Bredesen Testifies at Ford Corruption Trial

04/07/2008 10:02. NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Phil Bredesen told a federal jury on Thursday that he would have reported John Ford to the authorities had he known the former senator was benefiting financially from a TennCare contractor he asked the governor to help.

Ford is accused of accepting more than $800,000 from TennCare contractors Mequon, Wis.-based Doral Dental and Memphis-based Omnicare while promoting their interests as a lawmaker.

Bredesen, who was subpoenaed by the government, said on the second day of the trial that Ford had told him Omnicare, which had 120,000 enrollees, needed 20,000 more. The governor said he found the request ``striking'' because he had run successful managed care businesses with as few as 30,000 or 40,000 enrollees.

Melvin Everette, executive director of the TennCare... // WREC