Tuesday afternoon on the Matt Murphy Show, broadcast weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN, host Murphy interviewed Tori Venable, executive director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee, about AFP’s support for Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice bill currently under consideration in The Tennessee General Assembly. During the interview, Venable criticized the reporting of Phil Williams in Monday evening’s broadcast on NewsChannel 5, which featured an interview with State Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill), as well as a recording of a phone call between Williams and Venable that was obtained without Venable’s consent.
Midway through the interview, Warner called into the show.
You can listen to to the interview HERE.
Below is a raw transcript of the on-air conversation that took place next:
[START TRANSCRIPT]
Matt Murphy: Representative Warner, are you there, sir?
Todd Warner: Yes, I am. I am here.
Matt Murphy: Okay.
Todd Warner: I don’t know what’s going on there, for full disclosure. I stepped out of committee, my phone is blowing up. And, uh, I understand somebody’s not telling the truth is sitting there in your . . .
Matt Murphy: You think so? Are you recording this conversation as well?
Well, we are.
Todd Warner: I didn’t record the first one.
Matt Murphy: Okay, so you did not. So, was it a telephone conversation, representative?
Todd Warner: Yeah, it was a telephone conversation.p
Matt Murphy: And you did not record it? No. Absolutely not. Were you aware of the recording?
Todd Warner: No, I was not.
Matt Murphy: So you’re saying, Tori, were you aware of the recording?
Tori Venable: Absolutely not.
Matt Murphy: So someone’s breaking the law, representative.
Todd Warner: I don’t know if anybody broke the law or not, you know.
Matt Murphy: You don’t know the laws about recording? You don’t know the laws about recording in the state of Tennessee?
Todd Warner: I don’t record, I don’t record conversations. I don’t, you know.
Matt Murphy: So, it is your statement today that you did not record this conversation?
Todd Warner: No, I did not record a conversation.
Matt Murphy: And you do not, you had no awareness that the recording was happening at the time of that the telephone number?
Todd Warner: The recording happened on December the 8th. When I talked to her about when the bill first was being talked about.
Tori Venable: False.
Todd Warner: When it first came out, I called her cause I knew that they would work, you know, had been, I’ve been told that they were working with the governor.
I called to find out about information about the bill. I told … Tory at that time that I was, I couldn’t support the bill. I ran on that. There’s no private school in my district. This is growth in government and this is corporate welfare. This is an entitlement program. It’s everything that, that Tori’s group stands and usually fights against.
Matt Murphy: Right, right, right. Well, I’m just trying to get, I’m just trying to get a timeline. Hold on, Todd. Are you sure about that December 8th? I’m just trying to get a timeline. So you’re saying the recording happened on December 8th?
Todd Warner: About that time. I’m not sure.
Matt Murphy: How do you know, if you’re not aware that the recording happened, how do you know when it happened? December 8th?
Todd Warner: Because I’ve got bits and pieces from when somebody sent it to Phil. When they put the attack, the hit at that on me, somebody was sick of that mess, and they, you know, I guess they sent it to Phil. I don’t know.
Matt Murphy: So Phil Williams told you that this happened on December 8th?
Todd Warner: There’s somewhere, somewhere about.
Matt Murphy: Okay. So now, so no, no, wait a minute. You just said December 8th. Now you’re walking back on that. Tell me, tell me what you know.
Todd Warner: They said somewhere in that vicinity is when I was still with him.
Matt Murphy: So you’re saying that you had a telephone call with Tori Venable. And that that telephone call was recorded unbeknownst to you. Is that you’re on the record for that?
Todd Warner: I’m on the record saying I was threatened by Tori Venable and by AFP.
Matt Murphy: No sir, my question to you. Were you aware of a recording happening at the time that you had the conversation presented by Phil Williams?
Todd Warner: There was a lot going on. There was a lot going on.
Matt Murphy: You’re crawdadding, representative. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this. I’m not trying to challenge you. I’m not trying to argue with you. I’m trying to get to the facts. I’m asking you to tell the truth. Were you aware? Sir, were you aware that you were being recorded?
Todd Warner: I’m not 100 percent sure what was going on. There was so much, you know, I was surprised by the threatening that I was receiving.
Matt Murphy: So you cannot tell me whether or not you were aware that you were being recorded at the time that you had the conversation?
Todd Warner: I wasn’t 100 percent sure. There were several people in the room. And she was on speakerphone and she made her threat.
Matt Murphy:Â Oh, I’m sorry, sir. Who was in the room? Tell me who was in the room, please.
Todd Warner: I can’t remember.
Matt Murphy: You can’t remember. Was Phil Williams in the room?
Todd Warner: I don’t remember. No, absolutely.
