CfA Requests Criminal Investigation into Payments Made to Tennessee House Speaker, Plus the Latest on AI Oversight
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** CfA's April 28, 2023 Newsletter
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With your support, Campaign for Accountability is working to expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable.
** This Week's Updates:
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CfA Requests Criminal Investigation into Payments Made to Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton
On April 13, Popular Information author Judd Legum reported ([link removed]) that Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton had purchased a house in Nashville through an anonymous trust. Sexton had a reason for this secrecy; he's supposed to be living in Crossville, which is in the district he represents. Instead, he appears to have been collecting hefty per diem compensation for lodging while living in his Nashville home, where his commute is a fraction of what it would be from his district. Now, CfA is calling on the District Attorney General of the 20th Judicial District of Tennessee and the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee to investigate whether Sexton violated criminal law by submitting forms falsely claiming he was entitled to these per diem payments.
According to CfA’s analysis, Speaker Sexton has collected per diems totaling approximately $79,954 since moving to Nashville. These payments are supposed to be reserved for legislators who live more than 50 miles away from Nashville – which Sexton doesn’t. In fact, his youngest child appears to be going to a Nashville-area school. If Sexton’s payments are determined to be property theft, which is a Class B felony, he could be punished with eight to thirty years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines. By siphoning money from the state’s coffers, Sexton may have also committed honest services wire fraud and tax fraud.
CfA’s request for an investigation was covered by several local outlets in Tennessee, including The Tennessee Lookout ([link removed]) , The Center Square Tennessee ([link removed]) , and WPLN ([link removed]) . Judd Legum also featured the complaint in his newsletter ([link removed]) . Read the rest of CfA’s complaint here ([link removed]) .
Federal Agencies Tackle AI Discrimination, Fraud, Unfair Methods of Competition:
On Tuesday, four federal agencies published a statement ([link removed]) reminding business owners and software developers that they can be held legally responsible for designing or using artificial intelligence (AI) systems that violate Americans’ civil rights or otherwise break laws protecting consumers, employees, and customers. The statement outlined several ways that discrimination can be carried out by automatic decision-making systems, including the use of imbalanced datasets or flawed assumptions about the practices and procedures that the AI is replacing.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke described it as an “all hands on deck moment” which the Justice Department was well-prepared for. Together, the DoJ Civil Rights Division, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asserted that they have the power to enforce existing laws that can be violated by AI systems. As FTC Chair Lina Khan said, there isn’t an “AI exemption” that shields anyone from liability if these tools are misused by employers, banks, governments, or law enforcement.
** What We're Reading:
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All 9 Supreme Court justices push back on oversight: 'Raises more questions,' Senate chair says ([link removed])
Federal Reserve will consider tougher rules for banks after Silicon Valley Bank failure ([link removed])
FTC chair met UK antitrust officials last week but did not talk deals ([link removed])
** Follow Our Work:
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We thank you for your continued support. Without people like you, our work would not be possible.
Here is how you can stay involved and help us accomplish our mission:
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Be on the lookout for more updates about our work in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for signing up to be a part of CfA!
Sincerely,
Michelle Kuppersmith
Executive Director, Campaign for Accountability
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