Al Gore Linked to "Hillbilly Mafia"
Commentary by Phil Valentine  /  August 30, 2000

As a talk show host, hardly a day goes by that I don't get a tip from someone wanting me to investigate "the next big scandal" whether it concerns the local police or the president of the United States. Most of these tips are first culled by gut instinct. If something doesn't feel quite right then, chances are, it's someone scorned trying to get even or, perhaps, even a hoax.

A little over a week ago, I received a tip concerning Vice President Al Gore. My source told me that he was involved with a potentially corrupt sheriff with possible ties to organized crime. The charge seemed too fantastic to believe. Surely, a man in Gore's position would not jeopardize his reputation by doing business with such people. However, as I began to dig into the story I found real cause for concern.

Let's start with the sheriff in question. Terry Ashe is sheriff of Wilson County, a neighboring county of Smith County and the town of Carthage, where Al Gore spent some of his summers. Ashe has been sheriff for quite a few years, long enough to make some enemies. One of those enemies is a local businessman by the name of Dewey Lineberry. Lineberry and Ashe are rivals in the real estate development business. Mr. Lineberry is also famous, or in this case infamous, for a raid on his business a few years back by Sheriff Ashe during which the sheriff found video tapes of Lineberry engaged in sexual activity with various young ladies. Some of these ladies subsequently sued Mr. Lineberry. Mr. Lineberry is currently suing Sheriff Ashe for, among other things, civil racketeering. I approached the evidence given to me with a healthy dose of skepticism given the bad blood between these two gentlemen. Indeed, there was a laundry list of charges against the sheriff. Several were dismissed by the judge for lack of concrete evidence or because the statute of limitations had run out. The judge did, however, find sufficient evidence on several other charges to send the case to trial and it's the judge's decision which, I believe, gives this whole story credence.

One charge alleged that a deputy of Ashe's had engaged in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. It was also alleged that the deputy had repeatedly beat the young girl. Mr. Lineberry contends, and the judge found enough evidence to order a trial, that Sheriff Ashe participated in a cover-up of the relationship and the beatings, fabricating stories about the girl and intimidating her into silence.

Mr. Lineberry also alleges that Sheriff Ashe is a member of the so-called "Hillbilly Mafia" in Wilson County which set out to destroy his business. Don't let the name deceive you. It may conjure up images of The Dukes of Hazzard but it's much more sinister. People I've talked with in Wilson County insist that the Hillbilly Mafia is very real and very dangerous. They're thought to be behind all manner of corruption in the county and consist of a 'who's who' of organized crime in the area. Sheriff Ashe and a couple of his business partners also happen to be in business with Al Gore. They presently have 140 head of cattle on his farm outside of Carthage and maintain a bank account at a bank in Carthage. When I think of cattle and the Gore farm I can't help but remember the allegations from years ago in which fat cats from all over would converge on the Gore farm for a cattle auction conducted by Senator Albert Gore, Sr. Mysteriously, the cows never left the farm. You fill in the blanks. That bank where the sheriff has an account is, by the way, the same bank where the vice president's mother is, purportedly, a key stock holder. A bank official refused to confirm or deny Mrs. Gore's involvement with the bank, insisting that such information was "confidential."

Ordinarily, I wouldn't concern myself with an alleged corrupt sheriff in rural Tennessee. I believe the choice of chief law enforcement officer of the county is best left to the people who elect him. However, one has to wonder what in the world the vice president of the United States is doing in business with people like this. The lawsuit has been going on for months now so it is unlikely that Mr. Gore doesn't know about it. It's even more unlikely that he doesn't know that he's in business with Sheriff Ashe. Like the illegal campaign contributions and the illegal Buddhist Temple fundraiser this is just another piece of an ugly pattern. Either he has no idea what's going on around him (like his claim of not knowing the Temple visit and the White House Coffees were fund-raisers) or he runs with some unsavory characters. Either way, it casts further doubt on his ability to be commander-in-chief.