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House Speaker Casada tells judge he can’t afford alimony payments

In this May 1, 2019, photo, House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, stands at the microphone during a House session in Nashville, Tenn. House Republicans have scheduled a closed-door meeting to discuss the future of Tennessee's embattled House speaker. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

FRANKLIN, Tenn.  — Weeks before he’s expected to resign, Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada has asked a judge to relieve him of paying alimony because he says he can no longer afford the approximately $4,000 monthly payments.

WTVF-TV reports Casada’s attorney filed the motion June 26. This week, his ex-wife’s attorney asked the court to reject the request.

The motion says Casada lost employment with Merck pharmaceuticals in May. His attorney, Sarah Richter Perky, says the job had been his primary source of income.

Perky says it would be unlikely for her 59-year-old client to “secure comparable employment” because of his age and the circumstances of his unemployment.

It was revealed earlier this year that Casada exchanged text messages containing sexually explicit language about women with his former chief of staff several years ago. Casada says he’ll resign as house speaker Aug. 2.