Governor ‘glad’ to meet with woman who accused lawmaker

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says it took “a lot of courage” for a woman to meet with him about her accusations of sexual misconduct against a state lawmaker.

The Republican told reporters Tuesday he was glad to meet Christi Rice and hear her story, declining to discuss specifics of the meeting.

Rice and another woman have accused Republican Rep. David Byrd of inappropriately touching them as their high school basketball coach three decades ago. A third said he tried to.

Byrd has refused calls to resign and has been appointed to a House subcommittee chairmanship.

Lee said he hasn’t met with Byrd about the allegations and hasn’t made plans to.

TheAssociated Press generally doesn’t identifypeople who say they have faced sexual misconductunless they agree to beidentified.

Jonathan Mattise, The Associated Press

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