Tennessee Democratic Party Spokesperson Admits He Lied About Bredesen Campaign Workers Who Said ‘Fibber Phil’ Lied About Kavanaugh Vote

Lies are piling up on top of lies in the Phil Bredesen campaign, as Fox 17 News has caught the Senate candidate’s spokesman not telling the truth about the explosive Project Veritas Action video.

Project Veritas Action sent an undercover reporter into Bredesen’s West End Nashville campaign office, where she filmed paid staff saying Bredesen lied about supporting Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Friday, Harriet Wallace at Fox News 17 called out Mark Brown, Tennessee Democratic spokesperson, who she said “lied” about the Bredesen campaign workers captured on video when he first claimed that they were interns and volunteers, not paid staff.

Fox News 17 sent out this tweet minutes before Wallace broke the story on the 5:30 pm news.

FOX 17 News @ 5:30📺 Undercover video by a conservative group claims to show Bredesen staff saying the candidate lied about an issue. The State Democratic Party says those shown in the video are just volunteers and interns, but a FOX 17 investigation reveals otherwise. pic.twitter.com/YHv0hSi72A

— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) October 12, 2018

Brown told that lie to Fox 17 News after the video was released on Wednesday. Brown said the volunteers in the video are not campaign staffers. FOX 17 News was told the people in the video are State Democratic Party volunteers making calls and doing door knocking campaigns for various democratic candidates.

“This fake volunteer used secret video recording equipment to capture uninformed and speculative comments made last weekend by college students and youth organizers,” Brown said.

However, Wallace cited Federal Election Commission documents showing those people on video are paid staffers for the state party. She brought the evidence to Brown, who “changed his story.”

Brown said he “apologizes” and added, “We weren’t attempting to mislead anybody.” He said he meant to say that people shown in the background who did not talk in the video were volunteers and interns, while acknowledging those who spoke were staffers.

Republicans have heaped criticism upon Brown in the past for bashing Christians, supporters of President Donald Trump and even country musicians, often with expletives on Twitter.

One of many uniquely vulgar quotes from Brown was:  “If forced to pick my favorite mainstream country act, I would gouge out my eardrums with a f—ing icepick.”

Though the Fox 17 News website does not yet have the video clip of the report by Wallace broadcast on Fox 17 News Friday night, the Tennessee Republican Party has kindly published this YouTube video of the broadcast, which you can watch here:

 

Will Stewart, the Tennessee Democratic Party employee who was captured on the video saying that Bredesen lied when he said he would have voted “yes” to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, is still working in a position of authority at that campaign office, The Tennessee Star reported Friday.

Stewart was identified by Project Veritas in the undercover video as a “field organizer, Phil Bredesen campaign.”

A reporter for The Star spoke in person with Stewart inside Bredesen’s West End campaign offices at 117 28th Avenue North in Nashville early Thursday afternoon.

Stewart admitted he was one of the people who appeared on the Project Veritas video. He, however, had nothing else to say.

Publicly available records from the Federal Election Commission indicate that all three Bredesen campaign workers featured on the Project Veritas video – Stewart, Miller, and Amalla – are paid staffers of the Tennessee Democratic Party, and are not “volunteers” or “unpaid interns.”

The video appears to have been filmed in the campaign’s Nashville West End office at 117 28th Ave. N., which is on Floors 2 and 3, going by a sign shown in the video referring to those floors some time after former Tennessee Governor Bredesen, after nearly three months of silence, issued a tepid statement that said, in a roundabout way, he would vote yes for Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.

The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court the following day, Saturday, by a 50 to 48 vote, with only one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) casting a “yes” vote to confirm.

Abbi Sigler, a Blackburn campaign spokeswoman said, “Tennesseans are not ignorant, and in fact, they see through Phil Bredesen’s phony campaign tactics and now they’re seeing ‘Phony Phil’ at his worst. This is exactly the kind of ‘say whatever to get elected’ politics Tennesseans hate. Marsha always says you ‘may not always agree with me, but you will always know where I stand.’ She will do the right thing for Tennessee every time, and Phil Bredesen will do what is politically expedient for him and the national Democrats who are propping up this campaign. After all, Phil has told us, he is running to end the dry spell for Tennessee Democrats.”

The Project Veritas video is available to watch here:

You can read the full transcript of the four minute and 37 second video here:

Journalist: I was so confused because I just can’t believe that he would actually vote yes [to confirm Kavanaugh].

Bredesen campaign worker Will Stewart: He wouldn’t. But he’s saying he would.

Campaign worker Vikrum: It’s politics.

Stewart: Which, I don’t know if it makes it worse or better. No, it makes it better, but it’s still

Journalist: But, still, I don’t understand what’s to gain by saying yes.

