Schuchardt is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly in the August 2026 election.
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Schuchardt filed ethics complaint against bankruptcy judge
Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly, filed a complaint against a federal bankruptcy judge. Schuchardt says that he is running for office as a direct result of that complaint.
Schuchardt, a graduate of Columbia Law School, practiced law for nearly thirty years before tangling with Suzanne Bauknight, a Knoxville bankruptcy judge.
In 2017, Bauknight handled a case involving Upright Law, a Chicago law firm. At that time, Upright Law was opening offices in all fifty states. It's objective was to provide consumer bankruptcy services on a nationwide basis. Upright Law was not popular in Tennessee, because its business model threatened the local bankruptcy bar.
Bankruptcy Judge Bauknight apparently decided that she wanted to exclude Upright Law from the Knoxville market. In 2016, she began issuing orders attacking Upright Law's attorneys and legal fees.
Bauknight's orders were unusual because she used "orders to show cause." Such orders are issued by a court on its own initiative, without any person requesting the order.
Between May 18, 2016 and June 20, 2018, Bauknight issued at least 87 orders to show cause against Upright Law. Bauknight intially attacked Grace Gardner, an African American attorney with two decades of experience practicing bankruptcy law. Gardner had no history of ethical problems. Nevertheless, Bauknight suspended Gardner from practicing in her court for five years.
In early 2017, Schuchardt agreed to represent Upright Law, in place of Gardner. Like Gardner, Schuchardt had no history of ethical problems.
After Gardner's departure, Bauknight continued to attack Upright Law with orders, on her own initiative. Soon, it became clear that the purpose of the orders was money. Bauknight used the orders to force Upright Law to pay one of her friends, Gwendolyn Kerney, $200,000. Kerney was a court-insider, who worked closely with Bauknight.
In 2020, Schuchardt filed an ethics complaint about Bauknight with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In the complaint, Schuchardt said that Bauknight used her federal office to obtain special treatment for Kerney. This was a violation of federal law.
Schuchardt also said that Bauknight used her orders to interfere with litigation. When Schuchardt appealed two of Bauknight's orders, Bauknight threatened to suspend Schuchardt’s license to practice in her court, if he did not dismiss the appeals. Schuchardt agreed to dismiss the appeals, under duress.
Bauknight next began to attack Schuchardt's license to practice law through the Tennessee state courts.
In Tennessee, attorneys are licensed through an organization known as the Board of Professional Responsibility. In 2018, the board filed a case against Schuchardt on behalf of Bauknight. Between 2018 and 2024, the board filed seven cases against Schuchardt, to prevent Schuchardt from practicing law in Tennessee.
Schuchardt sought to placate Bauknight by withdrawing his ethics complaint against her. However, Bauknight's allies at the board refused to back off. The board refused to withdraw its attacks on Schuchardt's license.
In 2025, Schuchardt sued the chief attorney at the board for harassment. Schuchardt's complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, said the defendant, Sandra Garrett, was filing ethics cases for political purposes, as an abuse of process. Schuchardt also alleged that Garrett was using her state office to fabricate evidence.
Eventually, Schuchardt learned that the board had filed ethics cases against more than fifty political candidates in Tennessee. Many were running for office against sitting judges.
As of this date, Schuchardt's case is pending in Nashville federal court. The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an order preventing Schuchardt from presenting evidence in defense of his law license. Schuchardt disputes the order as a patent violation of due process and fair play.
In 2025, Schuchardt decided to run for the Tennessee General Assembly, to break the political stalemate. Schuchardt intends to use the election as a means to promote change at the state’s ethics board. “If we had more non-lawyers in the system, we would get better decisions from the hearing panels,” he says.
Schuchardt is also running for office for other reasons. Schuchardt is the author of America’s Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency. The book argues that the U.S. dollar is artificially-overvalued, due to the dollar's use as the world's reserve currency. Schuchardt says that the dollar could drop in value, if the world were to trade oil in a new currency. He says that this could be catastrophic for the United States, if it caused oil prices to rise in dollar terms.
Schuchardt studied government at Cornell University and Oxford University. Schuchardt practiced law for nearly thirty years, before running for office. He focused his legal practice on civil liberties issues in the courts.
Schuchardt calls for new electronic tolling lanes on I-40 corridor
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Knoxville, Tennessee – January 14, 2026 – Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General
Assembly, is calling for electronic tolling lanes on the I-40 corridor
through Knoxville.
