Tennessee Candidate Calls for Reform of State Ethics Board

        Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly, is calling for reform of the state board that regulates lawyers. 

        In 1975, Tennessee established a Board of Professional Responsibility to enforce the rules of ethics in the legal profession.  Schuchardt contends that the board is straying from its purpose. 

        According to Schuchardt, the Board is filing ethics cases against political candidates in Tennessee.  Schuchardt has a list of more than fifty candidates attacked by the Board.  Many of these people were running for office against sitting judges.  According to Schuchardt, the Board has filed ethics cases against two candidates for President of the United States, two candidates for governor of Tennessee, a former clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court, and two presidents of their county bar associations. 

        The Board has also filed ethics cases against a number of prominent African-American attorneys.  For example, in 2024, the Board censured the president of the Nashville chapter of the NAACP, Sheryl D. Guinn.  Guinn twice ran for office as General Sessions Judge in Davidson County, Tennessee.  The board has also attacked the law license of African-American candidate, Terry Renease Clayton.  In 2015, Clayton was a candidate for the Nashville City Council.  Since then, he has twice been a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly. 

        Schuchardt contends that the Board of Professional Responsibility is also filing cases to interfere with civil litigation involving government officials.  According to Schuchardt, nearly a dozen attorneys have sued the Board in recent years, alleging harassment for political reasons.   For example, attorney David Danner alleged that the Board retaliated against his license to practice law, after he published an opinion in the Nashville City Paper criticizing the state's system for selecting judges.  Attorney Carol Dawn Deaner alleged the Board retaliated against her license, after she criticized Tennessee's system for selecting court-appointed counsel.  

        Schuchardt contends that the Board has adopted rules that make it easier for State officials to file cases for political reasons.  According to Schuchardt, the Board does not provide a neutral decision-maker in attorney ethics cases.  Court rules allow the board to select the fact-finder on ethics cases from members of the Board’s own organization.  Schuchardt says that this provides for a conflict of interest, since the panel members are agents of a party to the case.   According to Schuchardt, in some cases, the Board refuses to allow the respondent attorney to present any evidence at all

        Elliott J. Schuchardt is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly in the 2026 election.  Schuchardt is the author of America’s Achilles Heel:  How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency.

        Schuchardt studied politics at Cornell University and Oxford University.  He is also a graduate of Columbia Law School.  Schuchardt practiced law for nearly thirty years, before running for office.  He focused his legal practice on civil liberties issues in the courts.  

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CONTACT:

Elliott J. Schuchardt

2322 Jockey Run Trail

Knoxville, TN 37920

Call or Text: (865) 304-4374

E-mail:    elliott016@gmail.com

Website:  https://elliott-author.com

Blog:       https://elliottschuchardt.blogspot.com

  

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Schuchardt Appears on the Charles Cook Podcast

 NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

     November 5, 2025 -- Knoxville, Tennessee -- Tennessee candidate, Elliott J. Schuchardt, appeared on the Charles Cook Podcast in early October.  During the podcast, Schuchardt talked about his new book, America's Achilles Heel:  How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency.  

   In the book, Schuchardt argues that the U.S. dollar is artificially overvalued, due to America's monopoly on the sale of oil for only U.S. dollars.  Schuchardt claims that the dollar could potentially lose much of its value overnight, if the world's commodity markets were to price their goods in a currency other than the U.S. dollar.  Schuchardt argues that China and Russia are preparing to issue a new reserve currency, which could trigger this threat. 

    Schuchardt's interview with Charles Cook is available online at:

 https://charlescookpodcast.buzzsprout.com/2088464/episodes/17974285-my-interview-with-tn-house-district-18-candidate-and-author-elliott-schuchardt

Schuchardt Challenged Warrantless Government Collection of E-mail

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

            Knoxville, Tennessee -- November 5, 2025 --  Tennessee candidate, Elliott J. Schuchardt, has a history of working to protect people from government overreach.  

             In 2020, Schuchardt filed a petition to have the United States Supreme Court review the federal government's alleged surveillance of all e-mail sent in the United States. 

          In the case, Schuchardt alleged that the federal government was unlawfully collecting the full content of the nation's e-mail database, in violation of the 4th amendment of the United States constitution. 

     The 4th amendment prevents the government from searching the private papers of the citizenry, unless the government has first obtained a warrant issued upon probable cause. 

     Schuchardt filed the case in July 2014, shortly after United States dissident, Edward Snowden, published allegations in the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers that the government had gained access to the nation's e-mail database.    

        Schuchardt filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  After the case was initially dismissed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed, and reinstated the case.    

        According to Schuchardt, "this case is of vital importance to every single American."  "For the first time in history, a small group of persons in the federal government can read the private communications of the American people at will."  Schuchardt considers the current state of government collection to be dangerous to the democracy.   

