{"id":338,"date":"2023-03-02T16:34:11","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T16:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/larry-speaks-householder-trial-update-9\/"},"modified":"2023-03-02T16:34:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T16:34:11","slug":"larry-speaks-householder-trial-update-9","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/vi\/articles\/larry-noi-ve-phien-toa-xet-xu-nguoi-chu-nha-cap-nhat-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Speaks \u2014 B\u1ea3n c\u1eadp nh\u1eadt phi\u00ean t\u00f2a x\u00e9t x\u1eed ng\u01b0\u1eddi ch\u1ee7 nh\u00e0 #9"},"template":"","class_list":["post-338","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":null,"article_type":153,"authors":null,"related_issues":[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<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CINCINNATI -- Former Speaker Larry Householder and lobbyist Bob Klaffky disputed details of testimony presented two weeks ago by government witnesses in what the FBI has called the biggest public corruption case in America. Still, they both agreed on some important facts.<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), the utility that stood to benefit the most from passage of the nuclear bailout at the center of the case, gave $500,000 in total to a dark money group that prosecutors say was used to launder and conceal bribes.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FirstEnergy Solutions had no Political Action Committee. PACs limit how much donors can give and require contributions to be disclosed. Corporations, however, can give secret and unlimited donations to dark money groups such as Generation Now \u2014 the group that accepted the $500,000. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohiocitizen.org\/generation_now_pleads_guilty#:~:text=Generation%20Now%2C%20the%20501(c,It%20was%20a%20direct%20bribe.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generation Now has pleaded guilty to hiding the bribes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/darreldrowland\/status\/1630729570830753793?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8825 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/03\/HH_Roland_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"619\" height=\"609\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One day after federal prosecutors rested their case in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, Householder took the stand in his own defense and denied that he passed the bailout in exchange for about $60 million from FirstEnergy and its subsidiary funneled through a web of dark money groups.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Householder and Klaffky also disputed some details provided by Juan Cespedes, an FES lobbyist who testified that he personally witnessed Klaffky slide a $400,000 check across a table and tuck it under Householder\u2019s hand. Cespedes, who <\/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;\">pleaded guilty to participating in racketeering in 2020<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, said it was made clear during the meeting that the money was in exchange for the bailout.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDid you slide the check across the table?\u2019\u2019 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder lawyer Robert Glickman asked<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder chuckled.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere wasn\u2019t even a table to slide it across,\u2019\u2019 he said, insisting that the meeting was brief and happened as the group sat on couches with no nearby tables. Klaffky also said there was no table. Both men identified <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FirstEnergy Solutions' top lobbyist David Griffing as the man who gave Householder the check.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cleantechfacts\/status\/1631272881198858240?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8824 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/03\/HH_Anderson_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"609\" height=\"646\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder\u2019s testimony is expected to continue Thursday, followed by prosecutors\u2019 cross examination.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder and his lawyers used much of his testimony to paint him as a family man from Appalachia who cares deeply about helping Ohio. He repeatedly said he is disgusted by the rise in \u201cdivisiveness\u201d at the Ohio Statehouse and said he pushed hard to pass the bailout out of a desire to preserve carbon-free power and help Ohio\u2019s business climate.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018\u2019When you look at Ohio we have always been a great industrial power, and we have been an energy producer,\u2019\u2019 Householder said.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>Reasons to Question Householder\u2019s Testimony Commitment to Green Energy\u00a0<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ohio Manufacturers\u2019 Association, Ohio\u2019s leading trade association for industrial power, has been a consistent critic of House Bill 6 \u2014 the bailout law, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohiomfg.com\/communities\/energy\/house-bill-6-why-its-harmful-to-ohio-manufacturers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contending that it costs customers money <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 especially manufacturers that pay some of the biggest electric bills in Ohio.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder\u2019s repeated assertion that he aimed to help the environment does not explain why the bailout law also stuck Ohio residents with the cost of subsiding Cold War-era coal plants, <\/span><a href=\"about:blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gutted Ohio\u2019s renewable energy portfolio and its energy efficiency standards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or why Householder and his allies have a history of hostility toward wind and solar power.