Sam Stockard, Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee Republican sentenced to 30 months in prison for 'intricate' money laundering

A former House staffer was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine for his role in a kickback scheme using the state’s constituent mailer program.

Cade Cothren, who resigned as chief of staff to former Speaker Glen Casada in 2019, will also be required to remain on probation for one year after serving his time in federal prison. Attorneys for Cothren said they would appeal the convictions from a four-week jury trial in April and May.

Casada’s sentencing hearing was postponed until Sept. 23 because of the length of time it took to go through Cothren’s sentencing Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson meted out the punishment after wading through a litany of objections Tuesday by the defense as federal prosecutors sought a stiffer punishment.

Former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, ex-aide, guilty in federal corruption case

Casada and Cothren were convicted of setting up a secret company called Phoenix Solutions that tapped into the state’s postage and printing program that provides House members $3,000 a year for constituent mailers. Casada and former Rep. Robin Smith, who pleaded guilty and testified against the pair, steered lawmakers’ business to Phoenix Solutions, which was secretly run by Cothren with the front name of “Matthew Phoenix.”

Richardson found that the sentencing wouldn’t involve $158,000 the trio made from work for the House Republican Caucus and campaigns for individual lawmakers. The judge, though, determined that Cothren used “intricate” money laundering in an effort to cover up the trio’s scheme.

Testimony in the trial showed that Cothren couldn’t be connected to the company because other lawmakers wouldn’t want to do business with him after he resigned from his legislative post over a racist and sexist texting scandal.

Casada later resigned from the House speakership when the Republican held a no-confidence vote based on the texting scandal, heavy-handed leadership and power moves such as creation of a “bill kill” list.

'Idiots': How a TN Republican's complaints about 'the Left’s violence' could backfire

Reeling from a federal campaign finance investigation, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles landed approval for a legal expense trust fund to pay nearly $120,500 he owes four law firms, documents show.

Ogles, a Maury County Republican who dodged a criminal investigation into his finances, sent a letter to House Committee on Ethics chairs in October 2024 requesting permission to set up the trust fund to pay legal expenses connected to the probe of reporting errors in his Federal Election Commission and financial disclosure reports, according to records obtained by the Lookout.

James Appel of GOP Compliance LLC will serve as trustee of the fund, which cannot take donations from lobbyists or foreign agents, documents show. Appel reported to ethics leaders he’s had no connection to Ogles for two years, which is a requirement to take the job.

“I understand that I will be bound by the Committee’s Legal Expense Fund Regulations, effective May 1, 2024, and that while the Trustee will oversee the Trust, I bear ultimate responsibility for the proper administration of the Trust,” Ogles said in his letter.

A spokesperson for Ogles did not return email questions Thursday.

The committee approved the request in December 2024 for Ogles to pay $75,000 in legal fees, before he incurred $50,000 more in legal expenses this year. Chairs Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican, and Mark DeSaulnier, a California Democrat, signed the letter notifying him of the requirements for setting up such a trust, including the filing of quarterly reports.

U.S. House ethics board calls for more investigation of Tennessee 5th District congressman

Ogles owes the money for legal representation from October 2024 through June 2025 after an Ethics Committee panel started looking into discrepancies in his campaign finance reporting. It found he likely violated federal campaign finance laws, mainly by reporting an inflated personal loan to make his bid for office look stronger in 2022.

Running in Tennessee’s redrawn 5th Congressional District, which state lawmakers gerrymandered to help Republicans to take over the Democratic stronghold of Nashville, Ogles in 2022 reported receiving a $320,000 personal loan for his campaign. Ogles initially said he raised $450,000 for the race, yet his first FEC report showed he brought in only $250,000.

Ogles amended campaign finance reports in May 2024 and acknowledged making a $20,000 loan to his campaign and saying the additional $300,000 was in a joint account he shared with his wife. Still, he and his campaign manager couldn’t confirm the source of the $20,000.

The ethics board voted 6-0 to call for a closer look at Ogles’ finances because “there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Ogles omitted or misrepresented required information in his finance disclosure statements or FEC candidate committee reports.”

Despite the congressional investigation, U.S. prosecutors dropped a fraud probe of Ogles after he filed legislation this year to allow President Donald Trump to serve three terms.

Federal election officials threaten Ogles with campaign finance audit or enforcement – again

Before his problematic financial reporting, Ogles inflated his resume, reports show, including claiming to have a degree from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management when he obtained only a certificate for a weekend seminar.

