Cothren says records would show he consulted for Sexton on speaker’s bid in 2019

Cade Cothren, a former top aide to then-House Speaker Glen Casada, claims in a motion filed in federal court Thursday evening that he was a close confidant to current Speaker Cameron Sexton when the chamber’s top leadership position opened up. Cothren also says Sexton was actively trying to help Cothren get a job as a lobbyist. The motion says Sexton’s behavior contrasts with is statements to federal prosecutors that he didn’t want anything to do with Cothren after the latter was forced out of his House job following a text messaging scandal and revelations he took drugs in his legislative office.

Cothren and Casada are facing federal public corruption charges related to the operation of a mysterious political called Phoenix Solutions. The trial is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Here’s an excerpt from the filing seeking an order for Verizon to turn over Sexton’s phone records:

After his resignation, Mr. Cothren remained heavily engaged with Speaker Sexton, who relied on Mr. Cothren’s expertise, especially during the 2019 special session race for the next Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives after former Speaker Glen Casada’s resignation.

Mr. Cothren was one of then-Representative Sexton’s most consistent confidants during his race for Speaker. The requested telephone and messaging records should show hundreds of telephone calls and corresponding messages between Mr. Cothren and Speaker Sexton during that critical time period and beyond.

The records from [encrypted messaging service] Confide, specifically, will show that Speaker Sexton was also regularly communicating with Mr. Cothren and other state employees on the encrypted messaging application during the relevant time period in the Indictment.

Additionally, the requested records will show that Speaker Sexton was actively reaching out to state officials, state employees, as well as third-parties in an attempt to secure Mr. Cothren a job as a lobbyist as well as other opportunities. These communications are integral to Mr. Cothren’s defense in this matter because the government’s case appears to rely—heavily—on its theory that Mr. Cothren’s reputation was so tarnished after his resignation that Speaker Sexton was adamantly opposed to associating or working with him at all, even on administrative matters.