Stewart: Moderates

Campaign worker Chandler Burgess: Moderate Republicans. Possibly, I mean

Stewart: In their defense, at the doors yesterday there were people who said they’re voting for him.

Journalist: Because he said.

Stewart: Not many, but . . .

Journalist: Because, I mean he [Phil Bredesen] wouldn’t really [vote to confirm Kavanaugh], right?

James Miller, Voter Protection, Bredesen campaign: I don’t think so. Um, and I think it’s not reassuring, but it’s something that I think gives me . . . The feeling is that of reassurance, but it’s certainly not reassuring. I think much like Doug Jones, or somebody,

Journalist: Who did you say?

Miller: Doug Jones of Alabama. That guy didn’t vote for him [Kavanaugh]. Phil Bredesen’s not going to vote for him [Kavanaugh]. The only reason Joe Manchin did is he’s running right now.

Journalist: Right.

Miller: Once you’re in, six years, you’re gonna do the right thing.

Journalist: He’ll be a good Democrat, I know he will.

Miller: 100 percent. Always has been.

Journalist: It’s just a political move, right?

Miller: Yeah

Journalist: That’s the only way I can…

Miller: But, isn’t it gross?

Journalist: Yes

Miller: Yeah, that’s like the way it has to go

Journalist: I just hate that he has to like lie to get that vote

Miller: I know, I know. Tell me about it. Unfortunately, that’s reality

Journalist: Just for me, it just feels like a suicide mission.

Maria Amalla, field organizer for the Bredesen campaign: Yeah

Journalist: Like, why would you say yes if you would really say no [about whether you would vote to confirm Kavanaugh]. You know?

Amalla: Yeah, because it’s like a political move and so he’s trying to make up those points. Seventy-four percent of Tennesseans wanted to see Kavanaugh confirmed. So, I, like, this isn’t like, what is it ? … messaging or anything. But like, logically, based on those numbers and what I’ve seen is that he had already known that that gap between him and her has grown more. And so, he thought that, like by coming out in support [of confirming Kavanaugh] that it would get more Republicans on his side. He wasn’t doing as well in the rural parts. And so, what he’s banking on is for people who are, like, Democrats and stuff, to, like, still come out and vote.

Journalist: That’s why I wish Phil would just say . . .

Stewart: I know.

Journalist: Me and Maria talked a little bit about it yesterday and it’s like I get it, but I don’t get it.

Stewart: I know.

Journalist: Is it because of, like, the voters?

Stewart: Yeah. Yeah, that’s it

Journalist: So, he’ll lose voters if he says yes [to not confirming Kavanaugh]?

Stewart: Oh, straight up, yeah.

Journalist: Are the people of Tennessee that ignorant?

Stewart: Yeah.

Journalist: Are they that dumb to want to put somebody like that in power?

Stewart: Yeah

Journalist: I know that Phil is very . . .

Stewart: Moderate?

Journalist: But I also know like I’ld like to think in my little heart that he’s not a super fan of Trump, but . . .

Stewart: He’s not

Stewart: Between you and me, once Phil actually gets into the Senate, he’ll be a good Democrat. But, yeah

Stewart: And it’s also just the start of something big, you know?

Journalist: The resistance.

Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. We don’t say that oust of these walls. But here, of course, we talk about that. Cause it’s so funny. The message is, like, don’t talk about the blue wave.

We’re not running against Trump. All this sort of stuff. Even though that’s all why we are all here. We can’t put it out there.

Journalist: I can’t help but think that Phil is the same way though.

Stewart. Oh yeah. Oh, he hates Trump, like yeah.

He’s not going to be running for re-election. He can get in there and do the right thing.

Bredesen staffer: Did you hear about that?

Stewart: The Blue wave?

Staffer: Yeah, you can’t say that too often here.

Journalist: I don’t understand why, though?

Stewart: We’re allowed to say it, but it’s off message

Staffer: Yeah, the others?

Journalist: What others?

Stewart: Like, campaign-wide, it’s not our message. You can say it in here, but like on those calls and stuff, that’s not a message we want to be sending. Because we’re not running…

Bredesen campaign worker Drew: We would scare all the people who would vote for Phil Bredesen but not Chuck Schumer

Stewart: Yeah, exactly, because there’s a lot of people who are Republicans who are going to vote for him, but . . .

Journalist: So if they know he’s like… I don’t want to say that he’s aligned with Chuck Schumer, but the would be like he’s in cahoots.

Journalist: Yeah, exactly

Journalist: Then, they would be like, no-go.

Stewart: Yeah, and that’s how they’re messaging against us.

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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Images “Mark Brown” by Fox 17 News; “Phil Bredesen” by Project Veritas.