Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton told Knoxville 10 News that he doesn’t think former Rep. Glen Casada and his aide, Cade Cothren, should have received a presidential pardon.
President Donald Trump pardoned the two men on Nov. 7. He said the Biden administration Justice Department “significantly over-prosecuted” both for a minor issue. Sexton noted that Trump’s FBI and the Department of Justice initiated the investigation and decided to prosecute.
“Well, look, that’s the president’s decision,” Sexton told 10News. “Look, I don’t think they should have been pardoned. It’s not my decision. They were found guilty, you know, the Trump FBI started an investigation. In March, Trump’s DOJ decided to proceed with the prosecution. That was their decision based on the evidence. And then you had a Trump judge who presided over the case in Nashville.”
Sexton said Tennessee officials will continue to address public corruption.
“We’re going to continue to make sure that if there’s public corruption, we’re going to get rid of it,” Sexton said. “If the president wants to pardon him afterwards or someone else wants to pardon him afterwards, so be it. But we’re going to continue to address it. We’re not going to turn a blind eye to it.”
In May, a jury found Casada guilty of 17 of 19 charges, and Cothren was found guilty of all 19 counts in a public corruption trial that began in late April. In September, Casada was sentenced to 3 years in prison, and Cothren received a 2 1/2 year sentence. Cothren was expected to report to prison on Nov. 17. Casada was supposed to report to prison on Nov. 21. Both have appealed their convictions, and the Federal Judge was considering whether to allow them to remain free pending their appeals.
Cothren has responded to Sexton’s comments with a Facebook post by promising to respond “soon.”
Steve Gill is the Publisher and editor of TriStar Daily.
