The week in politics: Why former TN AG Herbert Slatery is still getting paid by the state

Former Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery continues to do legal work for the state after leaving office last fall.

Slatery was tapped by his successor, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, this January to assist the AG's office with the "active and continuing oversight" of cooperation agreements under Tennessee's Hospital Cooperation Act, per an appointment letter signed by Gov. Bill Lee.

Tennessee agreed to pay Slatery $400 per hour for his work. The appointment is ongoing, the AG's office confirmed.

Following the appointment of three external lawyers in two ongoing lawsuits against the state, The Tennessean requested and reviewed records of external legal appointments from January 2022 to present. In total, the state has hired 27 lawyers, and sometimes their firms, to assist with a range of legal cases and issues.

At least 10 appointments involved public university issues ranging from immigration to property rights, including two appointments to assist the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee with ongoing cases involving the NCAA. Other appointments were secured to assist Tennessee agencies like the Housing Development Agency and the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation.

While in office, Slatery tapped a Louisiana lawyer to represent Tennessee's interests, at $425 an hour, in a lawsuit brought by Louisiana to challenge a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

After taking office in September, Skrmetti joined a flurry of multi-state legal actions on controversial issues such as abortion and religious freedom, while also pledging to launch a specialized unit to launch lawsuits against the federal government.

A recent May appointment appears to align with this goal, with Skrmetti bringing on former Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer, and any attorneys at his firm, at a $450 hourly rate for unspecified "corporate accountability efforts."

Sauer's Tennessee appointment letter cites his employment at a Missouri law firm, but he is also now a special assistant attorney general for the Louisiana Department of Justice.

Sauer was also the counsel of record in an unfounded legal effort mounted by a group of Republican attorneys general to challenge legitimate election results in the 2020 presidential election.

New airport board holds meeting amid lawsuit, FAA dust-up

Nashville Metro Law Director Wally Dietz slammed the newly seated Metro Nashville Airport Authority board for holding its first meeting on Thursday, just a week after the Federal Aviation Administration said they planned to recognize the previous board until a city-state battle is settled in an ongoing lawsuit.

Metro Nashville sued Tennessee over a new law stripping the mayor's sole power to appoint members to the board and parsing out those appointments to the governor, legislative leaders and the mayor. A hearing on a potential temporary injunction is scheduled for later this month.

Following the board meeting, Dietz told reporters the new board is "creating unnecessary chaos" for airport operations.

"We now, today, literally have two boards, which is exactly what the FAA letter was worried about. Their policy says in order to avoid a chaotic situation, we will recognize the prior board. That was their decision," Dietz said. "These individuals have chosen to go forward and disregard that decision of the FAA. I'm very disappointed in that."

In a statement, MNAA President Doug Kreulen said operating without the new appointments would violate state law.

"We have respect for the legal process, and trust that the conflicts related to the state legislation will be resolved through the legal system. Until those decisions are reached, MNAA must follow state law," Kreulen said.

The new legislation creates a new eight-member board and gives two appointments each to the governor, House speaker, Senate speaker and Nashville mayor.

Republican lawmakers visit the border

Six Tennessee lawmakers visited McAllen, Texas last week for a whirlwind educational visit to the border, organized and funded by Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

Attendees included Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, Reps. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, Rusty Grills, R-Newbern, Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, Clark Boyd, R-Lebanon, and Sen. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, along with state lawmakers from Florida, South Dakota, and Kansas.

Tori Venable and Michael Lotfi of the Tennessee state chapter of Americans for Prosperity also attended. Venable said the group was careful not to discuss any state-level legislation during the tour to “keep a clear dividing line between what we were there for.”

The group toured several areas along the U.S.-Mexican border, met with U.S. Border Patrol agents, and visited humanitarian workers from Catholic Charities working to process incoming migrants.

Faison called the situation “a hellscape.”

“If you make it to American soil, you can claim asylum now. The cartels know that, and they are making a fortune trafficking humans to American soil,” Faison told The Tennessean. “Having to hire a drug cartel to get you here – that’s not humanitarian. Kids are dying. People are dying. Girls are being raped, they’re being trafficked, they’re being used. It’s dire.”

Faison described the situation as a humanitarian crisis that rises beyond political parties.

“It should not be political. It’s embarrassing that this is a Democrat or Republican thing,” Faison said. “If you have a heart – if you have a humanitarian bone in your body at all – if you care about human beings, and you care about suffering, if you care about children, then you should want this to be fixed.”

Venable told The Tennessean that the lack of resources federal agencies have to handle processing incoming migrants was eye-opening.

Faison said he does not think new state legislation would do much to address the situation, but would like to see more transparency from federal agencies about where they place asylum seekers awaiting a court date.

“I think it's incumbent on us as a state to make sure that we know where these people are,” Faison said. “We need to know when somebody comes from south of the border and they’re waiting [for their court date] and they put them here in our state, it's an incumbent on us to know where they are. Have their children, if they're going to school, been properly vaccinated?”

Members of the Tennessee National Guard are currently stationed at the border, deployed by Lee earlier this year.

Lee reestablishes veterans services council

Lee signed an executive order on Monday to reconstitute a special advisory council to support current and former service members.

The 13-member group, dubbed “Tri-Stars and Stripes,” will include leaders of veterans service organizations, a military family representative, local leaders, state lawmakers, and administration officials, the governor’s office announced.

“As we gather with friends and family to celebrate our great nation this Independence Day, we must also remember that freedom is not free – it has been hard-won and hard-kept by veterans and members of our armed forces,” Lee said in a statement. “These brave men and women deserve our highest respect and strongest support.”

Lee asked the council to submit a strategy advising how state agencies can better coordinate to support military families and veterans, and increase quality of life by January 1.

Catch up on the week

• Beacon poll: only 12% of Tennesseans ‘strongly approve’ of state legislature

• DCS proposed new rules for housing some youth, but advocates are worried.

• On the campaign trail: Where candidates stand on license plate readers in Nashville

• More than 170 laws were passed in Tennessee this year. 18 that go into effect July 1

• A closer look at how a US Supreme Court ruling is upending gun control laws across the country

Got a question for us?

Got a question about state politics you would like us to tackle? Let us know. Email us at mabrown@tennessean.com, vjones@tennessean.com or statehouse@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: The week in politics: TN still pays former AG Herbert Slatery