Glen Casada is a great leader and should stay as Tennessee Speaker of the House | Opinion

• Rep. Susan Lynn represents District 57, Wilson County, in the Tennessee House.

One time, years ago, when Dolly Parton appeared on “The Tonight Show,” she was asked if it bothered her when the tabloids write wild stories about things she’s supposedly done. The audience responded with uproarious laughter when she quickly quipped, “Oh, I don’t know, I figure if I didn’t do it, I’m probably capable of it.” 

There is a lot of truth in that statement for just about everyone. But when it comes to the Speaker of the House Glen Casada and the things being said about him, we should carefully separate fact from fiction, who did what, and when was it known.

There are five basic allegations: the Speaker’s responses to inappropriate text messages, text messages between his former Chief of Staff and a disgruntled former employee, the manipulation of a date on an email by his staff, listening devices in the Cordell Hull building, and the inappropriate installation of white noise machines that were installed in his office after he was elected Speaker. 

I learned long ago to never rush to judgement because there is always more to the story.  As a member of the legislature, it is my duty to investigate each of the allegations, and as far as I can tell, I do not believe that the speaker should resign.

Let's examine the facts of the situation

In 2016, there were a small number of inappropriate texts that made jokes about women privately shared as friends between then Tennessee House Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, the House GOP press secretary Cade Cothren and a disgruntled former employee. Casada says he does not remember these texts because they were back and forth interactions outside of work, but he has taken full responsibility for the content, and he has apologized.

The disgruntled former employee also shared some inappropriate text messages from 2015 and 2016 that were between himself and Cothren which involved partying, drug use at work, and other inappropriate and insensitive behavior.

The Speaker and others in our caucus were shocked at the content of the text messages that were displayed in the news. As a member, I personally never witnessed anything close to that type of behavior out of Cothren. I do, however, commend the Speaker for quickly addressing the situation with him and accepting his resignation.

The allegation that someone in the speaker’s office manipulated an email in an attempt to frame an activist has been proven false by the Legislative Information Systems director. I have reviewed a report generated by the director that clearly shows no one manipulated any email that was sent to the Davidson County district attorney, and I am confident nothing will come of it. 

White noise machines should not be controversial

There are no listening devices in the Cordell Hull Building. There is a video service provided to the lieutenant governor, speaker and the chief clerks of both chambers. This 10-year-old system is also available any time to all members in conference rooms adjacent to committee hearing rooms.

Finally, I’d like to mention the white noise machines. When did installing white noise machines become a controversy? They are widely used by government agencies, in court rooms, and they are very popular in the private sector as well. The walls in our suites at the Cordell Hull Building are thin, and their use makes sense.

I’ll admit that I was very displeased with the old text messages that Speaker Casada sent several years ago when they were aired on television earlier this month, but I don’t think the rest of what has been implied is fair. We should be careful to not judge harshly when we come into one chapter in the story of someone’s life. 

Casada is a great leader, a very humble, kind and generous person and a loyal friend — which is very rare in the political world.

Susan Lynn represents District 57, Wilson County, in the Tennessee House.