Timeline of Major Events Surrounding Householder’s House Bill 6 Scandal

Follow along with news as it continues to break in the House Bill 6/Householder scandal, the biggest corruption scandal in Ohio’s history.

Details of how the scandal took place:

Selling out in the Statehouse: a timeline deep dive inside HB 6 and the biggest government scandal in Ohio state history, USA Today Network Ohio Bureau, June 3, 2021.

Watch the press conference where federal officials discuss the HB6 Householder Enterprise indictments.

This is a great resource to learn about the HB6 scandal characters in detail, and even filter by area of interest:

Ohio Statehouse Corruption: Who you need to know in the federal bribery case, USA Today Network Ohio, July 21, 2021.

And here is a resource where you can learn about the lesser known characters involved in the HB6 scandal: 

House Bill 6: Meet the lesser-known FirstEnergy officials accused of ties to the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history – cleveland.com, Cleveland.com, October 21, 2022.

See primary source legislation, state filings and internal letters related to this case:

• House Bill 6 
• Summary Petition for Referendum of Am. Sub. H.B. No. 6, August 16, 2019.
• Sam Randazzo’s resignation letter to Governor Mike DeWine, November 20, 2020.
• House Bill 128 was signed into law on March 31, 2021 as a partial repeal of House Bill 6. 

Review the full criminal complaints, pleas and deals:

• Dave Anderson of the Energy Policy Institute created this annotated version of the Larry Householder et al federal criminal complaint, Case No. 1:20-MJ-00526, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, July 16, 2020. You can select topics and learn more as you read through the complaint.
• Jeff Longstreth plea agreement, October 29, 2020.
• Juan Cespedes plea agreement, October 29, 2020.
• Generation Now plea agreement, February 5, 2021.
• Jake Zuckerman provides a helpful annotated version of the FirstEnergy deferred prosecution agreement from July 20, 2021.
• United States’ Trial Brief, January 6, 2023.

Find additional news articles and announcements here:

• Davis-Besse nuclear power plant to shut down permanently in 2020, The Blade, March 30, 2018.
• FirstEnergy Solutions files for bankruptcy after pushing for DOE emergency order, Dive Marketplace, April 2, 2018.
• Ohio Gov. DeWine signs bill to bail out nuclear plants, slash renewable energy, Cincinnati Enquirer, July 23, 2019.
• Bankruptcy court overseeing Energy Harbor case didn’t pre-approve $500K political donation, Columbus Dispatch, October 26, 2021.
• FirstEnergy said it bribed a regulator for $4.3 million. Here’s how it worked, Ohio Capital Journal, July 29, 2021.
• How a longtime critic of clean energy became Ohio’s top utility regulator, Energy News Network, March 9, 2020.
• Part 3: Scrutiny of bailout pushes Householder’s Enterprise into advertising frenzy, Akron Beacon Journal, August 4, 2020.
• Ads link FirstEnergy Solutions to dark money group Generation Now, Inc., Energy and Policy Institute, June 11, 2019.
• Ohio House Speaker Arrested In Connection With $60 Million Bribery Scheme, NPR, July 21, 2020.
• Q&A: Householder Corruption Case Puts Spotlight On ‘Dark Money’, Ideastream Public Media, July 31, 2020.
• Pro-House Bill 6 group launches $1 million ad campaign to fend off statewide referendum, Cleveland.com, August 26, 2019.
• Who’s behind the Chinese conspiracy ads against Ohio’s nuclear referendum?, Energy News Network, September 23, 2019.
• Proposed anti-House Bill 6 referendum clears initial hurdle, Cleveland.com, August 29, 2019.
• Meet the man who helped the FBI expose Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s alleged $60M bribery scheme, Cleveland.com, July 24, 2020.
• Nuclear Bailout Law To Go Into Effect After Referendum Group Misses Deadline, Statehouse News Bureau, October 21, 2019.
• FirstEnergy Solutions Successfully Completes Financial Restructuring, Emerges as Energy Harbor, Energy Harbor Press Release, February 27, 2020.
• Political strategist & lobbyist each plead guilty in federal public corruption racketeering conspiracy involving more than $60 million, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio, October 29, 2020.
• Attorneys: Utility’s Ex-CEO Planned Payments in Ohio Scandal, Associated Press, March 23, 2022.
• FBI raids home of PUCO chairman, possibly connected to House Bill 6 investigation, WSYX/WTTE, November 16, 2020.
• Ohio PUC Chairman Samuel Randazzo abruptly resigns four days after FBI searched his home, UtilityDive, November 21, 2020.
• Purported 501(c)(4) admits to being used to conceal corrupt payments related to passage of legislation, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio, February 19, 2021.
• Columbus lobbyist Neil Clark, accused in HB 6 scandal, died by suicide, autopsy confirms, Cincinnati.com, June 8, 2021.
• Gov. Mike DeWine signs repeal of nuclear bailout, other parts of scandal-tainted House Bill 6, Cleveland.com, March 31, 2021.
• FirstEnergy in talks on deferred prosecution agreement, Associated Press, April 23, 2021.
• Ohio House expels former Republican speaker in historic vote, Associated Press, June 16, 2021.
• Former Ohio House speaker Householder will go on trial in January 2023 in federal court, Columbus Dispatch, March 11, 2022.
• FirstEnergy’s CEO and SVP ordered $64 million bribery scheme, shareholders say, Ohio Capital Journal, March 24, 2022.
• Eye on Utilities: Householder trial set to begin next month, Energy News Network, December 7, 2022.
• FirstEnergy agrees to pay $3.9M for failing to tell FERC about energy bill bribery payments, UtilityDive, January 3, 2023.

Where is AEP in all of this? See its involvement here:

• Columbus utility giant AEP funded dark money spending in HB 6 campaign, Columbus Dispatch, July 25, 2020.
• More Generation Now dark money traced to AEP in Ohio corruption scandal, Energy and Policy Institute, December 2, 2020
• AEP Statement on House Bill 6 Investigation, AEP, December 2, 2020
• Mysterious nonprofit with AEP ties has $3 million to unload, tax records show, Ohio Capital Journal, March 17, 2022.
• American Electric Power-backed dark money group spent over $1.5 million in 2020, Energy and Policy Institute, November 22, 2021.
• American Electric Power hit with second subpoena tied to nuclear bailout bill, Columbus Dispatch, October 28, 2022.