Trump Pardons Tennessee Politician of Corruption

Former state House speaker Glen Casada was due to report to prison later this month
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 7, 2025 7:39 AM CST
Former Tennessee Speaker Gets a Pardon From Trump
Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada arrives at the federal courthouse in Nashville on May 9, 2025.   (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

President Trump has pardoned a former Tennessee House speaker and a onetime aide of public corruption charges. Republican former state Rep. Glen Casada was sentenced in September to three years in prison, and Casada's former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, was also convicted and received a 2.5-year prison sentence. Both men were due to report to prison later this month. A White House official said Thursday night that Trump approved the pardons because the Department of Justice under former President Biden "significantly over-prosecuted these individuals for a minor issue," the AP reports.

  • The case centered on their actions after both had been driven from their leadership roles and were accused of running a scheme to win taxpayer-funded mail business from lawmakers.

  • According to prosecutors, Cothren launched a company called Phoenix Solutions, with the knowledge and support of Casada and then-Rep. Robin Smith. The three claimed the company was run by "Matthew Phoenix," later determined to be fictitious. The company controlled by Casada and Smith received roughly $52,000 in taxpayer money in 2020 from a mailer program for lawmakers.
  • A "Matthew Phoenix" signature ended up on an IRS tax document. A purported associate of that fictitious person was portrayed by Casada's then-girlfriend, prosecutors said.
  • That all followed Casada having resigned as speaker in 2019 after a no-confidence vote by fellow Republicans due to swirling scandals—including revelations that he exchanged sexually explicit text messages about women with Cothren years ago. Cothren also left his post over those texts and racist texts, coupled with an admission that he used cocaine inside a legislative office building during a previous job.

  • The White House official who spoke to the AP said the case involved constituent mailers, which were billed at competitive prices, and that the case was brought despite prosecutors not having received a complaint from legislators.
  • Smith, a Republican who turned informant for the FBI when the scheme was exposed, was sentenced to eight months in prison. A source tells the Nashville Banner that she isn't expected to receive a pardon from Trump.
  • Trump's moves for Casada and Cothren follow his previous pardon of Democratic former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose promising political career was upended by a corruption scandal and two federal prison stints.
  • Trump also pardoned another corrupt Tennessee politician earlier this year, the Tennessean reports. He pardoned Brian Kelsey, a Republican former state senator, two weeks after Kelsey began a 21-month sentence for a campaign finance conspiracy conviction.

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