In his second term, the former Tennessee director of Americans for Prosperity recently went after Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell for his opposition to a federal sweep of South Nashville for immigrants. Ogles also called for an investigation into Belmont University for allegedly enrolling students without permanent legal documentation of citizenship and disguising its diversity and equity program.

Based on his fundraising this year, Ogles clearly needs financial help to pay his attorneys.

He has a little more than $59,000 in his campaign account, according to FEC reports, a paltry sum for a sitting member of Congress.

If he can’t bring in any more than that to boost his re-election campaign for 2026, it’s going to be tough to find enough donors to fill up his legal defense trust fund. That is, unless Trump keeps him afloat with some of the $240 million his organizations such as the new super PAC, MAGA Inc., collected to back his agenda, which usually means keeping supporters at his beck and call.

No need to change execution protocol

Gov. Bill Lee won’t look into the execution of Byron Black to determine whether he suffered terribly in the moments before his recent death.

Asked by an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the deadly moment in which Black gasped, moved his head and said it “hurts so bad,” Lee said he sees no need for more review. He explained that the state already went through a “long process” on execution protocol after he suspended the death penalty for two years. The guidelines, which involve the use of pentobarbital to put inmates such as Black to death, were approved by the federal and state Supreme Courts, he said.

While this eliminates one of the possible causes of the reason that Mr. Black lifted his head, groaned, and cried out in pain after the execution began, it leaves many questions unanswered.

– Kelley Henry, attorney for Byron Black

“There’s been an exhaustive review of that process, and that was the process utilized, so I’m not expecting further investigation of that,” Lee said.

Black was on death row for 35 years for the 1988 murders of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two children. His attorneys tried to stop the execution, claiming he was mentally incompetent and arguing that the Supreme Court should review the case to decide whether he should be executed without deactivating an implanted defibrillator, that could keep him alive even as drugs were administered, violating a constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Black’s attorney, Kelley Henry, sent out a statement afterward saying the initial evaluation of his defibrillator showed it didn’t shock him during the execution.

“While this eliminates one of the possible causes of the reason that Mr. Black lifted his head, groaned, and cried out in pain after the execution began, it leaves many questions unanswered,” Henry said.

An autopsy report could take eight to 12 weeks, and Henry said more information will be sought to figure out what went wrong.

“But make no mistake, we all saw with our own eyes that the pentobarbital did not work like the state’s expert testified that it would,” Henry said. “Mr. Black suffered.”

Complaint could backfire

Tennessee’s Ethics Commission could take action against Memphis area residents after dismissing their sworn complaint against Sen. Brent Taylor for critical remarks he made against participants of a “No Kings” rally there.

Commission members and state ethics director Bill Young raised questions this week about whether the residents tried to “weaponize” the process to go after Taylor, a Shelby County Republican who blasted people who rallied against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in June, calling them “idiots” and warning the police would arrest them for an illegal protest. Taylor spoke on a Memphis radio station and then posted comments on the X, formerly Twitter, calling the protesters “purple-haired Jihadis.”

The Left’s violence masquerading as free speech is a stain on our republic, and it’s escalating at a terrifying pace. From assassination attempts on President Trump—twice in two months—to torching cars at Tesla dealerships during Tesla Takedowns. Members of “Progressive” groups… pic.twitter.com/cQcTUEjcNb
— Senator Brent Taylor (@SenBrentTaylor) June 14, 2025

Five people who filed identical complaints against him said he used his official position “to spread false, inflammatory and dangerous misinformation about a peaceful protest event,” endangering constituents and inciting harassment.

Young told the commission it didn’t have jurisdiction to cite Taylor, in part, because he didn’t benefit financially from the criticism. The executive director also told the commission it could hold a hearing to determine whether civil penalties should be levied against the complainants for filing a “frivolous” complaint, potentially leading to a $10,000 civil penalty.

Commission members agreed it’s “not unethical” for Taylor to state his opinion and that voters should decide whether he remains in office. Ultimately, they decided to defer action until their next meeting when two members who were absent this week could attend.

Taylor’s attorney, Allan Wade, said in a letter to the commissioner the complaints were “merely personal grievances about Brent Taylor’s dislike of complainants and their political views, which is not a proper subject of an ethics complaint under the Ethics Act.”

That could be true, but the ultimate question is whether the Ethics Commission is more concerned with making an example of people who, wrong or right, see it as a last resort for justice or giving politicians the freedom to bad-mouth the public.

Endorsement or not

The day after U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn announced her candidacy for governor, she sent out a list of political luminaries from which she “garners tremendous support” and topped it with a comment from Gov. Lee.

