Stockard on the Stump: Tennessee corruption trial drags into 20th day

What a letdown.

For more than three years, Tennessee reporters heard how they would “learn the truth” about how former House staffer Cade Cothren got the raw end of a deal when he was indicted on political corruption charges.

But when Cothren refused to testify on his own behalf and neither the defense nor the prosecution called House Speaker Cameron Sexton to the stand, we all went home wondering why we hadn’t heard the truth and, worse, why we spent hours covering this debacle of a trial. It’s not yielding much new information.

Jurors also had to be wondering why they gave up their lives for a month to sit through umpteen bench conferences and try to figure out whether Cothren and former House Speaker Glen Casada broke the law by keeping Phoenix Solutions’ operations secret to make $52,000, likely a pittance compared to the amount of money paid to defense attorneys and spent by the federal government to investigate and try this case.

This is a cautionary tale for those making $200,000 a year and suddenly losing it, as was Cothren’s case.

Cothren’s story was that he helped Sexton ascend to the speakership in late 2019 because he still had some pull with supporters of Casada, who stepped down from the speakership that August after a no-confidence vote. He requested the phone log he claims showed he was in constant communication with Sexton in 2019 before getting kicked to the curb. Meanwhile, Sexton cooperated with the FBI and was expected to be a star witness for the prosecution, while also being subpoenaed by the defense.

Court filing: Sexton likely wore a wire for federal investigators

He came out unscathed amid speculation fueled by defense attorneys that he or someone in his office wore a wire and recorded conversations with lawmakers. If so, the prosecution didn’t use them.

The defense didn’t call any witnesses, either, even though it subpoenaed half of the legislature to testify. The move raised questions about whether those in Casada’s camp wanted to be hammered by prosecutors, especially since most received chairmanships to back his ascension to the throne.

As the trial crawled into its 19th day Thursday, jurors in their third day of deliberation pored over dozens of pages of instructions and grew more confused by the minute, evidenced by questions they asked the court about how to apply the rules to 19 counts of fraud, bribery, kickbacks and conspiracy, creating more potential for confusion.

The judge and attorneys acknowledged they didn’t understand the jury’s Thursday question, thus were uncertain about how to answer it. The back-and-forth didn’t exactly engender confidence in the legal system.

In short, the court asked jurors to slide a camel through the eye of a needle, which someone said is as hard as it is for a rich man to give up all earthly possessions and follow Jesus.

“Is there anyone home?”

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance dismissed a “collusion” complaint this week against Republican Sen. Bobby Harshbarger’s 2024 campaign in upper East Tennessee.

Sen. Ken Yager, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, asked for the dismissal after filing the complaint last year claiming the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC and Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger’s campaign illegally coordinated to support her son’s effort when he defeated incumbent Sen. Jon Lundberg of Bristol.

Apparently, all is forgiven.

Registry members Tom Lawless and Paige Burcham Dennis said last October the Registry should subpoena Thomas Datwyler, treasurer for the PAC and the congresswoman’s campaign, to answer questions and provide financial information after two groups poured $600,000 worth of dark money into the Republican primary. 

The Registry sent out the demand, but the whole thing turned out to be a tempest in a teapot, when the Attorney General’s Office gave a half-hearted report on the matter and the Registry failed to hunt down the Wisconsin-based Datwyler to testify.

“It’s just one of those where nobody was here to prosecute it,” Lawless said at Tuesday’s Registry board meeting. He added that Yager’s request made the difference.

The Registry is seeking more funding from the legislature to add auditors and investigators, since the AG’s Office glossed over the matter and sent a message that it can’t be called on constantly to do the Registry’s legal work. But getting extra money from the legislature will be difficult, especially when the Registry’s job is to police it.

Staving off pain

Tennessee is set to resume executions May 22, after Gov. Bill Lee called for a hiatus because of questions about the protocol for drugs used to kill people.

A group of death row prisoners filed a challenge in Davidson County Chancery Court to the state’s request for a protective order to keep secret information about lethal injection chemicals and qualifications and training of executioners. 

