From Nashville’s budget priorities to a sweeping federal bribery investigation in Jackson and a legal battle involving Louisiana’s attorney general in New Orleans, The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter, Tom Pappert, argued Monday that three Democratic-led cities in Republican-led states have become focal points for disputes over government accountability and adherence to state law.
During an appearance Tuesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed his recent reporting on each of the three cities, beginning with Metro Nashville’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget, which appropriates nearly $1.5 million in grants to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON).
Noting how critics have argued the appropriation represents only a small fraction of Metro’s $3.8 billion budget, Pappert said the funding becomes more significant when compared to other city expenditures.
“We’ve spoken often about how this is a $3.8 billion budget, and some critics have pointed out that the $1.5 million dedicated, granted in the fiscal year 2027 budget to two pro-illegal immigrant nonprofits… it’s a relatively small portion of this $3.8 billion, right? $1.5 million of $3.8 billion,” Pappert said. “When you look at the budget though, there are multiple line items that are far more recognizable to the average American, let alone Nashvillian.”
Pappert noted that Metro’s Historical Commission receives approximately $1.42 million annually, while the Metro Nashville Public Schools performance audit is budgeted at $800,000 and criminal justice planning receives $781,000.
“When you look at this budget in context, it really illustrates exactly how absurd it is for Nashville to be spending taxpayer money from its general fund, more of it, three times as much in some cases, as these other budget items,” he said.
Pappert also discussed The Star’s ongoing efforts to obtain records related to the grants through the Tennessee Public Records Act, noting he has received conflicting explanations from Metro officials about how the money will be used.
“We simply want to know what on earth did you get from these two nonprofits to justify now, in the year 2026, coming up on ’27, what is justifying this $1.5 million?” Pappert said.
He criticized Metro’s response to the records request, which included an estimated production date of July 31 and referenced what officials described as an “email audit request.”
“They wound up responding to us at one point to say, ‘All right. Regarding one of your inquiries, we will have a response, we estimate, by July 31st.’ But then they said… ‘Your email audit request is too broad and has been denied.’ We didn’t ask anything about emails related to this,” Pappert said.
Pappert additionally questioned whether Metro had complied with Tennessee law governing appropriations to nonprofit organizations.
“How about the Tennessee Appropriations Law that specifically says they’re supposed to be obtaining this information from any nonprofit they give a grant to, and it seems to indicate they’re supposed to be doing that every year. Not only that, but then they’re supposed to make it available for public inspection,” he said.
Asked why he believes Metro has not produced the requested documents, Pappert responded, “I think that clearly in the case of the budget, it’s because they realize it’s a political loser to be giving $1.5 million to two illegal immigrant nonprofits, especially when it exceeds so many normal things that the city should be spending money on.”
The conversation then turned to Jackson, Mississippi, where Pappert recently reported that former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens III had pleaded guilty in a federal bribery case stemming from an FBI sting operation.
“The sting was actually far more simple than some of our listeners might think,” Pappert said. “It seems to me, after reading the plea agreement and some of the other DOJ materials, that essentially two FBI agents showed up in Jackson, Mississippi, and they said, ‘I want to bribe public officials to build a hotel.’ And all of the public officials seem to have lined up, hands out, saying, ‘Yes, please, where can we collect the money?'”
Pappert said Owens admitted participating in the bribery conspiracy after prosecutors alleged he accepted a $50,000 bribe while serving as the point person for the operation.
“He pleaded guilty to participating in this bribery conspiracy. Prosecutors previously alleged that he accepted a $50,000 bribe… But he was simply the point man,” Pappert said.
Pappert also noted that former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former City Council President Aaron Banks remain charged in the case and are scheduled to stand trial later this month.
“This is the guy who, back when he was elected… pledged to make Jackson into, quote, ‘the most radical city on the planet,'” Pappert said of Lumumba.
According to Pappert, federal prosecutors had already secured guilty pleas from two additional defendants before unsealing the indictment against Owens and the remaining public officials.
“Before the indictment against Owens, the former mayor, and the former city council president was ever unsealed, the DOJ already obtained two guilty pleas from other alleged members of the same exact bribery operation,” he said.
Pappert concluded by discussing his reporting on the Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision to halt the prosecution of Attorney General Liz Murrill after a New Orleans grand jury indicted her over letters she sent regarding implementation of Act 15, a law restructuring Orleans Parish’s court clerk system.
“It is a very complex case,” Pappert said. “This all came about after essentially, Orleans Parish elected a radical to serve as its criminal clerk.”
Pappert explained that Louisiana lawmakers approved Act 15 to make Orleans Parish’s court structure consistent with the rest of the state.
“The state of Louisiana, the legislature got together and said, ‘All right, we have one parish that is different from every other one in the state. We’re going to streamline the court system,'” he said.
Pappert noted that both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Louisiana Supreme Court allowed the law to remain in effect.
“This was accused of being a racist attack. It made it both to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as the Louisiana Supreme Court. Everybody said the law is constitutional and valid,” Pappert said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