Knoxville, Tennessee is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the
United States. Since 2010, nearly 80,000 people have moved to Knox County
from elsewhere in the United States. Each day, more than 200,000 cars
pass through the Knoxville corridor on Interstate 40.
According to Schuchardt, traffic on I-40 has increased
dramatically. “Fifteen years ago – in 2010 – it was possible to drive
through Knoxville on I-40 at rush hour without slowing down,” Schuchardt
says. “There were two motorcycle cops out every morning, at the Papermill
exit, to ensure that no one went too fast,” he says. Today, that is no
longer possible. The 17-mile stretch of I-40 from Knoxville to Loudon
County, in the west, is marked by congestion on most days.
Schuchardt says the solution is to add electronic
tolling lanes to the I-40 corridor. According to federal law, Tennessee
can add electronic tolling lanes to I-40, provided that the state does not
reduce the number of pre-existing free lanes.
Schuchardt says that several states use electronic
tolling lanes – side-by-side – with free lanes, to keep traffic moving.
This is common on major corridors like I-95, near Washington, D.C.
Virginia, Florida, California, Maryland, and Texas use systems like
E-ZPass or FasTrak for congestion relief. These systems use dynamic
pricing to enable faster travel.
According to Schuchardt, “more and more, this is
not going to be an option.” “Our highways pose a common pool problem,” he
says. A common pool problem occurs when individuals overuse a free,
shared resource (like fish in the ocean or groundwater) because it's in each
person's interest to do so. This leads to collapse of the resource for
everyone.
“If we don’t implement electronic tolling, we simply
won’t be able to use our highways efficiently during peak hours,” Schuchardt
says. Schuchardt says that this will slow the region’s economy, and
create a public safety hazard. “Electronic tolling will ensure that
traffic will move at peak times during the day,” he says.
The State of Tennessee is studying electronic tolling for the I-40
corridor in Knoxville. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has
been holding hearings to solicit community opinion on the idea. TDOT is
expected to release its findings on the issue later this year.
*
* *
Elliott J. Schuchardt is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly
in the August 2026 election. Schuchardt is the author of America’s Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your
Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency.
Schuchardt studied government 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.
CONTACT:
Elliott J.
Schuchardt
2322 Jockey Run
Trail
Knoxville, TN
37920
Call or Text:
(865) 304-4374
E-mail:
elliott016@gmail.com
Campaign
site: www.elect-schuchardt.com
Twitter or
X: https://x.com/EJSchuchardt
Book
Website: www.elliott-author.com
Campaign
Blog: www.elliottschuchardt.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile
#
# #
Friday, December 19, 2025
United States needs to prepare for a drop in the value of the dollar
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Knoxville, Tennessee -- December 19, 2025 -- Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly, says that the United States needs to prepare for a drop in the value of the dollar.
Schuchardt points to data showing that foreign countries are selling their holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds, and purchasing gold instead.
According to the latest report from the U.S. Treasury, Canada sold 10% of its U.S. Treasury holdings in October. Canada's holdings dropped from $476 billion to $419 billion -- in just one month.
China also continued to sell U.S. Treasuries. China's holdings of the bonds fell from $700.5 billion, in September, to $689 billion in October.
Schuchardt says that Tennessee needs to prepare for a possible drop in the value of the dollar. He points to the efforts of the new BRICS alliance, to replace the U.S. dollar for world trade. BRICS is an alliance of nations that makes up more than half of the world's population. The alliance controls 42% of global oil production, and more than 44% of the planet's production of grains, such as wheat and rice.
Schuchardt says that BRICS could choose to replace the dollar for the world commodities markets. When this happens, he says, the dollar could drop by 50%. This could double the price of goods imported into the United States.
Schuchardt says that Tennessee needs to prepare for this foreseeable crisis. Tennessee needs to work with the federal government to ensure that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is filled. We also need to secure our supply chains for essential products, such as food and clothing.
* * *
Schuchardt is the author of America's Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency. He is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly in the August 2026 primary.
CONTACT:
Elliott J.