Suddenly things are moving rapidly because Oscar Franklin Smith, 75, is set to die next week by lethal injection for the 1989 murders of his estranged wife and her two sons. The execution date comes three years after his death was postponed when Gov. Bill Lee ordered a halt because prison staff failed to test lethal injection drugs properly to see if they were contaminated.

They say the state is purposely using drugs with the risk of being “adulterated and lacking in potency, and which will very likely cause superadded pain and suffering.”

Tennessee is planning to use manufactured pentobarbital for the executions, a point the inmates say is significant because no commercial manufacturer will sell the drug to departments of correction for executions.

Bill to allow public access to lethal injection records on the rocks after state lobbies against it

Their attorney, Kelley Henry, said if the Department of Correction were buying execution chemicals from “legitimate” suppliers and ensuring purity and potency and using properly trained personnel to handle executions, the state wouldn’t need “a veil of secrecy.”

“This means that the pentobarbital Tennessee has acquired was obtained on the gray market,” which is “inherently risky,” according to the inmates’ release.

A trial is set for Jan. 12, 2026 because the state said it couldn’t be ready sooner.

But the governor doesn’t appear ready to postpone the Smith execution again.

According to spokesperson Elizabeth Johnson, “As Gov. Lee has said, he believes the death penalty is a serious matter and an appropriate punishment for the most heinous crimes; it’s why he instructed the Tennessee Department of Correction to conduct a thorough review of the lethal injection protocol to leave no question that lawful and effective procedures are followed. The governor thoroughly reviews each case and has full confidence in the Department’s ability to oversee this process in compliance with the revised protocol.”

We’re glad someone has confidence in the Department of Correction.

“When she squeezed me tight …”

The ACLU of Tennessee and Holland & Associates are challenging the state’s refusal to issue driver’s licenses and state ID documents to transgender residents reflecting their gender change.

“Our clients need accurate identification documents in order to travel for work and family, to vote, and to engage in everyday life like everyone else. Forcing them to carry identification that contradicts who they are — or else withholding that identification altogether — is cruel, unfair and unlawful,” ACLU-TN senior attorney Lucas Cameron-Vaughn said in a statement.

Two unnamed transgender women claim their lives have been disrupted, putting them at risk for more discrimination, harassment and possible violence.

One of the women said the Department of Safety and Homeland Security ordered her to surrender her license or have her driving privileges revoked. A Davidson County judge stopped that move.

It’s not clear why the legislature and state are so concerned about people’s sexual preferences, other than to maintain a constant barrage of culture skirmishes.

Consider this question: Does transgender status affect a person’s ability to drive a car? Probably not.

The state should be more concerned about those yahoos driving motorcycles 150 mph and scaring the crap out of everybody on the road. 

But in their infinite wisdom they’re putting more resources into deporting immigrants, forcing businesses to shut down and cracking down on transgender folks. And for what?

Recycled governor

Proving that you’re never too old to go to the office, former Gov. Bill Haslam is set to start serving on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, thanks to an appointment by House Speaker Sexton.

The Haslam family name is all over the UT system, mainly the Knoxville campus, so this isn’t exactly shocking. 

Sexton cited Haslam’s role in starting the Tennessee Promise for community colleges and technical schools and the Drive to 55, whose goal is for 55% of Tennesseans to hold some sort of education certificate or degree.

Don’t confuse that with Sammy Haggar’s “I Can’t Drive 55,” because nobody’s doing it unless police officers are standing on the side of the road with a radar detector.

The bigger question is whether Haslam will encourage UT President Randy Boyd to run for governor again or at least to buck President Trump and re-up the DEI program.

Glen who?

In case some folks wonder if the people of the great state of Tennessee, from Mountain City to Memphis, remember Glen Casada, let it be known at least one person does. That’s based on the F-bomb a motorist dropped on the former lawmaker when he walked up to the federal courthouse one afternoon last week.

Welcome home, Mr. Speaker. 

“Gone, gone, the damage done.” *

* “The Needle and The Damage Done,” Neil Young