        In his petition, Schuchardt argued that the e-mail database should be kept exclusively by the internet service providers, with government access being controlled by the courts. 

      The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, putting the Court on record for the first time on this issue.  

 

       Elliott J. Schuchardt is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly in the 2026 election.  Schuchardt studied politics at Cornell University and Oxford University.  He also has received a law degree from Columbia Law School.  Schuchardt focused his legal practice on civil liberties issues in the courts.   

For further information:

Elliott J. Schuchardt

2322 Jockey Run Trail

Knoxville, TN 37919

Phone:  (865) 304-4374

E-mail:  elliott016@gmail.com

Website:  www.elliott-author.com

 

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Schuchardt Writes Book on the Dangers of the Reserve Currency

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

        Knoxville, Tennessee – November 5, 2025 – Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly, has published a book which argues that the U.S. dollar could pose a threat to the citizens of Tennessee.

            The book, entitled America’s Achilles Heel:  How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency, argues that the United States needs to devalue the U.S. dollar against other major currencies.

            Schuchardt argues that the dollar is artificially overvalued, because the United States has a near-monopoly on the sale of oil, for only U.S. dollars.  In other words, most countries will sell oil only for dollars.  Schuchardt argues that the value of the dollar could collapse, if the Middle East were to sell oil for a currency other than the dollar. He says that this is a foreseeable risk, given the efforts of China and Russia to establish a new international payment method. 

            According to Schuchardt, if the value of the dollar were to fall 50%, then the price of goods imported to the United States could double, in dollar terms.  If the dollar were to fall 80% against other major currencies, then the price of imported goods would increase by five times, or 500%.  In other words, the cost of an imported television could increase from $300 to $1,500, relatively quickly.

            Schuchardt warns that this could be a problem if the price of gasoline were to double or triple overnight.  “The United States would have a difficult time dealing with gasoline priced at $8 or $10 a gallon,” says Schuchardt.  We need to deal with this possibility.

            Schuchardt’s book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  It is also available in an audio version on Amazon’s Audible platform, read by the author.

      Elliott J. Schuchardt is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly in the 2026 election.  Schuchardt studied politics at Cornell University and Oxford University.  He also has received a law degree from Columbia Law School.  Schuchardt focused his legal practice on civil liberties issues in the courts.   

           

CONTACT:

Elliott J. Schuchardt

2322 Jockey Run Trail

Knoxville, TN 37920

Call or Text: (865) 304-4374

E-mail:  elliott016@gmail.com

Website:  www.elliott-author.com

 

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Schuchardt Announces Campaign for Tennessee State House

Greetings Tennessee!  

I have created this blog to communicate with the people of Knox County, Tennessee concerning issues of importance to the county and to the State of Tennessee.  

I am running for State Representative for Tennessee House District 18.  District 18 covers parts of western Knox County, on the north and south sides of I-40.  It also covers parts of south Knox County, going almost out to Seymour.  

In the upcoming election, I hope to meet many of you, and hear your concerns about the state and national governments.  I share the concerns of many of you.  Economically, our nation is a mess.  If we don't take action now, the dollar is going to come down, and destroy our standard of living.  We, as a people, need to collectively address these problems while there is still time.  

First, a little about my background.  I am a lawyer by training.  I practiced law for nearly thirty years.  

During this time, I was involved in some fairly high-profile cases.  In 2015, I sued the federal government for collecting our e-mail without a warrant.  In the case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit gave me standing to pursue these claims.  On remand, the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh dismissed the case.  I took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, in Washington, D.C..  The Supreme Court refused to hear the case.  This created an important precedent, and put the court on record as to where they stood.  

In 2016, I worked with a group of students who were seeking to prevent the closing of Sweet Briar College, located in southern Virginia.  The case involved a dispute over thousands of acres of undeveloped land, controlled by Sweet Briar College for more than a century.  The land was worth nearly $1 billion, and was located just outside the Washington, D.C. area.  I obtained the injunction that kept Sweet Briar College open, and the land in the hands of the college.  The school is under better management today.  

Since 2018, I have been engaged in litigation with a group of court-insiders, located in Knox County.  These people attacked my license to practice law -- to obtain a $200,000 payment for themselves.  When I filed an ethics complaint against these people, the Tennessee courts entered an order saying that I would NOT be permitted to present evidence to defend my license, or reputation.  That order has been in place for just over three years -- with no hearing on my license.  

I complained about this self-dealing conduct to the State legislature.  Coincidentally, my adversary in this election is the Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee, at the Tennessee General Assembly.  As of this date, she has refused to take action against the self-dealing in the Tennessee court system.  I am therefore asking the people of Knox County for their vote, so that we can collectively improve the government in Nashville. 

In this blog, we will be addressing bigger issues, as well.  We need to address the U.S. dollar in the State of Tennessee, while we still have time.