Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been arrested in a $61 million bribery scheme aimed at getting House Bill 6 passed, a state bailout of First Energy’s nuclear program, and then to keep it from going before voters.
(Read Ohio Capital Journal story.)
At a news briefing this afternoon (7-21-20), U.S. Attorney David DeVillers, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, said that this was the largest bribery scheme ever in the state. The case is a matter of “bribery pure and simple.”
According to DeVillers, money was funneled from what he called “Company A,” because that entity is not charged, into a non-profit entity, Generation Now, set up by Householder.
Though supposedly a social welfare organization, the money was instead used to get Householder elected as speaker including through donations to the campaigns of 28 House members, who all ended up voting for him as speaker.
Householder also received about $900,000, some of which was used to settle a lawsuit and some toward the purchase of a home in Florida.
Most of the funds, DeVillers said, were used to buy advertisements and promotional material to support HB 6.
Once the bill passed the legislature and was signed, attention was turned to keeping a referendum off the ballot.
Also arrested were: former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, Householder adviser Jeffrey Longstreth, and lobbyists Neil Clark and Juan Cespedes.
The bill also weakened the state’s support for green energy initiatives, including in Bowling Green.
Both State Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) and State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg) voted in favor of the bill.
