Federal agents were already investigating a secretive state vendor for legislative mailers in May 2020 when Tennessee’s director of legislative administration found out a scandal-ridden staffer was running the company.
Now-retired director Connie Ridley testified Friday in U.S. District Court she was “advised” by the U.S. Department of Justice to keep processing invoices because of a federal investigation into Phoenix Solutions, a company run by ex-staff member Cade Cothren.
Testifying Friday on the fourth day of the corruption trial for former House Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff Cothren, Ridley said she wouldn’t have approved New Mexico-based Phoenix Solutions as a state vendor if she had known Cothren was behind it.
In the wake of his involvement in a sexist and racist texting scandal that led to his resignation and Casada’s decision to step down in August 2019, Ridley said she had no confidence in Cothren and his judgment.
