Trump pardons Tennessee Republican convicted of federal public corruption charges | Donald Trump
Donald Trump pardoned the former Tennessee House speaker and onetime aide on public corruption charges after the White House said the Biden administration justice department “significantly overprosecuted” both minor issues.
Glen Casada, a former Republican state representative, was sentenced to three years in prison in September, and his former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, was also convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. The case focused on their actions after both were ousted from leadership roles and accused of running a scheme to win the taxpayer-funded postal business from MPs.
The moves continued a pattern of Trump, a Republican, using his second presidency to grant unexpected pardons to political allies, prominent public figures and others accused of defrauding the public.
Many of the pardons he granted targeted criminal cases that had once been touted as fair by the justice department. They also come amid ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to erode barriers to public integrity, including the firing of the department’s pardon attorney and the near elimination of an investigative unit established to hold public officials accountable for abusing the public trust.
According to prosecutors, Cothren formed a company called Phoenix Solutions with the knowledge and support of Casada and then-agent Robin Smith. The three claimed that the company was run by “Matthew Phoenix”, who was later determined to be fictitious. Companies controlled by Casada and Smith received nearly $52,000 from taxpayers in 2020 from a mailing program aimed at lawmakers.
An IRS tax document was signed “Matthew Phoenix.” Prosecutors said this fictitious person’s alleged partner was played by Casada’s then-girlfriend.
All of this came after Casada resigned from the presidency in 2019 following a vote of no confidence by his fellow Republicans amid swirling scandals, including revelations that he had exchanged sexually explicit text messages about women with Cothren years ago.
Cothren also resigned over these texts and racist texts, after he admitted to using cocaine in the legislative office building during a previous job.
A White House official said Thursday night that Trump approved the pardons for Casada and Cothren because the justice department under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, “subject to significant overprosecution of these individuals for a minor issue.”
The official spoke on background to discuss a pardon that has not yet been made public, but said the case against Casada and Cothren involved voter mailers billed at competitive rates and that the case was filed even though prosecutors had not received a complaint from lawmakers.
The scheme also resulted in a loss of less than $5,000 in net profit, the official said, noting that the case involved an armed raid, a criminal march and the potential for long prison sentences; these are generally better suited for federal cases involving fraud worth millions of dollars.
Trump’s moves for Casada and Cothren come after the Democratic Party pardoned former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and Republican former Connecticut governor John Rowland, whose promising political career was dashed by a corruption scandal and two federal prison sentences.
Trump also pardoned New York Republican Assemblyman Michael Grimm, who resigned after being convicted of tax evasion and threatened to throw a reporter off a Capitol balcony because of a question he didn’t like. The president also pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of defrauding banks and tax evasion.
