TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Aug 16, 2022

Cade Cothren, former chief of staff for ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, is challenging a subpoena to testify before the Registry of Election Finance regarding a political action committee he secretly ran, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The Registry subpoenaed Cothren in January after a former girlfriend testified she formed the Faith Family Freedom Fund Political Action Committee at Cothren’s request so he could run it secretly. Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood of Nashville, claims the court should not hold him in contempt for invoking his right against self-incrimination in response to subpoenas. Ahead of a September hearing in front of Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, Sherwood is arguing that overlapping cases against Cothren should circumvent the state subpoena. The court filing acknowledges the Registry’s authority to refer cases for criminal prosecution but says “the authority to subpoena Mr. Cothren should yield to Mr. Cothren’s constitutional right against compelled testimony.”