The Senate confirmation process for seats on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board — which oversees the nation’s largest public power utility — is typically uneventful. But the hearing on Wednesday for Lee Beaman, a Nashville-area auto magnate nominated for the board by President Donald Trump, drew unusual scrutiny for one major reason: his résumé.
Specifically, some Democratic senators are concerned about what’s included in Beaman’s background, as well as what’s missing from it.
Beaman has acknowledged that he has little experience in the energy sector, recently telling the Nashville Business Journal that he’s “certainly no expert on it.”
“But I feel like I’m a quick learner,” Beaman said.
His actual record, however, is also raising eyebrows in the Senate. Not only does Beaman have some messy divorces in his past — his fourth ex-wife alleged in court documents that he made her watch videos of himself having sex with prostitutes as “training videos” — Beaman has also served as Speaker Mike Johnson’s landlord.
In February, a ProPublica investigation reported that Johnson lived in a townhouse owned by Beaman and shared the residence with an evangelical pastor, Steve Berger.
Both Beaman and Berger, the report said, had advocated “for and against multiple bills before Congress,” and ProPublica raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.
In response to questions from MS NOW, Beaman said Johnson is no longer his tenant, but he did not respond to follow-ups about when Johnson moved out — or any other piece of his controversial past.
(Johnson, for his part, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about whether he was still living in Beaman’s house.)
On Wednesday, Democrats largely avoided Beaman’s famous tenant, instead focusing on his lack of experience and the allegations Beaman’s ex-wife made against him in the 2018 divorce proceedings.
“I was disturbed, I’ll just put it that way, by a series of points that were made that are rather personal, and one that is from your divorce filing,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said during Beaman’s confirmation hearing.
“I really hesitate to ask you about them here, and so I think I’ll just pursue them separately, but the allegations made during that were disturbing to me.” Merkley continued. “I’ll just put it that way.”
The divorce filing includes serious claims. Beaman’s ex-wife, Kelley, alleged that Beaman had “an addiction to pornography” and that he made her watch “videotapes that he had made of himself prior to the marriage having sex with a prostitute.”
“Mr. Beaman explained to Mrs. Beaman that these videos should be viewed by her as ‘training films’ so that she would know how to satisfy Mr. Beaman,” the divorce filing said.
The divorce filing also claims that Beaman was “secretly viewing pornography while sitting in a room with other family members,” and that their 13-year-old child at the time had witnessed him “threaten both physical and emotional harm to Mrs. Beaman.”
In response, Lee Beaman filed a petition to strike his then-wife’s trial brief. He alleged in the filing that the brief contained “immaterial, impertinent and scandalous matter only meant to harass” him, and that his then-wife’s filing had “little to no relevance on the issues” to be determined at trial.
In a statement, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., urged the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to reject Trump’s nomination.
“Mr. Beaman has no background in energy, utilities, electrical generation, infrastructure management, environmental policy, or ratepayer protection. His professional career has been centered almost entirely on automotive sales, beverage distribution, real estate holdings, and political fundraising,” Cohen said in a statement. “His contentious divorce, widely covered in the Tennessee press, included serious allegations that speak to concerns about temperament and decision-making,” Cohen said. During the hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., also brought up Beaman’s lack of relevant experience with energy. “My impression from the introductions, Mr. Beaman, is that while you bring business experience, you don’t necessarily bring energy-related business experience,” Whitehouse said. “I’ll review the record again, but what you do bring is a whole lot of what normally is characterized as being a political operative.” On top of serving as Johnson’s landlord, Beaman is also a conservative megadonor. When asked about the abuse allegations on Wednesday, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., told MS NOW that he was “not responding.” “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, allegations,” Hagerty said. When MS NOW asked Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., how comfortable they were with Beaman’s nomination, considering the abuse allegations, neither responded. Other senators were more forthcoming about their plans. “I’m gonna be voting no on his nomination,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., told MS NOW. The Senate is in the midst of confirming five new people to the board of directors for the Tennessee Valley Authority. The first four were already advanced out of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee in October and are expected to be confirmed soon. Beaman still needs a favorable vote from the committee before the full Senate votes, but his nomination could come up as soon as next week.
Peggy Helman is a desk associate at MS NOW. Recommended