Schuchardt
2322 Jockey Run
Trail
Knoxville, TN
37920
Call or Text:
(865) 304-4374
E-mail: elliott016@gmail.com
Campaign website: www.elect-schuchardt.com/
Twitter or
X: https://x.com/EJSchuchardt
Book
Website: www.elliott-author.com
# # #
Monday, December 15, 2025
Tennessee Candidate Challenges State Election Law for Judges
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Knoxville, Tennessee – December 15,
2025 – Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the
Tennessee General Assembly, is calling for reform of the state’s law for
election of judges.
In Tennessee, to be qualified to run as a judge, a candidate must
be authorized to practice law in the state of Tennessee.
Schuchardt has filed a lawsuit that challenges the state’s
requirement that judicial candidates be lawyers.
Schuchardt says that Tennessee does not use due process in deciding who
can practice law in the state. According to the complaint, the Tennessee
Supreme Court has held that it can suspend a lawyer’s license without
considering any evidence against the lawyer. Schuchardt says that this
system is arbitrary, and is being used for political purposes.
Schuchardt has a list of more than fifty candidates attacked by the
Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, in recent years. Many of
these people were running against sitting judges. Others were running for
higher office. According to Schuchardt, there is an appearance that the
Board is filing cases against lawyers to disqualify them from office.
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.
“These are the kind of people that we would want to run for office,” he
says. “However, the Tennessee ethics board is working to keep them off
the ballot," he says.
The Tennessee ethics board has also filed ethics cases against a number
of prominent African-American attorneys. For example, in 2024, the Board
publicly 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
run for the office of State Representative.
According to Schuchardt, nearly a dozen attorneys have sued the Board or
its employees, 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 claimed the Board retaliated against her law license, after she
criticized Tennessee's system for selecting court-appointed counsel.
Schuchardt’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle
District of Tennessee, says that Schuchardt has been a victim of political
misconduct at the board. The complaint says that the chief lawyer at the
board – Sandra Garrett -- has filed seven petitions against Schuchardt, to
interfere with Schuchardt’s representation of a lawsuit against a group of
court insiders. The complaint alleges that Garrett is using her state office to
interfere with Schuchardt’s constitutional right to due process. According
to Schuchardt, the Tennessee Supreme Court has refused to allow him to present
evidence, in connection with the board’s attacks on his license and
reputation.
Schuchardt has asked the federal court in Nashville to find Tennessee’s
election law for judges to be unconstitutional, given the lack of due process
in the state’s ethics law. Schuchardt points to numerous problems
with the ethics law. Under existing law, he says, the state is permitted
to choose the fact-finder from members of its own organization. "It
is impossible," he says, "to get a fair trial in an ethics case when
your adversary gets to appoint the trial court judge." Schuchardt
says that the fact finder should be an elected judge, or a panel of persons who
are not affiliated with the system.
According to Schuchardt, there is a precedent for this type of
system. In the early 1970s, there were complaints that the Knox County
Sheriff's Office was firing people for political reasons. Knox County,
Tennessee adopted a system to review employment-related decisions. Today,
the Knox County Merits Board is made up entirely of persons who are not affiliated with the
sheriff's office. "We need a similar system for looking at lawyer
ethics cases in Tennessee," he says. "If a majority of the
persons on a hearing panel were non-lawyers," he says, "then we would
get better decisions from the panels."
Schuchardt also objects to the state's "fee-shifting" rule, in
ethics cases. Tennessee has a rule that requires an attorney to pay the
state's legal fees, in an ethics case. According to Schuchardt, this can
result in a judgment of tens of thousands of dollars, against the defending
attorney. "The existing law is not fair," he says. "It is
designed to discourage lawyers from defending their law license, against court
insiders," he argues. "If we want the facts to come out, then
we should not penalize attorneys for presenting the evidence," he
says.
*
* *
Elliott J. Schuchardt is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly
in the August 2026 election. Schuchardt is the author of America’s Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your
Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency.
Schuchardt studied government 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.
CONTACT:
Elliott J.
Schuchardt
2322 Jockey Run
Trail
Knoxville, TN
37920
Call or Text:
(865) 304-4374
E-mail:
elliott016@gmail.com
Twitter or
X: https://x.com/EJSchuchardt
Book
Website: www.elliott-author.com
Campaign Blog: https//elliottschuchardt.blogspot.com
#
# #
Friday, December 12, 2025
Tennessee Resident Plans Legislative Run With Focus on the Dollar Crisis
Knoxville, Tennessee –
December 12, 2025 -- Elliott Schuchardt, a retired lawyer, is preparing a
run for the Tennessee General Assembly in the August 2026 primary. His campaign
centers on an unconventional platform: warning
about what he sees as an impending collapse of the U.S. dollar's reserve
currency status.
