Ethics probe found Blackburn staff blurred Senate, campaign lines, source says

NASHVILLE — A confidential 2025 Senate ethics investigation found multiple violations of Senate conduct rules in U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn's office, a source told Six Rivers Media. Blackburn, currently the front-runner for Tennessee governor, faced a probe last year from the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics. The investigation sought to determine whether the senator's taxpayer-funded federal staff were being used for her own political activities — violations which, if true, could prove unethical, or even illegal. The ethics committee ultimately kept the results of that probe confidential. However, a source familiar with the investigation, speaking under the condition of anonymity, provided further details to Six Rivers Media which shed some light on the committee's findings. SENATE LEADERSHIP The source said the ethics committee interviewed Blackburn's Senate staff in both Tennessee and Washington, D.C. Though it did not issue any formal disciplinary action, the source said the ethics committee identified multiple violations of the Senate Code of Conduct. According to the source, the ethics committee found senior Senate staff members did not put up the appropriate firewalls between Blackburn's Senate operation and her political one. They said this allowed Blackburn's longtime political consultant Ward Baker to influence the operations of Senate staff. Because Senate staff members are funded by taxpayers, they are generally prevented from performing political activities while on the clock, or from being coerced into doing so. The source said the investigation identified state director John Clement — the head of Blackburn's federally funded Senate staff — as lacking "a clear understanding of ethical rules." Documents obtained by Six Rivers Media show Blackburn's Senate staffers were directed multiple times to attend campaign events for the Brentwood senator, often in dereliction of their federal duties, the source stated. In addition, evidence from the investigation shows emails in which a staffer alleges campaign requests were funneled through the Senate office and misrepresented as federal work — when in reality, the requests originated from Baker's political operation. An email sent by Clement to the rest of the Senate team shows a list of talking points after state Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, announced her opposing campaign for the U.S. Senate. Clement's email includes a directive for Senate staff to "make a specific ask" on behalf of the senator's campaign, including fundraising, grassroots support or a social media video. POLITICAL OPERATION The source said the investigation identified Baker as the central problem. The concern was that Blackburn's Senate office was being influenced by an outside political consultant. "People are afraid to tell Ward Baker 'No,'" the source said. An audio recording obtained by Six Rivers Media shows a conversation between two staffers within Blackburn's Senate office. The senior staffer mentioned he "could have ran out of ink writing down the violations." "I think that there is an unwritten rule that he gets to break all the rules," the senior staffer said, apparently referring to Baker. The same senior staff later said, "The staff being told to do things is a gross violation of the Hatch Act." The Hatch Act is a 1939 law that limits certain political activities by federal employees. ADDRESSING THE ISSUES According to the source, the ethics committee advised Blackburn to resolve the issue by ending her professional relationship with Baker and fixing the management issues with Clement. The ethics committee does not have hiring or firing authority over the staff on Blackburn's Senate team. The source said those decisions were left with Blackburn, and that the committee indicated that further violations could result in more public action being taken. The source said the committee told Blackburn that keeping things as they were would likely lead to further violations. Baker and his political strategy firm, Baker Group Strategies, are currently working on Blackburn's campaign for Tennessee governor. Clement still serves as Blackburn's state director, according to LinkedIn. The source said the ethics committee ultimately kept the investigation confidential because it could not find sufficient evidence that Blackburn had any prior knowledge of the violations. According to the source, the ethics committee, instead, issued a private letter to Blackburn requiring her office to correct the issues identified in the investigation. However, the concerns had been raised with Senate leadership prior to the investigation. An email evidenced in the investigation shows ethical concerns being raised to Blackburn's then-Chief of Staff Sean Ferrell as early as 2023. Baker Group Strategies directed Six Rivers Media's questions to Blackburn's Senate office, "due to the federal nature" of the inquiry. The organization did not respond further when pressed on whether Baker Group Strategies ever coordinated political activities with Blackburn's Senate staff. Blackburn's Senate office pointed Six Rivers Media to a statement the office issued in July. That came shortly after Blackburn's Republican gubernatorial primary opponent, U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., published an open letter calling on her to release the findings of the investigation. Blackburn did not respond to Rose. "No one takes compliance with Senate ethics rules more seriously than Senator Blackburn, and the Senate Ethics Committee completed its review and resolved this matter with our office's full cooperation," the statement reads. Blackburn's campaign did not respond to Six Rivers Media's request for comment.