Speaker Larry Householder
Analysis: Bribery scandal shows how Ohio politics is polluted with dark money
CINCINNATI — A utility bailout at the center of a massive bribery and money laundering scandal was such bad legislation — and it was pushed in such bad faith — that it’s hard to see how it could have survived without the more than $60 million in bribes that sustained it. And, while FirstEnergy CEO […]
Deliberations begin in epic corruption trial
CINCINNATI — A jury was sent home Wednesday after about six hours of deliberation in Ohio’s massive public corruption trial. Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and state Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges are accused of racketeering in a scheme to use more than $60 million in money from Akron-based FirstEnergy to make Householder speaker […]
Prosecutors: common sense that Householder’s guilty. Defense: They’re lying
CINCINNATI — If jurors rely on their common sense they’ll know that Akron-based FirstEnergy gave former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder $60 million for one reason: to pass a billion-dollar bailout for the company, federal prosecutors asserted Tuesday. But one of Householder’s attorneys accused the feds of bias in selecting their so-called mountain of evidence, […]
Citing a hazy memory, former rep seems to distance himself from scandal
CINCINNATI — Former state Rep. Nino Vitale on Tuesday testified that he didn’t have much of a memory for — nor was he much interested in — raising money or campaigning for office. At several points, the Republican from Urbana even said he didn’t remember what year he was first elected to the legislature (it […]
Ohio utility regulator front and center in massive bailout scandal
CINCINNATI — Ohio’s utility regulator is at the center of a massive bribery and money laundering scandal that has been the focus of a trial here since late last month. In 2019, its chairman and a very recent senior official played a central role in writing corrupt bailout legislation that would give more than $1 billion […]
Corruption trial witness: Householder called them “loans” but wouldn’t sign documents
CINCINNATI — In Washington, D.C. during Donald Trump’s January 2017 inauguration, then-Ohio Rep. Larry Householder had a dinner meeting with the top executives with Akron-based FirstEnergy. The executives stressed their likely need for a state bailout — and their need for a way to make unlimited, untraceable contributions to Householder’s bid for speaker, Householder’s top […]
Stalking, assault alleged in repeal fight over corrupt utility bailout in Ohio
CINCINNATI — Tens of millions didn’t just go to pay for a spate of nasty, xenophobic ads to stop a repeal of a corrupt utility bailout in 2019. Some of that money also paid people to stalk, harass and even assault workers who were gathering signatures to get the repeal onto the ballot, the head […]
Corrupt Ohio utility bailout sprung out of fertile ground, recordings show
CINCINNATI — When Akron-based FirstEnergy made huge contributions between 2017 and 2019 to get a giant bailout from the Ohio government, the deal was developed in a corrupt ecosystem, secret recordings and other evidence presented in federal court Wednesday showed. Multiple players on Capitol Square had conflicted interests and seemed to be acting out of […]
From credit cards to pool cleaning, FirstEnergy money benefitted Householder, feds say
CINCINNATI — A $1.3 billion utility bailout might have been titled “Ohio Clean Air Program,” but the utility that received it paid to settle a lawsuit over a failed coal mine owned by Larry Householder, the bailout’s prime mover, a prosecution witness said in federal court on Thursday. Householder is charged with racketeering in what […]
Corruption trial texts: OH AG Yost didn’t speak out against bailout because of utility support
CINCINNATI — In June of 2019, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost thought a proposed utility bailout was a bad law, but he didn’t publicly oppose it because of support he’d received from the bailout’s primary beneficiary, FirstEnergy, according to lobbyists’ text messages displayed in court on Friday. Prosecutors displayed the messages as part of the […]
Swanky D.C. dinners between FirstEnergy execs and Householder led to corrupt scheme, prosecutors say
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the FirstEnergy subsidiary that owned coal and nuclear plants in Ohio. It was FirstEnergy Solutions. The story has been updated. CINCINNATI — In late 2016, as Larry Householder was plotting his return to the Ohio House speakership, Akron-based FirstEnergy was drowning in losses from its uncompetitive nuclear […]
OSU denies it was fighting sex-abuse victims’ ability to sue
After this story was published, Ohio State on Friday announced additional settlements with survivors of sexual abuse. The story has been updated with that information. In 2019, top Ohio State officials quietly worked to kill a bill that would have waived the statute of limitations for sexual-abuse victims to sue the school, an investigation by […]