Casada flipped story about knowledge of Phoenix Solutions 

Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada admitted to knowing his former top aide was behind a secretly-run political vendor after being told it was a federal crime to lie to the FBI.

When FBI agents raided his Franklin home on Jan. 8, 2021 in a prelude to a federal indictment on fraud and kickback charges, Casada initially told FBI agents he didn’t think his ex-chief of staff, Cade Cothren, ran Phoenix Solutions.

“Maybe he does something for them. That’s just my opinion,” Casada said on the audiotape prosecutors played as the corruption trial entered its third week in Nashville’s federal court.

But after FBI agent Austin Barger notified him it was illegal to lie to federal agents, Casada changed his story.

“Yes, I knew Phoenix Solutions was Cade, and I knew the state didn’t know it was Cade,” Casada said on the audiotape.

Testimony last week from former Rep. Robin Smith of Hixson, who pleaded guilty in the case and cooperated with federal authorities, showed she, Casada and Cothren met at an upscale Nashville bar in late 2019 and came up with the plan to make money on House constituent mailers and campaign and Republican Caucus work through Phoenix Solutions, which Cothren would operate. She described the postage and printing program for House members as “low-hanging fruit.”

Casada told FBI agents he and Smith recruited business from House members and turned it over to Cothren, who had resigned from his chief of staff post in spring of 2019 in the midst of a racist and sexist texting scandal. Casada stepped down from the House speakership in August that year after a no-confidence vote by the House Republican Caucus.

Casada also admitted to FBI agents that Cothren couldn’t deal directly with House members. Lawmakers such as former Rep. Patsy Hazlewood and Republican Rep. Jay Reedy of Erin testified early in the trial they wouldn’t have done business with Phoenix Solutions if they’d known Cothren was running it.

Early in his interview with federal agents, Casada also said he had only “heard of Phoenix Solutions,” but then acknowledged the company did some of his constituent mailers and told the agents, “My brain’s not working this morning.”

His story continued to shift during the interview, as he said Phoenix Solutions “may be something Cade’s doing,” then added he didn’t know who was behind the vendor and didn’t know Matthew Phoenix, the bogus name for the company’s owner. 

Numerous documents introduced in court showed Cothren was owner of the New Mexico-based company. The defense has acknowledged that Cothren ran the company.

In addition, Casada told agents that morning he would collect a check from the state for constituent mailer work done for lawmakers and send it to Phoenix Solutions, which would write a check back to him as his commission. Casada and Smith made 25% each, and Cothren collected 30%, with the rest of the money going back into the company, according to previous testimony.

Federal prosecutors last week introduced evidence showing how the money flowed in the alleged money laundering scheme.

Reviving the 2019 voucher vote

When FBI agents raided Cothren’s Nashville home in January 2021, he told them he might have done things differently in looking back on his seven years working in the Tennessee Legislature.

“I lied for members up there for years,” to cover up their actions, Cothren said on the audiotape.

Yet he said “hard work” helped pass Gov. Bill Lee’s first voucher program that provides funds to low-income students in Metro Nashville, Memphis and Chattanooga to enroll in private schools. Cothren said he never offered anything for lawmakers’ campaigns to encourage them to vote for the bill, only projects for their districts.

Casada held the vote board open for 45 minutes that April day after a tie roiled the House. He and Cothren worked the chamber for one more vote and eventually passed the measure when Republican Rep. Jason Zachary of Knoxville agreed to vote for it as long as Knox County Schools was removed as a voucher district.

Former Democratic Rep. John Mark Windle has said he was offered a promotion to general in the National Guard in return for his vote. Casada has denied making the offer, though one lawmaker, former Rep. Kent Calfee, said he heard Casada say on the House balcony he was going to call the governor’s office to see if he could get Windle a promotion from colonel.

Cothren told FBI agents it came from a person in another office “who had no business having a conversation like that,” not from him or Casada. Cothren also termed it as “very innocent.” He declined to identify the individual.

“It was a stupid conversation that never should have taken place,” Cothren said on the recording.