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A GOP legislator who skipped the vote to expel Franklin Republican Jeremy Durham says he's "no fan" of the disgraced lawmaker, but he's also putting in some choice words for House Speaker Beth Harwell.
State Rep. Billy Spivey, R-Lewisburg, is also defending going on a fishing trip to the Alabama coast put together by an advocate for school vouchers. The trip included Durham and three other lawmakers.
The controversy is the latest example of GOP infighting following Durham's ouster.
Spivey is leaving the legislature in November. But before he does, he's taking a few swings at Harwell.
In a letter sent to reporters released Thursday, he appears to blame Harwell for the attention being paid to the fishing trip. Spivey says he paid his own airfare — which he says Harwell has not always done. Earlier in the day, The Tennessean reported Harwell took a private plane to visit a North Carolina charter school last year.
But that's far from the only thing that has Spivey upset. He also accuses Harwell of ignoring his claim that one of her top aides verbally abused a staffer and made a vulgar gesture to the staffer's granddaughter.
And Spivey is mad Harwell suggested he skipped this month's special session because he didn't want to expel Durham. Spivey says he's been a critic of Durham, and he wasn't there for the vote simply because he was too busy after being promoted to manager of a die casting plant.
"Speaker Harwell's notion that I was unwilling to attend the special session out of some sort of loyalty to Jeremy Durham is disingenuous at best," Spivey wrote. "It is nowhere near the truth."
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