Former lawmaker John Mark Windle, foreground, with hands on chair, is believed to have been visited by U.S. Marshals in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation. Windle is not a target of the investigation. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Federal law officers might have visited the home of former state Rep. John Mark Windle on Thursday, igniting speculation that he is being subpoenaed to testify in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Glen Casada and his chief of staff, Cade Cothren.
Rep. Gloria Johnson said in a social media post Thursday that “Word on the street is that US marshals are at John Mark Windle’s house.”
A spate of motions have been filed in the case over the last 10 days, many of them sealed.
Windle could not be reached to confirm the comment. But the former House member from Livingston could be a figure in the Casada-Cothren trial set for Nov. 6 on federal bribery and kickback charges involving a vendor Cothren allegedly ran in 2019.
Stockard on the Stump: Calfee links Casada, governor to National Guard promotion offer
Rep. Kent Calfee told the Lookout two years ago he was listening when Casada discussed making Windle a general in the Tennessee National Guard in a last-ditch effort to garner enough votes to pass Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account bill. The measure was held up by a tie that was later broken when Republican Rep. Jason Zachary flipped his vote.
Calfee, a former Kingston Republican House member, told the Lookout he heard Casada tell Windle, “I can’t promote you, but the governor can. I’ll call the governor.”
Windle, who held the rank of colonel in the National Guard, did not change his vote and didn’t receive a higher rank.
Calfee said the governor later called him to his office for a meeting where he said Lee told him, “You know, you’re kind of talking bad about me.” Calfee said he responded. “I told the truth.”
Responding to questions about the purported meeting, Lee has said at least twice he didn’t know what Calfee was talking about.
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