Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said he believes former Tennessee State Senator Brian Kelsey’s criminal case is an example of the many “politically biased prosecutions” which were launched under the Biden administration.
On Tuesday, after serving just 13 days of the nearly two-year sentence imposed under the Biden administration’s Department of Justice, Kelsey exited federal prison after being officially pardoned by President Donald Trump, as first reported by The Star.
Kelsey was indicted in October 2021 by a federal grand jury in Nashville on five charges related to a conspiracy to violate federal campaign finance laws.
In an effort to benefit his 2016 campaign for Congress, Kelsey was accused of conspiring with several individuals of moving money from his state senate campaign committee through various political action committees.
After initially maintaining his innocence and claiming he was the target of a political witch hunt, in November 2022, Kelsey pleaded guilty to the charges and admitted to the crimes. In 2023, Kelsey was repeatedly unsuccessful in his attempt to withdraw his guilty plea.
Pappert said Kelsey’s 21-month prison sentence was “difficult to understand” given the Federal Election Commission violations Kelsey was said to have committed would normally come with a fine instead of jail time.
“It certainly seems like [prosecutorial misconduct. designed to take out political enemies],” Pappert said on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“After four years, I think it’s hard for anybody to claim that the Biden administration wasn’t guilty of doing exactly this,” Pappert added.
With regards to Kelsey’s guilty plea he attempted to withdraw, Pappert said he understood why the former state senator pleaded guilty but noted the difficulty in withdrawing such a plea against a “Leviathan” of a partisan justice department as seen under the Biden administration.
“It’s important to remember…we’re talking about $100,000, which in the world of politics, is a comically small amount. That probably would not have made much of an impact in that 2016 campaign, but $100,000 against the federal government…which has a $35 trillion debt right now, money is no object. When you’re going up against a Leviathan, you can understand how with all the stresses that he mentioned, you might make that terrible decision,” Pappert explained.
“I tend to agree with Kelsey’s claim that this is a politically biased prosecution and if it is, I think that he is a very good example of why you fight tooth and nail until the very end, if at all possible,” Pappert added.
Watch the full interview:
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk
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– Read more at @TheTNStar https://t.co/yXkmQ0bA07— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) March 12, 2025
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Brian Kelsey” by Brian Kelsey.