Schuchardt's legal career
includes some high-profile wins. He sued the federal government to enforce
Fourth Amendment protections, in a case alleging the illegal collection of
e-mail. He also secured the injunction that kept Sweet Briar College open when
the Virginia liberal arts school attempted to close in 2015. The college's
rescue became a national story about alumni activism and institutional
preservation.
But it's his economic
concerns that define his political
campaign for the Tennessee legislature. Schuchardt authored "America's
Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve
Currency," a book that outlines his theories about American economic
vulnerability. The premise is stark: the dollar's global dominance is fragile,
and families need to prepare for its decline.
From Courtroom to
Campaign Trail
Before attending Columbia
Law School, Schuchardt studied political theory at Oxford University, in
England. Schuchardt brings an academic framework to his views on the economy.
His approach is openly preventive rather than reactive. He is trying to address
what he considers a foreseeable crisis before it arrives.
Schuchardt argues that the
United States will have to devalue the dollar to remain competitive in the
world's economy. He says that this can, and should be done, in a structured
manner, with the cooperation of other world powers. He says that if the United
States fails to address the dollar issue, the rest of the world will address
the issue for the United States, potentially causing an uncontrolled drop in
the value of the dollar.
For Tennessee voters
accustomed to traditional campaign platforms focused on taxes, education, and
healthcare, Schuchardt's focus on monetary policy and reserve currency status
represents a departure. He's positioning himself as someone willing to think outside
conventional political boundaries.
A Screenplay as
Political Warning
Schuchardt has taken his
concerns beyond books and the political campaign by writing a screenplay that dramatizes an 80%
dollar collapse. He's actively seeking investors to produce the film, which he
envisions as a modern warning comparable to Cold War-era cautionary films like
"On the Beach," "Dr. Strangelove," and "The
Day After."
Those films used dramatic
storytelling to make abstract nuclear threats feel immediate and real to
American audiences. Schuchardt is attempting something similar with economic
catastrophe, trying to make monetary policy emotionally resonant through narrative.
Whether Tennessee voters
will embrace a candidate focused on the reserve currency remains to be seen.
The August 2026 primary is still well ahead, giving Schuchardt time to make his
case. His background in constitutional law and his willingness to challenge
government power could resonate in a state with strong libertarian and
conservative currents.
For now, Schuchardt's bid for the Tennessee
General Assembly represents a test of whether voters are willing to embrace
a proactive approach on the dollar. Schuchardt believes the answer is yes. The
United States voted for tariffs in 2024, as a means to protect the economy. He
believes the nation is ready for the next step, in getting the economy on the
right track.
For further information:
Elect Elliott Schuchardt
2322 Jockey Run Trail
Knoxville, TN 37920
Phone: (865) 304-4374
E-mail: elliott016@gmail.com
Campaign website: www.elect-schuchardt.com
Campaign blog: www.elliottschuchardt.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://x.com/EJSchuchardt
Book website: www.elliott-author.com
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Schuchardt calls for an elected attorney general in Tennessee
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Knoxville,
Tennessee – December 3, 2025 – Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly, says that Tennessee should elect its attorney
general, rather than appoint the position. This would be a change in the
law.
Tennessee uses a unique method for choosing the state’s attorney general.
The state Supreme Court chooses the attorney general for an eight-year
term.
Tennessee is the only state in the United States that selects its attorney
general in this manner. Virtually all other states have their voters
select the state attorney general, by means of an election. In five
states, the governor selects the attorney general. In one state – Maine –
the attorney general is selected by the state legislature.
Schuchardt contends that the Tennessee system is ripe for abuse.
According to Schuchardt, the Tennessee system centralizes too much power in
Tennessee. “We have too many un-elected positions in the state,” he
says. Schuchardt points out that the members of the state Supreme Court
are chosen by the governor, from a list chosen by a nominating committee.
As a result, he says, “the governor has significant control over both the
courts and the attorney general’s office.” There are few checks and
balances over large portions of the Tennessee government, as a result of the
system.
Schuchardt says that Tennessee’s form of government is typical of Latin
America, where one person in the government has control over both the executive
branch and the courts. “We need an attorney general who will stand up for
the people, rather than one who will always defend state insiders,” he
says. In addition, he says, “we need to open up this position to others
who want to run for office.” Schuchardt says that he is interested in
running for the position, if it becomes an elected position in the
future.
