Casada Chase

Casada Chase
Melissa Brown and Adam Friedman, Nashville Tennessean
August 24, 2022, 1:27 AM · 7 min read
Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada walks out of the Fred D Thompson Federal Building & Courthouse with his attorneys Ed Yarbrough (lt) and Jonathan Farmer (rt) after pleading not guilty to federal charges ranging from money laundering to bribery Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 in Nashville, Tenn .
Cade Cothren, former aide to former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, walks out of the Fred D Thompson Federal Building & Courthouse after pleading not guilty to federal charges ranging from money laundering to bribery Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 in Nashville, Tenn .
Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada walks out of the Fred D Thompson Federal Building & Courthouse with his attorney Ed Yarbrough (lt) after pleading not guilty to federal charges ranging from money laundering to bribery Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 in Nashville, Tenn .
Reporters follow and ask questions of House Speaker Glen Casada, right, regarding a bill during the legislative session May 1, 2019. Casada's then chief of staff, Cade Cothren, stands at left.
Outgoing House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, left, hands the gavel over to newly elected House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, on the opening day of the 111th General Assembly Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn.
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Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his onetime top aide Cade Cothren have been indicted on federal charges following a monthslong corruption investigation.
Both face charges ranging from money laundering to bribery and were arrested Tuesday morning, according to a Department of Justice spokesperson.
Casada and Cothren were brought into federal court in handcuffs and ankle chains for their initial appearance on Tuesday. They pleaded not guilty during the hearing shortly before noon.
Prosecutors allege the pair ran a shadowy political consulting firm fronted by Cothren, operating under a false identity of Matthew Phoenix, to solicit General Assembly business and siphon off kickbacks for personal gain.
The allegations are tied to former Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, who resigned and quickly pleaded guilty to a single wire fraud charge last spring under a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors.
Casada, who did not seek reelection this year, is the first current or former Tennessee Speaker of the House to be indicted in more than 100 years.
The charges mark a new low in a stunning fall for Casada, once one of the General Assembly's most powerful Republicans. He resigned the short-lived speakership in 2019 amid a texting scandal over sexually explicit and racist conversations with his former chief of staff, Cothren.
A grand jury officially indicted the pair on Monday, the Department of Justice said, on charges that could carry up to 20 years in prison.
theft from programs receiving federal funds;
bribery and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds;
conspiracy to commit money laundering
using a fictitious name to carry out a fraud;
Cothren and Casada both sat quietly in federal court Tuesday after they were escorted in by federal agents. Both men were dressed casually, with Cothren wearing athletic shorts and a T-shirt, suggesting neither were aware of their impending arrests when the FBI arrived at their homes Tuesday morning.
Casada spent much of the hearing with a downcast gaze and spoke quietly in response to the judge's questions, while Cothren frequently spoke with his lawyer.
After the initial hearing adjourned, Casada exited the courthouse flanked by his lawyers, Ed Yarbrough and Jonathan Farmer.
Cothren traded his athletic clothes for a navy blue suit before walking out of the courthouse, where a scrum of media cameras waited. He walked briskly to a waiting car while his lawyer, Cynthia Sherwood, addressed waiting reporters.
"The truth will come out," Cothren said as he entered a waiting car.
Sherwood said Cothren "looks forward to being vindicated."
In early March, federal prosecutors charged Smith with wire fraud, leading to a swift resignation and plea deal. Multiple legislators, including House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, were subpoenaed to testify at a grand jury on March 28.
Prosecutors alleged Casada, Cothren and Smith worked to set up a shadowy firm known as Phoenix Solutions, concealing its operator as Cothren engineered legislative payments into kickbacks for Smith and Casada.
In November 2019, Cothren allegedly texted Casada with a link to the firm's new website, according to text messages obtained by prosecutors.
According to court documents, Cothren texted: "but just remember that you have zero connection to it and don't even know that much other than they've done work for you and are very good."
"I like the message," Casada responded.
Initially founded to offer services to legislators facing primary challenges, Phoenix Solutions later expanded to act as a vendor for the General Assembly's mailing services program. The firm profited from taxpayer funds through the program, which gives lawmakers annual stipends for constituent mailing campaigns.
