Judge Allows Subpoena Of Speaker Sexton’s Phone Records In Cothren Case
Photo: Cade Cothren, ex-chief of staff to former House Speaker Glen Casada, leaving Nashville’s federal courthouse on August 23 after being arraigned on federal charges. Photo Credit: Holly McCall
By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
A federal judge is allowing the phone records of House Speaker Cameron Sexton to be subpoenaed at the request of indicted former House staffer Cade Cothren.
U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson granted Cothren’s request to seek records from Verizon Communications and Confide Inc., an encrypted message service, in advance of an October political corruption trial for Cothren and his former boss, ex-House Speaker Glen Casada.
Federal prosecutors did not object to the request of Cothren, who claims the records will show he was a confidante of Sexton’s when he sought the House Speaker’s post in 2019 and into 2020 following Casada’s resignation amid a racist and sexist texting scandal.
Cothren claims the records will show numerous communications between him and Sexton when he worked on the Crossville Republican’s speakership campaign before being ditched.
Phoenix Solutions, the New Mexico-based company Cothren allegedly ran, was paid nearly $52,000 to do constituent mailer work for House Republican and made more than $200,000 off members, including the House Republican Caucus.
The federal indictment accuses Cothren of giving kickbacks to Casada and former Rep. Robin Smith in return for directing House Republican business to Phoenix Solutions, which he secretly ran. Smith resigned in 2022 after pleading guilty in the case and is cooperating with prosecutors.
About the Author: Sam Stockard is a veteran Tennessee reporter and editor, having written for the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, where he served as lead editor when the paper won an award for being the state’s best Sunday newspaper two years in a row. He has led the Capitol Hill bureau for The Daily Memphian. His awards include Best Single Editorial from the Tennessee Press Association. Follow Stockard on Twitter @StockardSam