The governor, though, told reporters this week he is not endorsing in the governor’s race, which so far pits Blackburn against U.S. Rep. John Rose of Cookeville.

“I didn’t see what she put out, but I’ve been friends with Marsha for a long time,” Lee told reporters (both are from Williamson County). “She served as my congressman and representative in the General Assembly, so I’m proud that we have really good people running for governor in this state, grateful that the 51st governor will be someone who can continue to move this state forward.”

We love it when Lee takes a strong stand.

In issuing a list of supporters, though, Blackburn seems to be massaging words or, maybe, even pulling a page from Ogles’ political playbook.

Operating out of 'fear': Republican bashes 'the hysteria of anti-Hispanics' in the GOP

Tennessee Republicans are bucking for a Supreme Court showdown to end the constitutional requirement for public schools to teach every child regardless of their immigration status.

But at least one member of the majority party says lawmakers are operating out of “fear” that they’ll run into primary opposition next year if they don’t vote for a bill allowing school districts to opt out of serving immigrant children without permanent legal status.

“There’s an old saying on Wall Street: When the ducks are quacking, you feed ’em,” said Sen. Todd Gardenhire, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “And the hysteria of anti-Hispanics is running rampant right now, and the ducks are quacking, so this bill is designed to satisfy the ducks and feed ’em what they want to eat.”

House Bill 793, which is sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth of Portland and Sen. Bo Watson of Hixson, is being sold as a method to challenge Plyler v. Doe, a precedent-setting 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case. Lamberth and Watson also say passing it is important to keep local school boards from taking on the burden of educating immigrant students.

Watson said the bill is designed to build on action taken during the legislature’s recent special session at the request of President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers approved $5.5 million two weeks ago to set up a bureau within the Department of Safety and Homeland Security that would work with federal and local law enforcement on deportation of immigrants without permanent legal status. Nearly all of the money will go toward grants to train local law enforcement agencies on handling immigrants without legal status.

Lamberth defended the bill by saying the nation has been inundated with immigrants compared with the early 1980s when the Supreme Court case was decided.

“Those illegal immigrants are not going to be able to benefit from the services reserved for legal immigrants or U.S. citizens, period,” he said. “If they don’t like that, they can go to some state that’s a sanctuary state.”

House Speaker Cameron Sexton supports the bill, saying local school districts are having trouble handling a large number of immigrant students who either speak English as a second language or leave school during different times of the year based on their parents’ jobs.

“It’s detrimental to everything we’re trying to achieve in the school system,” Sexton said.

In addition to creating the immigration enforcement bureau, which will be able to operate confidentially, lawmakers excluded students without permanent legal status from the governor’s private-school voucher bill during the special session.

Those illegal immigrants are not going to be able to benefit from the services reserved for legal immigrants or U.S. citizens, period.

– House Majority Leader William Lamberth

The move drew opposition from first-term Rep. Gabby Salinas of Memphis, who migrated to America from Bolivia when she was 7. She said the bill is unconstitutional and goes against the “international standard” for educating all children, putting Tennessee on par with countries that engage in child labor and child abuse.

“For us to be leaders at the global stage and to be engaging in such practices, it’s cruel, it’s inhumane, and it’s heartless,” Salinas said.

Even though the bill targets children without permanent legal status, Salinas said it could affect other children who are friends, classmates and neighbors. She predicted a “catastrophic” loss of revenue if the measure passes and eventually becomes law.

“If the human cost is not enough, look at the numbers and financial cost,” she said, noting immigrants contribute heavily to the state and national economy.

The American Immigration Council reported that 383,800 immigrant residents in Tennessee had more than $11 billion in spending power in 2022 and paid $3.2 billion in taxes. It didn’t delineate immigrants without permanent legal status.

The Migration Policy Institute estimated 128,000 immigrants without legal status live in Tennessee, and 10,000 of those are enrolled in public schools, according to a House Republican Caucus release.

“For us to be leaders at the global stage and to be engaging in such practices, it’s cruel, it’s inhumane, and it’s heartless,” said Rep. Gabby Salinas, a Memphis Democrat. Lamberth said communities across the state shouldn’t be forced to pay for the federal government’s failure to secure the country’s borders.


“Our obligation is to ensure a high-quality education for legal residents first,” Lamberth said.

Despite the claims that immigrant children put a burden on local school districts, J.C. Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, said he doesn’t hear complaints from teachers.

