Judge Sets Thursday Deadline On State To Answer Subpoena In Cothren Case

Photo: Cade Cothren, former chief of staff to ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, leaving the federal courthouse in Nashville following his arraignment on conspiracy charges. Photo Credit: John Partipilo

By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –

U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson set a Thursday deadline for federal prosecutors to respond to the defense’s request for a pre-trial subpoena of House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s communication records in the corruption case against former chief of staff Cade Cothren, court records show.

Cothren, who is under indictment on bribery and kickback charges, claims he helped Sexton win the speakership in 2019 before being paid tens of thousand of dollars through a shadowy campaign vendor.

The former staffer for ex-Speaker Glen Casada, who left his post early that year amid a racist and sexist texting scandal, filed a request in federal court seeking to subpoena records from Verizon Communications and Confide Inc., an encrypted message service, to show numerous communications between him and Sexton during 2019 and 2020 when he says he was a confidante of the Crossville Republican and worked on his 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 Republicans and made more than $200,000 off members, including the caucus itself.

Sexton replaced Casada as speaker after he resigned amid the scandal involving Cothren and complaints about heavy-handed leadership.

Cothren has maintained “the truth” will come out but has declined to be interviewed by the Tennessee Lookout.