Trump pardons former Tennessee House speaker convicted of corruption

President Donald Trump on Thursday formally pardoned former Tennessee House Speaker Glenn Casada (R) and his former chief of staff Cade Cothren, who were convicted on federal corruption charges. 

The men were sentenced to prison, three years for Casada and two and a half years for Cothren, earlier this year, after they were convicted of running a scheme to win taxpayer-funded mail business from lawmakers, the Associated Press reported.

The two men allegedly created a business called Phoenix Solutions, which was supposedly run by a fictitious man named "Matthew Phoenix," that offered mail and consulting services to lawmakers. 

The fraudulent company, which was also run and promoted by Casada and then-Rep. Robin Smith, received roughly $52,000 in taxpayer money in 2020 for the mail program. Smith accepted a plea deal in the case.

A White House official told the Associated Press that the men were pardoned because the Biden Justice Department “significantly over-prosecuted” both for a "minor issue." The case was supposedly brought despite a lack of complaints from state lawmakers. The official also claimed it resulted in a less than $5,000 profit.

The case also came after Casada resigned his post as state House speaker in 2019 because of a different scandal related to controversial racist and sexist text messages, which also included Cothren.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.