The main problem, he said, is that immigrant children are required to be tested as soon as they transfer into a school district.

“The major issue was technology,” Bowman said. He added that the state has a shortage of teachers for English as a second language.

House Bill 793 has not been scheduled to be heard in a House or Senate committee.



Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

'Buy the primary': Calls escalate for investigation into Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles

A House Congressional Ethics panel is recommending further investigation of U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles after finding he likely violated federal campaign finance laws, mainly by reporting an inflated personal loan to make his bid for office look stronger.

In his first run for Congress representing the newly-drawn 5th Congressional District in 2022, Ogles reported receiving a $320,000 personal loan for his campaign. The Culleoka Republican said in an April 2022 press release that he raised $450,000, including the six-figure infusion to his campaign. His first report with the Federal Election Commission showed he raised only $250,0000.

In May 2024, he amended campaign finance reports for the previous two years, acknowledging he made only a $20,000 loan to his campaign and saying the additional $300,000 was in a joint account he shared with his wife. Still, Ogles and his campaign manager were unable to “definitively” confirm the source of the $20,000 to ethics board investigators.

The ethics board voted 6-0 to call for a closer look at Ogles’ finances because “there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Ogles omitted or misrepresented required information in his finance disclosure statements or FEC candidate committee reports,” the board’s report says. It also says more review is necessary because of the likelihood that Ogles’ campaign committee accepted excessive contributions reported as personal loans and contributions from him.

The Office of Congressional Ethics started its review in February 2024 following media reports about Ogles’ finances and whether he had enough income to lend his campaign $320,000. Ogles refused to cooperate, declining to produce documents and participate in an interview.

On the last day of the panel’s review, Ogles’ attorney provided a letter stating that while he had identified $320,000 in personal funds available for the campaign, only $20,000 was transferred.

Addressing his amended report, Ogles said the $320,000 was a “pledge” to his campaign from assets such as bank and retirement accounts.

The ethics board, though, said Ogles’ refusal to cooperate “hindered” its ability to assess his “intent” in overreporting the loan and cash on hand in his account. But it says he was responsible for the inaccurate reporting.

Nashville car dealership magnate Lee Beaman served as Ogles’ treasurer early in his campaign before being replaced by Thomas Datwyler.

Tennessee 5th District Congressman confirms FBI fraud investigation

The report also says Ogles “apparently exercised control over his campaign finances, “to the exclusion of his campaign treasurer and manager,” and provided improper documentation to his treasurer. He also failed to take advantage of several opportunities to correct them on the real amount of the loan.

Ogles’ campaign manager, who is not identified in the report, “speculated” to the ethics board that Ogles might have overreported the loan amount to make his campaign look stronger and “buy the primary.” He defeated former Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell and former Brigadier Gen. Kurt Winstead.

“This $300,000 difference was not inconsequential – or overlooked,” the ethics board found.

Ogles’ campaign manager told the board the campaign didn’t seem to be operating in a “cash crunch” at the time but that in hindsight it was “tighter” than they thought.

The report says Ogles had “significant control” over the campaign’s finances and that neither his treasurer nor manager had access to the bank account and depended on him for information. A treasurer told the ethics board that Ogles provided “misleading documentation” about the $320,000 loan.

Ogles’ campaign manager told investigators that press releases dealing with campaign finances were “merely regurgitated information” from Ogles.

A 2023 U.S. House finance disclosure form filed in September 2024 lists a loan worth between $500,001 and $1 million from FirstBank in September 2022. He failed to disclose it previously.

It came up after the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, filed a complaint claiming Ogles had nearly $1 million in finance discrepancies between his House disclosure form and campaign finance reports.

Ogles’ attorney confirmed he had a $700,000 line of credit opened in September 2022 that wasn’t included in his candidate or member financial disclosures. He didn’t indicate whether it was used to finance the $20,000 loan.

After Ogles’ Republican primary victory last August, FBI agents searched his property and seized his cell phone as part of a fraud investigation.

OCE-Report-and-Findings



Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

Tennessee governor appears ready to mobilize National Guard for deportation

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is set to use state personnel, likely National Guard troops and highway patrol officers, to back President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants when he takes office in January 2025.

The Republican governor issued a statement on the social media platform X Monday evening saying, “I have asked key state agencies to begin making preparations & stand ready on Day 1 to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our Nation’s borders & keep communities safe.”

The statement marked the governor’s first confirmation that he is willing to use Tennessee personnel, which could include troops and state officers, to remove undocumented immigrants as part of a national effort by Trump to deport millions of people.

