Tennessee Democrats call for probe into eavesdropping, bugging accusations involving Speaker Casada

Two Tennessee Democrats on Wednesday called for the U.S. Attorney to investigate whether members of House Speaker Glen Casada's office secretly listened to lawmakers' private conversations in legislative committee rooms.

The calls from House Minority caucus chairman Mike Stewart and Rep. Bo Mitchell came after the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee reported the speaker's former chief of staff admitted to being able to eavesdrop on committee rooms, white noise machines were installed inside and outside Casada's office and several members raised concerns about their offices containing recording devices.

"I'm calling on the United States Attorney's office to immediately commence an investigation to determine whether or not the surveillance of private meetings with no consent violated state and or federal laws," said Stewart, D-Nashville.

Stewart sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney's office later Wednesday formally requesting a probe.

Read more: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/08/tennessee-democrats-respond-glen-casada-cade-cothren-revelations/1140493001/