A contractor implicated in a Tennessee Department of Transportation bribery scandal has launched an aggressive campaign to clear his name and regain the ability to bid on highway projects. The effort includes allegations that authorities let some instances of corruption within TDOT’s ranks go unpunished.

In federal documents, Kingston Springs guardrail contractor Novice “Joey” Cole admits giving a former TDOT employee $30,000 in 2005 but says he is being unfairly punished after cooperating with state and federal investigators in the years since. The state and federal transportation departments recently decided to suspend Cole and his companies from bidding on work because of his 2005 payments to James Douglas Hagar, a former TDOT project supervisor who oversaw Cole’s work on an Interstate 65 widening project.

Cole, 51, contested his suspension to the Federal Highway Administration. In a 700-page document he filed in Washington, Cole says he has been treated unfairly.

He is fighting back with some heavy hitters. His publicist is Beth Courtney, chairwoman and CEO of Seigenthaler Public Relations in Nashville, and his legal team includes Hal Hardin, a former circuit judge and U.S. attorney. Cole also has sued TDOT in Davidson County Chancery Court to challenge his state suspension.

Government officials and Hagar’s attorney dispute Cole’s attempts to color himself the victim, setting the stage for a messy fight with the public’s trust, dozens of jobs and millions of dollars in taxpayer money on the line.

Cole never charged

In 2004, state and federal authorities launched an investigation into bid-rigging by TDOT contractors. Last week, Hagar was sentenced to six months in prison on a federal bribery charge stemming from the investigation. Cole was never charged with bribing Hagar.

Cole, his mother and his secretary were indicted in 2007 on federal charges that they helped a former employee evade taxes and defraud the Social Security Administration, but the charges were reduced to a single misdemeanor. The three pleaded

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