Lee sent the message on the heels of a statement from the Republican Governors Association saying it stands “united” in supporting Trump’s commitment to deal with the “illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security.”

I have asked key state agencies to begin making preparations & stand ready on Day 1 to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our Nation’s borders & keep communities safe.
Read more here: https://t.co/qWl7FJbM2A
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) December 16, 2024

A one-time mass deportation of about 11 million people who lack permanent legal status and 2.3 million more who crossed the U.S. southern border from January 2023 through April 2024 could cost an estimated $315 billion, according to the American Immigration Council.

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition condemned Lee’s commitment, saying such a move would hurt families and the local economy. The group said Lee and 25 Republican governors signed a letter committing to “utilize every tool” at their disposal, which would include state law enforcement and the National Guard.

The immigrant rights group said such a plan has been deemed “disastrous” by business leaders, economists, faith leaders and legal experts.

“Whether fleeing danger or seeking opportunity, immigrants enrich our state and strengthen our communities. Rounding up families is not just a moral disaster, but an economic one, crippling our businesses and agriculture and grinding production to a halt,” the coalition said in a statement. “Further, the state resources wasted on mass deportations could instead provide housing, healthcare and education for Tennessee working families.”

Yet key Republican lawmakers are in the governor’s corner.

In a statement to the Tennessee Lookout, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said, “The illegal immigration crisis, which has been untenable for many years, exploded under the Biden administration. The voters of our state and our nation have made it clear that they want the crisis resolved and President Trump is committed to resolving it. Activating the National Guard to secure our border and assist with deportations is entirely appropriate. I believe the legislature would and should approve such an effort.”

House Speaker Cameron Sexton told the Lookout this week governors would make decisions with the federal government but added that he supports removal of some immigrants.

“You’ve gotta get illegals who’ve committed crimes in our country out of the country. I don’t care where they are, you’ve gotta get them out,” Sexton said. “I don’t think ICE is big enough to handle all that due to the number of people who’ve come across the border who are criminals and committed crimes.”

While Sexton spoke about immigrants charged with crimes since coming to America, Trump hasn’t always differentiated between that group and other immigrants who make up a large sector of the nation’s workforce.

Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Tom Homan, has said the president-elect made it clear he would prioritize deportation for immigrants who are gang members and considered dangerous, while also saying anyone in the country illegally “shouldn’t feel comfortable.”

Although the Republican Governors Association accused President Joe Biden of failing to secure the border, a report by migrationpolicy.org (https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-deportation-record) shows the Biden Administration is on track to remove as many people as the Trump Administration, 1.1 million from the start of fiscal 2021 through February 2024, which would match 1.5 million deportations during Trump’s four years of 2016 to 2020.

The report says the Biden Administration also undertook 3 million migrant expulsions during the COVID-19 pandemic era from March 2020 to May 2023 for a total of almost 4.4 million repatriations.

Since the COVID-19 ban on migration ended, the Biden administration increased deportations and removed or returned 775,000 migrants, the most since 2010, according to the migrationpolicy.org article.

Still, Trump has touched on using federal troops to assist in deportation, and Republican governors are showing a willingness to put state troops and officers into the fray.

The immigrant rights coalition said the governor’s statement gives local law enforcement and the National Guard a “rubber stamp” to “overstep their jurisdiction and forcefully detain our neighbors,” which sets a “dangerous precedent for all Tennesseans.”

If illegal immigration is as big a problem in Tennessee as Lee now claims and we have the legal authority to do something about it, then Tennesseans should ask Gov. Lee and this Republican supermajority why the state has failed to do more.

– Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville

The coalition’s statement adds the governor is “placing a dark stain on our state” and that it is “ready to defend our communities and protect one another.”

Democratic state Rep. John Ray Clemmons said the governor’s use of “bigoted talking points” is causing hostility toward his constituents. He encouraged the governor to visit his district in South Nashville to see the “thriving” businesses and children studying in local schools.

Clemmons acknowledged that dangerous criminals, gang members and terrorists in the country illegally should be removed. He added that the legislature approved $161 million for the Department of Homeland Security, $110 million to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and $18 million to the Military Department for related purposes.

“If illegal immigration is as big a problem in Tennessee as Lee now claims and we have the legal authority to do something about it, then Tennesseans should ask Gov. Lee and this Republican supermajority why the state has failed to do more,” Clemmons said.

Clemmons, though, said he believes the state’s jurisdiction and ability to enforce federal immigration policies could be entangled in “complex legal questions.”


Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

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