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>Householder Testified about His Leadership Style\u00a0<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defense lawyers also asked Householder about testimony from prosecution witness Jeff Longstreth, who also had previously <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdoh\/pr\/purported-501c4-admits-being-used-conceal-corrupt-payments-related-passage-legislation#:~:text=Jeffrey%20Longstreth%2C%2044%2C%20a%20longtime,to%20an%20identical%20individual%20charge.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pleaded guilty.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The former Householder political strategist portrayed Householder as a ruthless leader who demanded loyalty from his fellow Republicans and punished people who crossed him.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not so, Householder testified. He pointed out that his leadership team included House candidates who supported a rival candidate for Speaker and said he did not punish bailout opponents by sidelining their legislation or removing them from coveted committees. assignments.<\/span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_8823\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"610\"]<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewJTobias\/status\/1631029960109375488?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"wp-image-8823 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/03\/HH_Tobias_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"535\" \/><\/a> Former Speaker Ryan Smith and Larry Householder battled over control of the Ohio House.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<b>Householder Disputes Pay-to-Play\u00a0<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder also disputed federal prosecutors' theory that the pay-to-play scheme was hatched over pricey steak dinners with utility executives in Washington, D.C., during former President Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration. Householder said he never attended the dinners and although he did fly to the inaugural on FirstEnergy\u2019s plane, he provided bank records that showed he reimbursed the Akron utility for the flights.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StatehouseGhost\/status\/1631058367375441922?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8822 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/03\/HH_Ghost_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"613\" height=\"403\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prosecutors are expected to ask Householder about his prior testimony and evidence that contradicts those claims.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>Reasons to Question Klaffky\u2019s Testimony<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Klaffky has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/news\/2023\/02\/indicted-ohio-lobbyist-breaks-silence-during-householder-trial-testimony.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">said several times<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that he did not recall specifics from the meeting in which the $400,000 was handed over, but he denied even hinting that the check was in exchange for the bailout. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Singer pointed out that participating in a pay-to-play scheme would end Klaffky's career as a powerful lobbyist.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewJTobias\/status\/1631029960109375488?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8821 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/03\/HH_Tobias_5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"607\" height=\"619\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MorganTrau\/status\/1630957676296323073?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8820 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/03\/HH_Trau_6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"687\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder is on trial with co-defendant Matt Borges, former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prosecutors allege that FirstEnergy pumped $61 million in bribes through dark money political groups to help Householder regain the powerful Speaker\u2019s job and in turn pass a bailout bill worth $1.3 billion to FirstEnergy and its former subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions. Householder and Borges worked to defeat a referendum campaign against the bailout, and Borges is accused of bribing a person working on the referendum for inside information. Both pleaded not guilty.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>Some recent articles to check out:\u00a0<\/b>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/energynews.us\/2023\/03\/02\/householder-seeks-to-sow-reasonable-doubt-in-ohio-corruption-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder seeks to sow reasonable doubt in Ohio corruption trial<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Energy News Network, March 2, 2023<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news5cleveland.com\/news\/politics\/ohio-politics\/householder-to-testify-in-his-own-defense-wednesday-in-firstenergy-bribery-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Householder testifying in own defense Wednesday in FirstEnergy bribery trial<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WEWS, March 1, 2023<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dispatch.com\/story\/news\/politics\/state\/2023\/03\/01\/larry-householder-testifies-in-his-own-defense-in-federal-court\/69955663007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder disputes pay to play, flashes Appalachian charm<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Columbus Dispatch, March 1, 2023<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<i><\/i><strong>Sign up to receive updates on the Householder trial <a href=\"https:\/\/act.commoncause.org\/forms\/sign-up-for-householder-trial-updates\">HERE<\/a>. <\/strong>"}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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