Tennessee State House of Representatives Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), and House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) all reacted to the news that former Speaker of the Tennessee House Glen Casada and his former chief of staff Cade Cothren were indicted by a federal grand jury on Monday and arrested early Tuesday morning by the FBI by issuing public statements.
Sexton said on Tuesday that Tennessee will not “tolerate public corruption, defrauding our state, or bribery at any level.”
“I commend the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its hard work, diligence, and dedication that resulted in this morning’s arrests,” he said.
“As I have previously stated on several occasions, shortly after becoming Speaker in 2019, I began assisting the federal authorities during and throughout their investigation — including leading up to today’s indictments — and I will continue to do so if a trial is needed,” Sexton continued.
“Together, our legislative body has stood strong over the past two years to take significant actions during this investigation by passing laws to strengthen campaign finance regulations and new ethics laws for elected officials and staff,” he said.
Sexton said Tuesday was a “good day for Tennesseans” because the state doesn’t “turn a blind eye on these criminal activities.”
Lamberth and Faison issued a joint statement on Tuesday.
“The illegal behavior outlined in today’s indictments is extremely serious, and disappointing to our entire caucus. We appreciate Speaker Sexton’s leadership on this situation, as well as the efforts of our House leadership team in bringing these crimes to light. We also stand with federal law enforcement and are grateful for their efforts to hold those responsible for these crimes accountable. Now, we can all move forward and continue focusing on meeting the needs of citizens across Tennessee,” they said.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that Casada and Cothren were charged with conspiracy to commit the following offenses: “theft from programs receiving federal funds; bribery and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds; honest services wire fraud; and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
The indictment consists of 20 counts and “also charges Casada and Cothren with using a fictitious name to carry out fraud; theft concerning programs receiving federal funds; eight counts of money laundering; six counts of honest services wire fraud; and two counts of bribery and kickbacks.”
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
Photo “Cameron Sexton” by Speaker Cameron Sexton. Photo “Jeremy Faison” by Ncrawford604. CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo “William Lamberth” by William Lamberth. Background Photo “Federal Bureau of Investigation” by cisko66. CC BY 3.0.
