Report: Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler contacted TVA on land deal

WASHINGTON (Asheville Citizen-Times) — Rep. Heath Shuler told investigators that he contacted Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Tom Kilgore in 2007 to complain about the lack of progress in a land swap between TVA and a development company in which Shuler was investor, according to a report released Wednesday.

The report by the TVA inspector general would appear to directly contradict Shuler's repeated assertions that he had no contact with the TVA about The Cove at Blackberry Ridge LLC housing development along Watts Bar Reservoir in Roane County, Tenn.

Still, the TVA inspector general, the FBI and the House ethics committee concluded that Shuler's conduct did not violate the law or congressional rules.