A Tennessee Democratic leader said the state’s Attorney General has gone too far in an transgender-care probe and is, in general, widely deviating from his role in order to “promote his own political agenda.”
State House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) blasted Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti in a Tuesday statement. Clemmons said the AG is seemingly “weaponizing and abusing” his powers in the trans-care case. The investigation, he said, comes in a series of politically partisan moves by Skrmetti, the former Memphis lawyer given the post last year.
Skrmetti recently required Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to hand over patients’ medical records and the employment records of some of the hospital’s health care providers. The AG said a doctor there had “publicly described” how she manipulated medical billing codes to get trans care covered by insurance. The investigation is to determine whether the act occurred and if it broke state law.
Skrmetti defended his action in the case. He said getting medical records is done in “dozens of billing fraud investigations” and his office investigates and litigates “numerous” medical-billing cases each year.
The Nashville hospital starting giving him the records more than six months ago, Skrmetti said. His office has kept the investigation confidential for more than a year and he said he was “surprised by VUMC’s decision to notify patients.”
“The Attorney General has no desire to turn a run-of-the-mill fraud investigation into a media circus,” reads a statement from Skrmetti’s office.
The investigation is directed at the hospital, not the patients, he said, and the records will be held “in the strictest of confidence.” He also said “we understand patients are concerned that VUMC produced their records to this office.”
But Clemmons said the investigation is targeting trans care and by entering private medical records into the public record, it seems Skrmetti “intentionally created a significant threat to medical professionals and their patients’ privacy and safety.”
“Given the specialty areas General Skrmetti is targeting, his actions give the appearance that he is improperly weaponizing and abusing the broad CID powers of the Attorney General’s office to carry out an intimidation campaign against one of our state’s preeminent healthcare facilities and its providers and patients for the purpose of promoting his own radical political agenda or that of an extremist faction within his political party,” Clemmons said in a statement.
Clemmons said the conduct ”is only a continuation of the politically partisan manner in which Jonathan has conducted himself since day one.”
The Flyer has written about Skrmetti’s moves since he was sworn in in September here, here, here, here, and here. He was also loud and proud about Gas Stove-Gate.
On Tuesday, Clemmons listed ways he thought Skrmetti used his office politically. Here’s his list:
• [Skrmetti] headlined an event hosted by IWN, an ultra-conservative women’s group, titled “We Know What a Woman Is” to praise new discriminatory state laws
• Used state resources and personnel to promote a fundraising campaign for anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” to celebrate the anniversary of the Dobbs decision
• Unnecessarily entered into an agreed order in a federal lawsuit filed by a California gun rights group to overturn a state law regarding firearms permits
• Unnecessarily involved his office in a suit involving a Kentucky wedding photographer who refused to perform services for a same-sex wedding
• Unnecessarily supported a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn a rule allowing the U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs to provide access to abortions and abortion counseling for veterans
• Unnecessarily joined a Texas lawsuit challenging the Biden Administration’s border patrol policies
• Unnecessarily joined yet another lawsuit against Yelp that would end a disclaimer the online company uses on advertisements for “crisis pregnancy centers”
• Unnecessarily filed a brief supporting Florida’s ban on using Medicaid funds for gender transition procedures
• Using taxpayer money to beef up his office, adding a 10-attorney “strategic litigation unit” to continue fighting for what Skrmetti calls “proactive litigation.”
Clemmons said: “Nowhere among the dozens of statutes in the Tennessee code is there an authorization for the Attorney General to use taxpayer resources and his office to promote his own political agenda or that of his political party.”