Matt Murphy: Did you give the recording to Phil Williams?
Todd Warner: Hundred percent did not. Phil . . .
Matt Murphy: Are you aware of who gave the recording to Phil Williams?
Todd Warner: Hundred percent, absolutely not.
Matt Murphy: You are 100 percent absolutely not sure, or you are sure that you don’t know.
Todd Warner: I’m not sure who gave it to him, which, who sent it to him.
Matt Murphy: I’m asking you, sir, that we need to open up an investigation as to who recorded you, Todd Warner, and Tori Venable, because it is illegal for a third party to record a telephone conversation between two other people in the state of Tennessee. Are you aware of that, sir?
[Editor’s note: Tennessee is a one-party consent state, meaning a phone conversation can be recorded if one of the parties on the call consents to its recording. In addition, Tennessee statutes very clearly defines a “party” to a call as one who identifies himself or herself as a participant in a call. In the case of individuals listening to a call between two parties that is placed on a speaker phone by one of the parties so other individuals in the room with that party may hear the call, those listening on the speaker phone are not defined as “parties” to the call unless they identify themselves to all parties on the call.]
Todd Warner: Uh, no, I don’t know all the laws here in the state, no, I do not.
Matt Murphy: You represent what district, Mr. Warner?
Todd Warner: 92nd district, sir. And you’re not aware of all, and I don’t know every single law. I don’t think there’s ever Yeah. That no representative here knows every single law. Come on, Matt.
Matt Murphy: I’m asking you once again to tell me whether or not you remember who was…. remember that there were people in the room during the time of the conversation?
Todd Warner: There were several people in the room. I don’t remember.
Matt Murphy: Where were you when the conversation happened, sir?
Todd Warner: At my house.
Matt Murphy: And there were several people at your house, sir?
Todd Warner: Yes.
Matt Murphy: While you were having this conversation with Tori? Yes. And this happened on or around December 8th. Is that your testimony?
Todd Warner: Yes, yes. Sometime or not. I can’t remember the exact date. I can try to look back and figure it out.
Matt Murphy: But you originally seemed very sure that it was December 8th and now you’re not sure. Is that right?
Todd Warner: It’s somewhere in December. She made it sound earlier, and I’m having to go off text that someone had sent me that me and Phil collaborated this up. That is absolutely not the truth. Why don’t you get the truth out of her about what she did?
Matt Murphy:Â I’m gonna whip up on her when I’m done whipping up on you, representative.
Todd Warner: Yeah. Okay. And I’d love to come down and sit down with right beside you.
Matt Murphy: Well, I would love to. You’re welcome to, you can come down anytime.
Todd Warner: What’s sad about this is I vote with AFP 99. 9 percent of the time, and to get done like this, I’m one of the most conservative members up here.
Matt Murphy: Are you not, uh, I understand, I understand all of that. Representative Warner, what concerns me is that a sitting representative, you said the 92nd district, a sitting representative of the 92nd district was illegally recorded in or around or on or around December 8th. With people present, and you’re not really sure who was present. You were illegally recorded, representative, and are you concerned at all about that?
Todd Warner: Hey, let me tell you, since I’ve been down here, I’ve been recorded a lot.
Matt Murphy: Do you ever record conversations, representative? Have you ever recorded conversations?
Todd Warner: No, no, no. Ask ask Tori about her about Michael [Lotfi’s] recording.
Matt Murphy: I’ll ask Tori. I’m asking you, so you’ve never recorded conversations as a representative.
Todd Warner: No, no, no, no, not unless I’m discussing a bid with somebody in my job or something. I don’t record conversations down here, and I don’t have no need to. But I guarantee mine has been recorded by the federal government and everybody else down here. You know, my home’s been raided since I’ve been down here.
Matt Murphy: Well, I’m sad to hear all about it.
Todd Warner: Matt. You know all about it.
Matt Murphy: I’m sad to hear that, Todd.
Todd Warner: Listen, I’ve never been charged with a crime.
Matt Murphy: Have you ever had anyone assist you in recording conversations?
Todd Warner: Absolutely not. I don’t need that. I don’t need that. I don’t have to do that.
Matt Murphy: It doesn’t concern you at all that a third party recorded your conversation between yourself and Tori?
Todd Warner: I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ve got not a damn thing to hide. And, I don’t know where you’re trying to go with this, but, you know, I assume every conversation that I have up here at Cordell Hall is being recorded. And if you don’t assume that, then . . .
Matt Murphy: Wait a minute, you just told me you were at your house.
Todd Warner: I said, I assume every conversation I have up here every day is being recorded.
Matt Murphy: I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about the conversation that happened on and around December 8th with folks around, none of whom you can remember, at your house with Tori Venable.
