Operation Rocky Top was an investigation by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

into political corruption in the

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

state government in the late 1980s.Ronald Smothers
Tennessee Republicans See an Election Weapon in State's Bingo Scandal
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', January 28, 1990

Code name

The code name for the investigation was derived from "

Rocky Top "Rocky Top" is an American country and bluegrass song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1967 and first recorded by the Osborne Brothers later that same year. The song, which is a city dweller's lamentation over the loss of a simpler a ...

", one of the state's official songs. Years later, another investigation of Tennessee public corruption was code-named

Operation Tennessee Waltz Operation Tennessee Waltz was a sting operation set up by federal and state law enforcement agents, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). The operation led to the arrest of seven Tennessee ...

, after another state song.

Investigation

Operation Rocky Top was launched in 1986 as an FBI and

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the state of Tennessee. It has statutory authority to conduct criminal investigations and make arrests of crimes occurring throughout the state. The bureau is ...

undercover investigation into illegal activities in charity

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

, including the illegal sale of bingo licenses. A first-year member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Randy McNally of Oak Ridge, became a secret participant in the investigation in 1986 after he reported to authorities that a bingo lobbyist had offered him bribes and had boasted about bribing other lawmakers. For the duration of the investigation McNally wore a wire and cultivated the trust of bingo lobbyists and other insiders so they would talk freely in front of him and offer him bribes.

Ned McWherter Ned Ray McWherter (October 15, 1930April 4, 2011) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee, from 1987 to 1995. Prior to that, he served as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 19 ...

, who was Speaker of the Tennessee House when the investigation began and who was elected Governor of Tennessee in 1986, also was praised by federal officials for cooperating with the investigation.

Results

Operation Rocky Top became public in January 1989 when W.D. "Donnie" Walker, a one-time bingo regulator in the state government who later became a lobbyist,

pleaded guilty In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a criminal case under common law using the adversarial system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response ...

to offering McNally a $10,000 () bribe in exchange for his vote on a measure to legalize horse racing. In exchange for a plea bargain, Walker gave investigators details on how he had helped bingo operators become chartered as bogus charities so they could obtain state licenses to run bingo games, and how bingo operators then channeled money back to state legislators who were part of the scheme. At the height of activity there were nearly 300 bingo operations in the state with estimated annual revenue of $31 million. The investigation resulted in more than 50 convictionsTom Humphrey
Humphrey: Waltz -- Don't leave with those who bribed you
'' Knoxville News Sentinel'' (opinion column), July 22, 2007 and the incarceration of several politicians, most notably Tennessee House of Representatives' majority leader, Democrat Tommy Burnett. Tom Humphrey
Mr. Sam Thomas Burnett, crafty, colorful, convicted former state lawmaker, dies
'' Knoxville News Sentinel'', web-posted September 18, 2009 Two other targets of the investigation committed suicide before testifying, Tennessee Secretary of State Gentry Crowell, in December 1989, just before he was scheduled to testify for a third time before a federal grand jury, and State Representative Ted Ray Miller of

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

, after being charged with bribery. Following the scandal, Tennessee established limits on political contributions and placed new restrictions on

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

References

Sources

* Sandra Roberts
Before Tennessee Waltz, there was Rocky Top
''The Tennessean'', June 5, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocky Top, Operation Federal Bureau of Investigation operations Political corruption investigations in the United States Political scandals in Tennessee