Photo by John Partipilo – Rep. Robyn Smith, R-Hixson, speaks with reporters during the opening session of the 112th General Assembly.
According to the Tennessee/Lookout, Rep. Robin Smith, one of three House members raided by the FBI 14 months ago, resigned Monday morning after federal authorities charged her with wire fraud, claiming she took “kickbacks” from an illicit campaign vendor.
Federal authorities filed the charge Friday against Smith, a Hixson Republican who ran a political consulting business while serving in the House. Smith said last year she was not a target of the FBI investigation, but the filing proves otherwise.
Neither Rep. Glen Casada nor his former chief of staff Cade Cothren are named in the indictment but are presumably referred to. “Individual 1. . . . a member of the Tennessee House, first elected in 2003. Individual 1 served as speaker of the Tennessee House from in or around January 2019. In or around August 2019, Individual 1 resigned as Speaker after a scandal became public.” A reference to “Individual 2 was a businessman and former Chief of Staff to Individual 1 when Individual 1 was Tennessee House Speaker” is thought to refer to Cothren.
Phoenix Solutions, a phony vendor set up by Individual 2, received more than $202,000 in payments from House Republicans before coming under scrutiny, as well as payments for independent expenditures from two Senate campaigns, the Tennessee Lookout previously reported.
Phoenix Solutions, though, netted $158,165 from campaign accounts and $51,9247 from mailer programs, the filing alleges. Smith and Individual 2 both earned at least $4,143, according to the filing.
The House Republican Caucus paid $48,000 to Phoenix Solutions for mailers through the Tennessee Republican Party.
The House Speaker’s Office confirmed Monday afternoon that Smith resigned.
FBI agents converged on the Cordell Hull Building Jan. 8 and searched the offices of Smith, Casada, state Rep. Todd Warner, in addition to going through their homes. They also raided the home of Cade Cothren, former chief of staff for Casada.
Smith avoided questions last year about Phoenix Solutions, a New Mexico-based company that used the same Chattanooga postal code, 383, for election material for Warner and a political action committee called Faith Family Freedom Fund to make attack ads against now-former Rep. Rick Tillis, who was critical of Casada and Cothren.
The filing says Individual 2 formed Phoenix Solutions in November 2019 with Smith’s knowledge and support “for the purpose of offering mail and consulting services for legislative members facing primary challengers and was later expanded to offer constituent mail services to members of the Tennessee General Assembly.”
Smith and Individual 2 told legislators the company was run by “Matthew Phoenix” and claimed he was “an experienced political consultant who had worked for” a real consulting firm in Washington, D.C. Smith and Individual 2 knew Matthew Phoenix “was a fictitious person” and was really Individual 2, the filing says.
“In truth and fact, (Cothren) ran Phoenix Solutions and Smith and (Cothren) profited from it,” the filing states.
Prosecutors claim Smith received “kickbacks” from Cothren for using her position as a member of the Legislature to perform official acts, “including pressuring the Tennessee House Speaker’s Office to approve Phoenix Solutions as a Mailer Program vendor and disburse state funds to Phoenix Solutions.”
In January 2020, Smith notified Cothren the House Speaker’s office wanted to work directly with Phoenix Solutions and that the state couldn’t pay the company without a W-9 form. Cothren then sent a W-9 signed by “Matthew Phoenix,” according to the filing
Just a month earlier, Smith told Individual 2 he might have to “assume the role of Matthew again.” He replied, “Matthew reporting for duty!” and included a picture of a salute from the Star Wars character Han Solo.
Individual 2 told Smith he set up Phoenix Solutions in New Mexico because that state allows anonymous registration of limited liability corporations, the filing says. He created a U.S. Postal Service post office box there and forwarded mail to his home address in Nashville.
Smith and Cothren continued to cover up his participation in the company, which went underground shortly after the feds’ raid.
Tillis’ campaign manager filed a complaint earlier with the Registry Election Finance, claiming illegal coordination between the Faith Family Freedom Fund and Warner campaign.
Casada last week denied any connection to the Faith Family Freedom Fund after an ex-girlfriend of Cothren told the Registry of Election Finance she formed the PAC at Cothren’s request so he could run it, allowing him to conduct business without attracting negative attention following a scandal in the Casada administration.
Casada previously told Tennessee Lookout he had no connection with Phoenix Solutions.
In January 2020, Smith and Cothren concocted an email chain to make it seem the vendor was complaining about not getting paid. Smith sent the Speaker Cameron Sexton’s acting chief of staff an email asking why Phoenix Solutions hadn’t received payments for work and then lied about who ran the company, according to the filing.
“It’s guys from {Consulting Firm 1} who did mail two years ago that left and started their own gig … tired of doing the DC/Trump stuff. Thanks.” She forwarded the email chain to Cothren and added the message “Shhhhhhhhh.”
In June 2020, Cothren and his girlfriend, who used the name “Candice,” started an email exchange to make it look as if they were Phoenix Solutions employees and needed to be paid, according to the filing.
Smith repeated false statements about the company and a move by Phoenix to New Mexico in an effort to be paid. She also falsely claimed she didn’t make any money from Phoenix Solutions, the filing says.
_ Sam Stockard
