Jurors in Ohio’s House Bill 6 criminal corruption case have returned guilty verdicts against both former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and lobbyist and former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges.
Most of the money came from FirstEnergy and its affiliates. And most of the funds flowed through dark money organizations — groups that did not have to report their donors and can generally avoid campaign finance limits if they don’t coordinate activities with a candidate or campaign. For Niven, the case is “a pretty dramatic wakeup call that the normal course of business in Ohio has slipped, way, way, way off the rails.”
Prosecutors faced a big challenge in presenting their case, largely because dark money groups that don’t have to report their donors have played such a big role in U.S. politics since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and other cases. Even before that, utilities and fossil fuel interests have long been among big spenders in Ohio politics.
As House speaker, Householder made sure that legislation passed. Money from FirstEnergy and its affiliates also funded efforts to prevent voters from getting a chance to repeal HB 6 via a referendum. Additional evidence documented how funds from the unlawful enterprise benefited individual defendants in the case. Householder also increased his power by getting elected speaker, and plans were underway to let him extend that tenure, the government argued.
Also taking the stand during the government’s case were co-defendants Juan Cespedes and Jeff Longstreth, who previously pled guilty in the hope of receiving lighter sentences. Cespedes acted as a lobbyist for FirstEnergy Solutions, and Longstreth was president of Generation Now, the central dark money group in the scheme. Neil Clark, another alleged co-conspirator, died in 2021, but his voice was heard in several recordings.
Householder was his own star witness, taking the stand after several other witnesses. He claimed he was not bribed and wanted HB 6 to pass in any case. And he denied having control over Generation Now.
Now when will the law be repealed, as it was passed due to corruption? When will First Energy refund Ohioans the illicitly obtained $?
With the republican gerrymandering and corruption there is no good government in Ohio.