Image Credit: Marsha Blackburn for Governor / David Hatley for Governor / Canva
Article by The Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
The Marsha Blackburn for Tennessee Governor campaign just released information about Independent candidate David Hatley’s background that includes a federal bank fraud conviction, jail time and an order to pay restitution.
The Blackburn campaign release states:
“According to federal court records, David Hatley was convicted of federal bank fraud after spending two years passing bad checks and lying to an FBI agent. He served time in federal prison and was ordered to pay $37,958.13 in restitution.
Hatley repeatedly passed bad checks, deceived others, and then lied to federal law enforcement. His conduct resulted in a felony conviction and time behind bars.
Hatley also lost his right to vote following his felony conviction and did not have his voting rights restored until 2025, according to a report from WJHL. Until last year, Hatley could not legally cast a ballot in Tennessee. While his right to vote has been restored, Hatley remains unable to legally possess a firearm.
Hatley is attempting to present himself to voters as a successful businessman, but his record raises serious questions about his honesty, judgment, and qualifications to lead. Tennesseans should not trust the state’s finances- or the governor’s office- to someone convicted of defrauding a bank.
David Hatley cannot erase his conviction, his prison sentence, or the record that put him behind bars.”
The Tennessee Conservative reached out to Hatley for a response to the allegations and received this response:
“Senator Blackburn’s team spent a lot of money to tell Tennessee a story I already told them myself.
Years before I ever thought about running for office, I wrote a book about my life; the highs, the lows, the mistake I made as a young man in business, and everything I built after it. Nobody made me write it. No reporter was calling. So, her packet isn’t a revelation. It’s a book report.
And it’s a sloppy one. They took things that happened decades ago, stripped the dates off them, and arranged them to look like last year. They left out that every one of those matters was settled and closed almost a decade ago. A calendar would have ruined the whole document.
Here’s what her researchers couldn’t find, because it isn’t in a courthouse file:
I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon. Nobody mentored me, and nobody handed me a company or a name or a soft place to land. I learned life the real way, and I paid for the education. There was a time when I thought my mistake ruined by life, but God wasn’t done with me and I went to work. Nine companies later. Eleven patents. 750+ Tennesseans on a payroll and I gave them ownership in what they built, because the people who believed in me, and what we were building together, deserved more than just a thank you.
There are people all over this state carrying something. They’ve been taught it’s the end of their story. It isn’t. You are not defined by the worst thing you ever did. You’re defined by who you decide to be afterward.
Senator Blackburn thinks my past disqualifies me. I think it’s the reason I understand this state better than she does.
I’ve never hidden a day of my life. I wrote it down and put my name on the cover, and I gave it away for free. You can download it Book – David Hatley for Governor or request an interview with me. I’m an open book- literally.”
The Hatley campaign also issued a follow-up statement when asked by The Tennessee Conservative to specifically address the allegations made by the Blackburn campaign.
“At this point, Marsha Blackburn can carry her own water on this and if she really feels like this is about ensuring we have an informed electorate, then she can have the fortitude to stand on a debate stage with David and ask questions to his face rather than hide behind websites and planted ‘research.’ “
Sources:
Marsha Blackburn Gubernatorial Campaign.
David Hatley Gubernatorial Campaign.
One Response
As the man said, he exposed this in a free book about himself. His humility is what is so appealing, plus I do have a “sorted” past that I have righted albeit over 20 years ago….I still believe that he is the conservative’s choice.