State House Speaker Glen Casada and his former aide, Cade Cothren
Former Scene cover boy state Rep. John Mark Windle, Democrat of Livingston, tells Nashville treasure Phil "Tick Tock" Williams the rumors are true: Quid Pro Bros Glen Casada and his disgraced former staffer Cade Cothren dangled a Tennessee National Guard promotion in exchange for a vote on Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher euphemism, Education Savings Accounts.
Rep. John Mark Windle, D-Livingston, confirmed information obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates that another lawmaker had overheard Casada suggesting that - in exchange for his vote - Windle could promoted [sic] to the rank of general in the Tennessee National Guard.Windle, an Iraq war veteran, currently serves a [sic] colonel.
"In response to your question, your characterization of the conversation is correct," Windle said in a written statement.
In a letter scanned and posted to his personal Facebook page for some reason, Casada denied the allegation, pointing out, correctly, the governor is the sole decision maker on promotions to flag rank in the Guard. He failed to mention that even insinuating to someone you can help make their bird into a star in exchange for a vote (or anything else, for that matter) is despicable and insulting not just to the would-be bribee but to everyone who wears or has ever worn a uniform.
Windle told Williams the people of his expansive Upper Cumberland district are "fiercely independent" (which explains why they keep returning a Democrat long after the other old Yellow Dog counties went red) and that he reported the interaction to the state ethics authorities.
In April, Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville) told The Tennessean Cothren "asked me what I wanted in return" for support on vouchers. Fellow Republican Rep. Bob Ramsey of Maryville told the paper he was told there would be the possibility of revenue expenditures for projects in my district at some point that would be facilitated by my support of vouchers."
Monday, Democratic House leaders Bo Mitchell and Mike Stewart called for Casada to resign immediately instead of in early August, as planned.
