Republican Tennessee state Rep. Rick Tillis is in hot water after he reportedly admitted to trashing his fellow GOP colleagues on an anonymous Twitter account.
The Tennessean reported that Tillis, who happens to be the younger brother of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), stepped down from his post as Republican House Whip last week following the drama around @chbmole, an anonymous Twitter account that spread gossip about the chamber and personally attacked scandal-ridden GOP state lawmakers and their aides this past spring.
It’s the latest development in an off-the-rails scandal roiling the state legislature involving intra-party feuds, racist texts, and a lawmaker’s office chair getting peed on.
The saga began in February, when @chbmole (shorthand for the legislature’s Cordell Hull Building) began attacking Rep. Andy Holt (R), whom the account referred to as a “mental child,” along with Rep. Glen Casada (R), the latter referred to as a “Fascist Funboy Faction” by @chbmole.
The account jabbed at Casada, who previously served as House speaker before he became tangled in a scandal in May over a series of misogynistic and racist texts he had exchanged with his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, who resigned over the affair.
Another one of Casada’s staffers, Shawn Hatmaker (referred to as “asshatmaker” by @chbmole), resigned in May after he was scrutinized as an alleged spy for Casada.
And yet another Casada aide, Michael Lofti, left his post in May after he was accused of having a “no-show” position. Loft and @chbmole often bickered with each other, leading Lofti to tell the account, “I love a good pissing contest.”
At that point, Tillis was already suspected to be behind the account, and someone had mysteriously peed on his chair recently.
Lofti told the Tennessean that despite the post’s unfortunate timing, he was unaware of Tillis’ urine-soaked chair when he sent the tweet.
Tillis later confessed to being involved with the account, House Majority Leader William Lamberth and Rep. Andy Holt told the Tennessean in late August.