Schuchardt has filed a lawsuit against a government employee at the state’s Board of Professional Responsibility. In that lawsuit, Schuchardt alleges that the state ethics Board is filing cases against political candidates in Tennessee. Schuchardt has a list of more than fifty candidates attacked by the Board, in recent years. According to the complaint, 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. Schuchardt is seeking the assistance of the attorney general in the case.
* * *
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 is a graduate of Cornell
University and 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.
CONTACT:
Elliott J. Schuchardt
2322 Jockey Run Trail
Knoxville, TN 37920
Call or Text: (865) 304-4374
E-mail: elliott016@gmail.com
Campaign website: https://www.elect-schuchardt.com/
Book website: https://elliott-author.com
Twitter: https://x.com/EJSchuchardt
Book on Amazon: Amazon link
# # #
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Interview with the Candidate
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Elliott Schuchardt, and ask him a few questions. The interview went as follows.
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Meta Press publishes favorable review of Schuchardt's book
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Schuchardt's book featured on TechBullion.com
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Schuchardt Calls for Reform of Tennessee Law on Defamation
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Knoxville, Tennessee – November 23, 2025 – Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly, is calling for reform of the state’s law of defamation.
Traditionally, Tennessee permitted the recovery of monetary damages, if someone made a false statement about another person. This was known as libel or slander.
In 2019, Tennessee passed a law called the Public Participation Act. The law made it much more difficult to recover on a libel lawsuit in Tennessee.
Schuchardt says that the Public Participation Act should be repealed, as unconstitutional.
The law allows a judge to make decisions about a defamation case on the basis of written affidavits, rather than testimony in court. According to Schuchardt, this violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
According to Schuchardt, due process requires a hearing to determine the facts of a case. “Affidavits, by their very nature, are hearsay and are not admissible as evidence,” he says. According to Schuchardt, “if there is no witness, you can’t read body language and voice tone, to determine credibility.”
Schuchardt says that there are other problems with the Public Participation Act. The Act contains a controversial “fee shifting" provision. The provision forces the plaintiff in a defamation case pay the defendant’s legal fees, if the judge dismisses the case, on the basis of affidavits. According to Schuchardt, the fee shifting provision closes the courthouse doors to litigants. “A plaintiff in a defamation case runs the risk of paying tens of thousands of dollars of legal fees, simply by filing a slander case in Tennessee,” he says.
According to Schuchardt, “this is not consistent with the spirit of the law.” For hundreds of years, courts required each side to pay their own legal fees. Courts only shifted legal fees if a party acted in a bad faith.
According to Schuchardt, the courts are set up to resolve disputes between parties. “When we impose the risk of a $50,000 fine, simply for filing a case, the courts are not doing their job,” he says. “This is a denial of due process, which encourages litigants to take justice into their own hands,” says Schuchardt. “Do we want people shooting each other, or do we want to resolve disputes peacefully in court?” he says.
According to Schuchardt, it is virtually impossible to challenge the law in the Tennessee court system. “If a plaintiff loses a defamation case in the trial court, then the plaintiff runs the risk of having to pay $100,000 in legal fees, simply to have the appellate courts look at the case,” he says.
According to Schuchardt, the law is so bad, that the federal courts in Tennessee are refusing to enforce the Public Participation Act. He says that the Tennessee state courts need to do the same, because the law is unconstitutional on its face.
Schuchardt, a former lawyer, is running for the Tennessee General Assembly in the August 2026 primary. Schuchardt says that he brought these concerns to the attention of his adversary, Elaine Davis, over a year ago. To his knowledge, Davis has introduced no legislation to make the law comply with the state and federal constitutions.
* * *
Schuchardt is a graduate of Cornell University and 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.
Schuchardt is the author of America’s Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency. In the book, Schuchardt argues that the United States needs to devalue the dollar to remain competitive as a nation.
* * *
For more information:
Elliott J. Schuchardt
2322 Jockey Run Road
Knoxville, TN 37920
Phone: (865) 304-4374
E-mail: elliott016@gmail.com
Author Website: www.elliott-author.com
Campaign Website: www.elect-schuchardt.com
Campaign blog: www.elliottschuchardt.blogger.com
Book link: Book link at Amazon.com