{"id":329,"date":"2023-02-01T18:28:17","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T18:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/householder-followed-the-money-why-cant-we-trial-update-3\/"},"modified":"2023-02-01T18:28:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T18:28:17","slug":"householder-followed-the-money-why-cant-we-trial-update-3","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/ar\/articles\/\u0631\u0628-\u0627\u0644\u0628\u064a\u062a-\u064a\u062a\u0628\u0639-\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0627\u0644-\u0644\u0645\u0627\u0630\u0627-\u0644\u0627-\u0646\u0633\u062a\u0637\u064a\u0639-\u062a\u062c\u0631\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0631\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u064a\u062a \u064a\u062a\u0628\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0627\u0644 - \u0644\u0645\u0627\u0630\u0627 \u0644\u0627 \u0646\u0633\u062a\u0637\u064a\u0639 \u0646\u062d\u0646 \u0623\u0646 \u0646\u0641\u0639\u0644 \u0630\u0644\u0643\u061f \u062a\u062d\u062f\u064a\u062b \u0627\u0644\u0645\u062d\u0627\u0643\u0645\u0629 # 3"},"template":"","class_list":["post-329","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":null,"article_type":153,"authors":null,"related_issues":[92,105,423],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"By Sandy Theis, former reporter and political analyst\r\n\r\n[pdf-embedder url=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/01\/Image-5.5-Updated-IEEFA-Diagram-1.pdf\" title=\"Image 5.5 Updated IEEFA Diagram\"]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CINCINNATI \u2014 FirstEnergy and its allies went to great lengths to hide what federal prosecutors call \u201cbribes\u2019\u2019 paid in exchange for favorable legislation, but even so, prosecutors explained how then-Speaker Larry Householder\u2014the man they say benefitted from the alleged bribes\u2014had little trouble keeping track of every dollar that came in.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Details of how Householder meticulously followed the money came during week two of his <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trial in federal court in Cincinnati. He and co-defendant Matt Borges, the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, are accused of participating in a complex scheme to use at least $60 million in hidden money to help Householder win the powerful job of Speaker of the Ohio House, pass a bill to bailout two nuclear plants owned at the time by FirstEnergy Solutions, and then repulse a referendum to repeal the bill.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law the same day it passed\u2014a bill that stuck electricity customers with the cost of the $1.3 billion nuclear bailout and the cost of subsidizing two aging coal-fired power plants. The nuclear bailouts have been repealed, the coal subsidies remain.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>Following the Money from FirstEnergy to Dark Money Groups<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During his second day on the witness stand, FBI Special Agent Blane Wetzel showed the value that Householder placed on fundraising.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wetzel detailed documents showing when FirstEnergy\u2019s first installment arrived and when subsequent payments arrived. On Householder\u2019s behalf, political adviser Jeff Longstreth sent reminders to FirstEnergy executives when the next installments were due, often providing instructions on how and where to wire the money.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first payment\u2014$250,000\u2014came from FirstEnergy Service Company to Generation Now, one of the dark money groups that the FBI said received millions in bribes, Wetzel testified. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/court-justice\/2021\/02\/generation-now-the-nonprofit-that-prosecutors-say-received-millions-in-bribes-pleads-guilty-to-racketeering-charge-involving-house-bill-6.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generation Now pleaded guilty in February 2021.<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In one May 2017 text, then-FirstEnergy executive Mike Dowling asked Longstreth, \u201cAre we at $500L \u2026now?\u201d Longstreth replied, \u201cyes.\u2019\u2019 Dowling has since been fired and identified as one of the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">executives who <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beaconjournal.com\/story\/news\/2022\/03\/23\/former-firstenergy-ceo-vice-president-named-bribery-scheme-chuck-jones-michael-dowling-adams-court\/7140966001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"devised and orchestrated FirstEnergy's payments to public officials in exchange for favorable legislation and regulatory action<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\"<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using bank records, Wetzel demonstrated how money flowed from utilities to Generation Now to JPL &amp; Associates, a firm owned by Longstreth, JPL. Longstreth\u2019s company paid invoices for big-ticket items such as polling and research, and several records showed Householder had the final say.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>The Plan to Make Householder Speaker<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new evidence also included spreadsheets that categorized House candidates as being \u201con the team,\u2019\u2019 \u201cmoving our way\u2019\u2019 or \u201cmoving against us.\u2019\u2019 And candidates were rated on a scale of 1 to 5, for things such as the ability to raise money.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other records showed Householder and his team carefully tracking and evaluating the electability of House candidates\u2014especially ones who faced primary challenges from candidates who backed rival Ryan Smith for the Speaker\u2019s job. Team Householder supplied supportive candidates with everything from social media to messaging. To win the Speaker\u2019s job, Householder needed more votes than Smith\u2014and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statenews.org\/government-politics\/2019-01-07\/larry-householder-elected-ohio-house-speaker-ousting-ryan-smith\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he got them.<\/span><\/a>\r\n\r\n<b>Householder Using Fundraising Prowess to Build Power\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a note to House candidates, Longstreth reinforced the importance of fundraising updates. \u201cLarry Householder makes calls to lobbyists and donors every day. He can\u2019t help you with fundraising if we don\u2019t have accurate information. Help us help you,\u2019\u2019 Longstreth wrote.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Longstreth is one of three guilty pleas already secured by federal officials. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdoh\/pr\/political-strategist-lobbyist-each-plead-guilty-federal-public-corruption-racketeering\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In his plea<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Longstreth admits to organizing Generation Now for Householder, knowing the entity would be used to receive bribe money to further Householder\u2019s bid for House Speaker and trying to hide that the utility was the source of Generation Now\u2019s money.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>How the Investigation Started\u00a0<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prosecutors also played a recording of a December 2017 phone call between the late lobbyist Neil Clark and Householder. Clark, who was charged along with Householder, Borges, and three others, died by suicide. Wetzel said Clark was the subject of \u201canother\u201d FBI investigation but provided no details on it.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Past news reports show the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dianeravitch.net\/2021\/06\/29\/ohio-feds-investigating-campaign-contributions-to-ecot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FBI had an interest in ECOT<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the embattled online charter school that employed Clark as its lobbyist and spokesman.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/01\/Brief-History-of-Ohio-Corruption.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out this brief history of corruption <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in Ohio to learn more about the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) scandal.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/act.commoncause.org\/forms\/sign-up-for-householder-trial-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sign up to receive updates about the Householder trial.\u00a0<\/a><\/h4>"}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Householder Followed the Money\u2014Why Can\u2019t We? 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