Prosecutors allege this amounted to theft from programs receiving federal funds.
Smith marketed the firm to her statehouse colleagues, lying about her connection to the firm and telling colleagues a false backstory on Matthew Phoenix, according to court documents.
Cothren later signed IRS forms as Matthew Phoenix so Phoenix Solutions would be approved as a qualified vendor for the state, prosecutors allege.
All three conspired to hide Cothren's involvement in the venture, prosecutors allege, because Cothren understood the firm would not be approved as a vendor under his name after he resigned from the General Assembly staff under a cloud of scandal.
The federal indictment released Tuesday reveals communications between Casada and Cothren discussing strategy, profits and communications with Smith, who acted as a frontperson for the business with General Assembly staff.
"I think this is starting off well I'm pleased!" Casada texted Cothren in December 2019, according to court documents.
Cothren allegedly agreed, but said, "we just have to make sure no one knows it's me involved."
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has also investigated Casada and Cothren for their connections to the Faith Family Freedom Fund PAC.
The PAC's treasurer testified in January she opened the PAC for Cothren, who was her boyfriend at the time, but she said she had no further involvement in its operations.
An unnamed girlfriend of Cothren's was also involved in Phoenix Solutions, according to Smith's charging documents. Individual 3, referred to as Cothren's girlfriend, pretended to be a fictitious Phoenix employee, fabricating an email exchanged with Cothren.
The indictment followed a swath of grand jury subpoenas sent in March to lawmakers and legislative staff, the latest development in the federal probe that spilled into public view in January 2021 when the FBI raided legislative offices and Casada's home, among others.
Among those who testified to a grand jury earlier this year were Sexton. The Department of Justice said Tuesday's charges stemmed from a Monday grand jury finding, so it is unclear if a separate grand jury was empaneled.
Sexton said in a statement Tuesday he would continue assisting authorities and testify in any trial "as needed."
“In Tennessee, we will not tolerate public corruption, defrauding our state or bribery at any level," Sexton said. "Together, our legislative body has stood strong over the past two years to take significant actions during this investigation by passing laws to strengthen campaign finance regulations and new ethics laws for elected officials and staff.
"Today is a good day for Tennesseans because we did not turn a blind eye on these criminal activities.”
State leaders from both sides of aisle also weighed in on the indictments.
“We trust the legal process and continue to hold Tennessee’s public servants to high standards of accountability,” Casey Sellers, the spokesperson for Gov. Bill Lee, said in a statement. “The Governor commends Speaker Sexton for running the House with integrity and setting the expectation that elected leaders must serve Tennesseans in good faith.”
House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, said the indictments “reflected poorly on the entire legislature.”
“We are elected to serve the public and when that trust is broken, it’s very disheartening and erodes the confidence that our constituents have in government,” Camper said in a statement. “This does however, highlight how badly campaign finance reform continues to be needed and that bi-partisan legislation already passed needs to go much farther.”
Casada's political career began on the Williamson County Commission in 1994. He would serve on the commission until he was elected Franklin's state representative in a special election in 2001.
He won the Williamson-based seat, vowing to fight the state's income tax, a highly contentious issue at the time.
While in the House, Casada worked his way up through party leadership. In 2004, he was elected the Republican whip. Then in 2007, he was elected chairman of the caucus, a position he would hold until 2010 and from 2013 to 2016.
Casada challenged then Rep. Beth Harwell for the speakership in 2011, but lost. He was chosen as the party's majority leader in 2017.
When Harwell chose to run for governor in 2018, the door reopened for Casada to become speaker in 2019.
During his time as speaker, Casada's most notable achievement was pushing through Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher plan.
The bill only passed after Casada made a deal with a House member to remove his county from the legislation. The move broke a deadlock, which would have seen the bill fail.
Casada claimed the distinction of being the one of the shortest serving speakers in Tennessee when he resigned from the position in August 2019 in a different scandal involving Cothren.
After announcing he would leave the General Assembly at the end of 2022, Casada launched a failed bid for Williamson County Clerk, losing the Republican primary by a wide margin.
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Casada was born on January 16, 1989 in Coral Springs, Florida, USA. She is an actress.
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1989

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Coral Springs, Florida, USA

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