Librarian fired for ‘unkind pushback’ at event

HENDERSONVILLE, (AP) — A library director in Tennessee has been fired after the actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron accused him of “unkind pushback” to visiting celebrities during a conservative event last month, officials said.

Sumner County Mayor John Isbell told The Tennessean that the county’s library board voted 4-3 on Wednesday to fire Hendersonville library director Allan Morales. The mayor said Morales’ termination was “related to the Kirk Cameron event.”

Photos of the Feb. 25 event posted by Cameron on Facebook show him reading a children’s book to a room full of dozens of kids and adults. He wrote that the event involved “praying and teaching faith in God and moral values to our kids,” as well as the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Also in attendance were Missy Robertson of the reality TV show “Duck Dynasty” and former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Riley Gaines.

In a video obtained by the Tennessean, Gaines can be seen recording a video near what appears to be the library’s front desk. As she speaks about transgender athletes, loud noises can be heard off-camera, which she believed were excessive and intentional.

Gaines, a resident of Sumner County, told the newspaper she also recalled Cameron felt Morales was speaking too loudly during filming, but she didn’t know if the noise was intentional.

In his social media post, Cameron described “unkind pushback (from one disgruntled librarian).”

Emails obtained by the Tennessean indicated Morales was concerned about the event’s size.

“Our invitation was sincere to read a book during our story time,” Morales wrote to a representative from Brave Books, which helped put on the event.

“We guard that time because it is for small children and not adults. We work hard at not promoting any agendas left or right,” Morales wrote in an email dated Feb. 22.

Morales declined to comment about the episode to the newspaper.

“I don’t want to add to all this. I’m hoping, now that they have fired me, that the community can move on. There’s not much of a point to giving my side. At end of the day I don’t hate anybody,” Morales said.

Ex-lawmaker asks judge to withdraw guilty plea

NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee state senator accused of violating federal campaign finance laws is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing that he initially did so with “unsure heart and confused mind.”

Brian Kelsey had entered a guilty plea before a federal judge in November in the case related to a failed 2016 congressional campaign. Before that, Kelsey had previously pleaded not guilty — often describing his case as a “political witch hunt” — but changed his mind shortly after his co-defendant, Nashville social club owner Joshua Smith, pleaded guilty to one count under a deal that required him to “cooperate fully and truthfully” with federal authorities.

Kelsey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission as well as aiding and abetting the acceptance of excessive contributions on behalf of a federal campaign. He faces up to five years in prison for each count. Yet on Friday, Kelsey’s new legal team filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and asked the court to dismiss his case.

“Though not the norm, it is permissible to withdraw a guilty plea and file a motion to dismiss,” court documents state.

“Brian Kelsey was given less than 48 hours to make a decision on his plea agreement at a time when he was contending with his father on his death bed due to pancreatic cancer and newborn twins,” the documents explain. “Under these circumstances, he was in a confused state mentally and unable to fully consider the ramifications of his plea agreement. In short, he had an unsure heart and a confused mind and should be permitted to withdraw his plea.”

The motion then says Kelsey was unaware of the consequences of pleading guilty because he had no prior criminal record. Those consequences have included his bank cutting off his credit card and the suspension of his law license.

After Kelsey filed his motion on Friday, U.S. attorneys requested two weeks to respond directly while also asking the court to continue with sentencing hearings scheduled to take place later this year.

In October 2021, a federal grand jury in Nashville indicted Kelsey and Smith, who owns The Standard club, on several counts each. The indictment alleged that Kelsey, Smith and others violated campaign finance laws by illegally concealing the transfer of $91,000 — $66,000 from Kelsey’s state Senate campaign committee and $25,000 from a nonprofit that advocated about legal justice issues — to a national political organization to fund advertisements urging support of Kelsey’s congressional campaign.