Todd Warner: I, we’ve done discussed all that, Matt. I’m not gonna sit here and argue with you. You know, I wanted to wait and come in and …..
Matt Murphy: Well, you’re welcome to come in. I just have a hard time believing that you can’t remember anybody that was around you that day.
Todd Warner: I mean, I’m not saying you’re not I have a hard time sitting back and listening to lies.
Matt Murphy:Â What threat? You said on the Phil Williams piece that you felt threatened by Tori.
Todd Warner: I don’t feel, I mean, not like a physical threat.
Matt Murphy: I saw it last night. You said that was a threat. That was a threat, Phil. That’s what you said.
You pointed and said that was a political threat.
Todd Warner: It was a political threat. More like a statement.
Matt Murphy: Of fact, not a threat. Yeah. Alright.
Todd Warner: Go ahead. Will her group headhunt members down here? Absolutely they will. She knows it well. Will your group headhunt individuals down there?
Matt Murphy: Tori, Representative Warner says that you will headhunt. I don’t know what he means by that. But will you?
Venable: AFP supports policy champions that work on the issues that are aligned with us.
Matt Murphy: Okay. Did you record that [call] ?
Tori Venable: Absolutely not. And I have more to say.
Matt Murphy: Do you remember, is it to your recollection that this happened on December 8th?
Tori Venable: I remember having this exact conversation that was aired with Todd Warner on the 16th of March. And I thought it was very suspect when he called me on the Saturday and we talked for 17 minutes and 3 seconds.
Matt Murphy: Do you have that on your phone? Do you have that?
Tori Venable: Sure do. I have a screenshot of where he called me on this day.
Matt Murphy: So, do you recall the conversation, Representative Warner, that you had with Tori Venable on March 16th?
Todd Warner: I told you earlier. I called about trying to find out what was in the governor’s bill when it first started coming out.
Matt Murphy: No, I’m talking about March 16th. This was a little over ….
Todd Warner: No, I don’t remember March 16th.
Matt Murphy: I’m looking at her telephone right now, sir. It was a 17 minute telephone call on March 16th at 2:08 p.m.
Todd Warner: That ain’t when it was.
Matt Murphy: It says Todd Warner on the [screenshot].
Todd Warner: It’s absolutely not. Get Phil [Williams], get Phil on the show.
Matt Murphy: Dude, I’m looking at the phone, Todd. It says Todd Warner, 17 minutes and 13 seconds. March 16th. Are you denying that you had a telephone conversation with Tori Venable on March 16th?
Todd Warner: I can’t remember. I don’t know. I don’t remember.
Matt Murphy: Do you have your cell phone near you?
Todd Warner: Yeah, I’m on it.
Matt Murphy: Well, why don’t you look at your cell phone and tell me?
Todd Warner: Well, because I’ll have to get back and try to find it. Okay. I can assure you that that’s when it did not take place then. I promise you.
Matt Murphy: Okay, so it is your statement today on these airwaves on Supertalk that you did not have a conversation with Tori on March 16th?
Todd Warner: I know I’m not saying that. I’m saying I do not record no conversation with Tori Venable, that’s what I’m saying.
Matt Murphy: I’m asking you if you had a conversation, I’m asking you if you had a conversation on March 16th.
Todd Warner: I don’t remember Matt. You don’t remember. I do not remember.
Matt Murphy: Can you look and see if your phone shows you? It was just over a week ago. You could scroll back to recent like if you’ve got an iPhone over there, you just go to recents, and you just scroll back to March 16th, and it’ll probably say Tori Venable there or something like that. Could you do that for me representative?
Todd Warner: I don’t know. I’ve had more than, I’ve had terrible conversations with her. No, I cannot find her to spare the time. Okay. But, I’ve called her numerous times. Like I say, we believe a lot alike. This is one issue.
Matt Murphy: Alright, I want you to feel like you’re being treated fairly. So, what do you want me to press upon Tori Venable right now? What do you feel like she’s done wrong?
Todd Warner:Â I mean just whatever you want to press.
Matt Murphy: I mean, no. You tell me what you think she’s done wrong and what she’s done against the spirit of your representation of….
Todd Warner: I felt threatened by a political threat, not a physical threat. And I’ve heard her boast in the past about the work that they’ve done to take out Bob, Bob Ramsey, which I absolutely did not agree with a lot of his politics. I’ve heard her boast about that. I’ve heard them boast about having other reps on tape themselves. They probably got me on tape. I’ve heard members of AFP, we can, I don’t want to call them names, but if I need to call names, I’ll call names.
Matt Murphy: Let’s call names. Let’s go call names, man. This is your point. This is your time. This is your moment. Call names.
