Democrats have sought to tie Blackburn to booster

Judson Phillips, the founder of a prominent Tea Party group and an active participant in Tennessee and national conservative politics, has been disbarred over fraud complaints.

The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility first announced Phillips’ suspension from the practice of law earlier in August and last week the Tennessee Supreme Court announced it had disbarred the attorney, effective immediately.

Phillips consented to disbarment “because he could not successfully defend himself” against the fraud charges, according to a release from the BPR. Phillips' attorney declined to comment.

Many of the disciplinary complaints allege that Phillips and his business partners misled or defrauded clients who sought his assistance in cancelling contracts with timeshare companies.

Phillips, who founded and led Tea Party Nation, has remained active in conservative politics, and Tennessee Democrats have sought to tie him to Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn in the wake of the fraud allegations.

“While Marsha Blackburn was harping over old tweets and bad jokes last week, the Supreme Court was busy suspending the law license of her most ardent and radical supporter, Judson Phillips,” Tennessee Democratic Party spokesperson Mark Brown said in a release earlier this month. “If Blackburn doesn’t reject the endorsement of Phillips and his Tea Party Nation, she’s turning a blind eye to their extremist and now, according to the State of Tennessee, illegal activities.”

(None of the fraud complaints was related to Phillips’ work with Tea Party Nation.)

A Blackburn spokesperson declined to address the charges, citing Brown’s past tweets about supporters of President Trump.

In addition to supporting Blackburn in recent months, Phillips formed a political fundraising group that supported Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore after the Washington Post reported the former judge had sexual relationships with teenagers when he was in his 30s.

