Former Ohio House Speaker\u00a0Larry Householder\u00a0goes on trial next week in the highest-profile reckoning yet to arise from a\u00a0$60 million federal bribery investigation\u00a0that federal prosecutors call the largest corruption case in state history.
\nThe 2 1\/2 years since the Republican\u2019s arrest have seen the\u00a0toppling of a Fortune 500 energy company\u2019s CEO\u00a0and other executives, the\u00a0resignation of Ohio\u2019s top utility regulator\u00a0amid FBI scrutiny, and Householder\u2019s ouster as speaker and his subsequent expulsion as state representative \u2014\u00a0the first in Ohio in 150 years.
\nEmerging details have brought the case ever closer to the office of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine \u2014 though without implicating him personally or hurting Ohio Republicans\u2019 electability \u2014 and made clear the case\u2019s potential for clarifying federal law on operating a 501(c)4 \u201cdark money\u201d group.
\nWhen it comes to a dark money group, \u201cthe two things it\u2019s not supposed to be: Its primary activity\u2019s not supposed to be political, and it\u2019s not supposed to be used to the benefit of a particular individual,\u201d former U.S. Attorney David DeVillers, who initially brought the case, said at a forum Wednesday.
\nAn indictment alleged Householder, former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges, three other people and a dark money group called Generation Now orchestrated an elaborate scheme,\u00a0secretly funded by FirstEnergy,\u00a0to secure Householder\u2019s power, elect his allies, pass legislation containing a $1 billion bailout for\u00a0two aging nuclear power plants, and then vex a ballot effort to overturn the bill with a dirty tricks campaign.
\nUnder a deal to avoid prosecution, Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp.\u00a0admitted to using dark money groups\u00a0to fund the scheme and\u00a0bribing the utility regulator. It has also\u00a0fired half a dozen\u00a0executives and\u00a0regrouped. Surcharges slated to be tacked onto electricity bills statewide to pay for the bailout were eliminated in a\u00a0partial repeal of the legislation\u00a0in 2021 and never charged.
\nTwo Householder associates\u00a0and a\u00a0related nonprofit\u00a0pleaded guilty to their roles and await sentencing. A third defendant who pleaded not guilty\u00a0died by suicide.
\nA jury to be selected Friday in Cincinnati now must decide whether Householder, 63, and Borges, 50, are guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering. They pleaded not guilty and maintain their innocence.
\nEach faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The trial could last six weeks.
\nHouseholder and Borges were arrested along with the other defendants in July 2020.
\nDuring his\u00a0defiant but unsuccessful campaign\u00a0to retain his House seat while the case plays out against him, Householder said: \u201cI have not nor have I ever taken a bribe or solicited or been solicited for taking a bribe.\u201d His\u00a0effort to have the conspiracy charge against him dropped\u00a0ahead of trial failed, as did efforts to disallow evidence related to the bribe of former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair\u00a0Sam Randazzo.
\nRandazzo isn\u2019t charged and denies wrongdoing. None of the fired FirstEnergy executives, including former CEO Chuck Jones, have been charged, either, despite\u00a0revelations in court filings\u00a0appearing to show some seeking and receiving favors.
\nHouseholder and other suspects in the criminal probe simultaneously face a\u00a0massive list of alleged state-level campaign finance violations, referred to the Ohio Elections Commission by the Republican secretary of state. Those claims are on hold until the criminal case is decided, as are the state\u2019s racketeering lawsuit against FirstEnergy, Householder and others, and four related regulatory inquiries against FirstEnergy at the utilities commission.
\nThe criminal prosecution began under a U.S. attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and is proceeding under a successor appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n