Todd Warner: I’m not a guy that’s trying to stir up a bunch of trouble.
Matt Murphy: Yeah, Todd, I want you to know how this is going for you right now. Okay. Let me explain to you how this is going for me, man. I know what you’re doing, but no, no, I’m not killing you. You’re killing you. You can’t tell me whether or not you had a telephone conversation Saturday before last with Tori Venable.
Todd Warner: Yeah, no I cannot.
Matt Murphy: You can’t. You can’t remember it. But you remembered at the beginning of this conversation. But you told me. Dude, at the beginning of this conversation, you remembered that you had one on December 8th. You said December 8th.
Todd Warner: I said it was around December 8th.
Matt Murphy: No, you didn’t. I have this recorded. Todd, we can go back and listen. You said December 8th. I said December 8th. Are you sure? You said yes, I’m sure.
Todd Warner: Yeah, but there were members from her group coming to my office two to three weeks ago, I’m not exact on date, and they plainly said they had members recorded and it warned them that they would ruin one of them’s career.
Matt Murphy: I know absolutely nothing about this. I have no idea what he’s talking about. Who came into your office?
Todd Warner: Michael Lotfi.
Matt Murphy: And whose career did he say he was gonna ruin? I’m not gonna do that
Todd Warner: I’m not gonna do that right now.
Matt Murphy: Why not?
Todd Warner: Because I’m just not going to.
Matt Murphy: I mean, hell, you’re ruining your own career today. Why not ruin his?
Todd Warner: I let my reputation stand on its own. I was attacked pretty hard last time.
Matt Murphy: You can’t tell me whether or not you had a phone conversation with a woman sitting right here who says that you did and gave me evidence that you had a conversation. Handed me the evidence in front of me, Todd.
Todd Warner: I’ve had terrible conversations with Tori. She knows how I’ve supported her legislations in the past.
Matt Murphy: Well, I mean, I think that’s great. I don’t have anything against you. I have against people that don’t tell the truth. That lack integrity. And Representative Warner, I don’t believe you’re being fully truthful today.
Todd Warner: Well, sir, I stepped right out of committee to make this call. You started texting me a time or two and I was trying to find a time. I understand.
Matt Murphy: I am open. I hope that they feel well served.
Todd Warner: Try to do so. I didn’t make it up with Phil [Williams]. No, no.
Matt Murphy: Hold on, hold on. When did I say you made it up with Phil? When did I say that? I never said that.
Todd Warner: You indicated that Tori didn’t.
Matt Murphy: Well, I mean, Tori’s entitled to her own opinion. You’re talking about me. You’re talking to me.
Todd Warner: Once you get Phil on the show, let him talk to you.
Matt Murphy: Phil is invited anytime, and you, Representative Warner, are invited. Anytime you want to come on, including tomorrow if you want to finish this, but I’ve gotta go right now.
Todd Warner: Thank you. I’ll see if I can get an appointment there tomorrow.
Matt Murphy: By all means, come on anytime you want, representative. I welcome the conversation. There’s Representative Todd Warner. Well, that was interesting. Alright, we’ve got to make up some time here. Tori, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to let Todd see if he wants to come back on tomorrow.
And I will invite you at a time down the road so that we can talk more about school choice. And perhaps you can offer your testimony as to what he has to say tomorrow. Because I don’t want anybody to feel like I’m bulldogging him or I’m setting him up.
He called us.
Tori Venable: Well, I want to add one thing just for the point of clarity here: that December 8th date that he just happened to throw out. My daughter had a baby at the beginning of December, and I was in the hospital with her that entire week. And I was not taking political phone calls in December.
Matt Murphy: Well, there you go, Tori. Thank you. We’ll do this more in just a moment. And for the record, I saw her telephone that indicated that she had a conversation with Todd Warner on the 16th of March for about 17 minutes. So, you know, I don’t know what Todd’s thinking.
– – –
Photo “Todd Warner” by Todd Warner. Photo “Tori Venable” by Tori Venable.Â
Nice effort at distracting the readers from the real issue, that a wealthy special interest demands 100% obedience from elected representatives of tbe People or the group will lie about them and fund challengers to them in order to achieve their goal. Apparently any dissent is too much for the Kochs and the other extremists who plan to profit from the voucher law. AFP schools? Koch Academies? K-12 schools from the people who gave us trump University?
Sad to see Mr. Warner commit political suicide. This district deserves better than an openly dishonest character.
Looks like the Representative called in bed with a snake (phil), was bitten and now wants to lie about the wound by setting up someone who has worked with him on various issues successfully. His credibility is shot at this point by setting someone (Tori) up who can and will fight back.
Good luck warner, you are going to need it