NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee Republican lawmaker resigned Monday shortly after court documents were unsealed revealing that she faces a federal wire fraud charge involving a disgraced former state House speaker.
The legal team for Rep. Robin Smith also has reached a plea deal with prosecutors, court documents show. A plea hearing for the lawmaker from Hixson is scheduled for Tuesday.
The charging document alleges that Smith worked closely with former House Speaker Glen Casada and his then-chief of staff, Cade Cothren, through a political consulting firm that they used to funnel money to themselves while concealing their involvement in it. Casada and Cothren are described but not named in the document.
Smith “devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and deprive the citizens of the Middle District of Tennessee and the government of Tennessee of their right to the honest services of a public official," prosecutors said.
Casada resigned from the top leadership post in August 2019 after revelations he exchanged sexually explicit text messages about women with Cothren years ago. In January 2021, FBI agents searched the homes and offices of several state lawmakers, including those of Casada, Smith and Cothren's home. At the time, federal investigators declined to give a reason for the searches. To date, no charges against Cothren or Casada have been announced.
However, the revelation of Monday's documents appears to give more insight of the raid. The documents state Cothren launched a political consulting firm called Phoenix Solutions, LLC that was designed to offer mail and consulting services to lawmakers in 2019 with Smith's and Casada's “knowledge and support." All three claimed the firm was run by “Matthew Phoenix” when in fact it was...
