investigators allege, they illegally funneled money into Kelsey’s campaign on one occasion at a private dinner on July 11, 2016 through the club’s PAC.
Kelsey’s attorney Ty Howard stressed in the news conference that “an indictment is nothing more than a set of allegations.”
“Let me state clearly and emphatically from the start: These allegations are false,” Howard said. “Senator Kelsey committed no crime. He is innocent. He very much looks forward to his day in court.”
The Tennessean first reported on the questionable campaign finance donations in 2017. After The Tennessean’s 2017 report, a watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice saying Kelsey and others may have been involved in illegal straw donations, inappropriate coordination and other possible wrongdoing.
Kelsey, R-Germantown, and Smith are accused of secretly and illegally shuffling “soft money” from Kelsey’s Tennessee state Senate campaign committee to his authorized federal campaign committee.
“Soft money” includes funds that are not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Federal law caps campaign donations to $2,700 from any one individual or organization to a single candidate in each election.
The indictment alleges Kelsey, Smith and other unindicted co-conspirators funneled tens of thousands of dollars between February 2016 and October 2016 to Kelsey’s federal campaign.
Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2799 or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.
