NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Hixson state lawmaker Robin Smith has yet to testify at the Nashville corruption trial of a former House speaker and his longtime aide.
But her actions were the focus of prosecution witness testimony on Friday.
Former Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff Cade Cothren both face 20 charges, including bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and theft, all tied to an alleged kickback scheme involving a fake mailer company known as ‘Phoenix Solutions.’
Rep. Smith has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud, and has agreed to be a cooperating witness for the prosecution in exchange for a more lenient sentence.
We were in the courtroom for the trial’s fourth day on Friday.
The prosecution had been hoping to call several big-name witnesses, including current House Speaker Cameron Sexton as well as Smith.
But only one witness took the stand: Tennessee General Assembly Director of Legislative Administration Connie Ridley.
A lot of Friday’s testimony focused on emails between Ridley and Smith.
Ridley said Smith showed an unusual sense of urgency, pushing for quick payments to “Matthew Phoenix” at Phoenix Solutions. Prosecutors say that name was an alias that Cade Cothren used.
When new vendor rules went into effect, Ridley said Smith pushed back hard, which she said raised red flags for her.
Ridley also testified that she would not have approved Phoenix Solutions as a vendor had she known it was tied to Cade Cothren because it would be a “poor reflection on the State of Tennessee.”
When asked by prosecutors how she found out who was behind Phoenix Solutions, Ridley said she requested copies of cancelled checks to see who signed them for deposit.
Prosecutors then asked “Whose signature was on those checks?”
Ridley responded “Cade Cothren.”
Ridley told the court that while she’s no handwriting expert, the signature on the check matched the signature on Cothren’s original hiring paperwork.
Prosecutors then asked “Why would you not have approved Phoenix Solutions as a state vendor if you had known Cothren was involved?”
Ridley responded “I did not have confidence in his judgment and decision-making.”
Ridley explained she felt this way due to a 2019 scandal where Cothren sent racist and sexist text messages, which ultimately led to his resignation.
Prosecutors say due to the lengthy questioning, it’s unclear whether we’ll hear from any other witnesses before court adjourns for the weekend.
Depend on us to keep you posted as this trial progresses.
