Ohio’s former state House speaker wants to exclude statements by a dead alleged accomplice from his upcoming federal trial for bribery related to two financially struggling reactors.
Attorneys for ex-speaker Larry Householder (R) also want a federal judge to ban from his trial references to a separate but related bribery scandal involving the former head of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, according to a Nov. 9 defense motion filed in U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio.
In exchange for payments from the plant operator, the federal government says, Householder and his allies in the state legislature passed helped House Bill 6 in 2019, which provided subsidies for the struggling Besse-Davis and Perry reactors. The plants at the time were owned by FirstEnergy subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions. The subsidiary has since declared bankruptcy and split from the parent corporation to become Energy Harbor.
In 2020, the FBI arrested Householder, three lobbyists and a former campaign chairman on money laundering charges. Householder and one lobbyist are fighting the charges. Two of the five have pleaded guilty. One lobbyist, Neil Clark, killed himself in early 2021.
The first part of Householder’s recent motion in the federal case concerns an FBI sting operation on Clark and Householder.
In 2019, undercover FBI agents approached Clark, a political consultant in Columbus, as supposed investors in a sports betting operation in a Cincinnati hotel. In September of that year, the undercover agents met with Clark, Householder and others at a dinner, which was secretly recorded by the FBI. The FBI agent’s bought a political contribution check for Householder. But Householder did not accept the check and did not work on any sports betting legislation, the defense motion said.
The second part of Householder’s Nov. 9 motion seeks to exclude evidence centered on utilities lobbyist Sam Randazzo, whom Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) in 2019 appointed chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO).
According to state and federal prosecutors’ filings, Randazzo’s purpose as chairman of PUCO was to nurture and shield the $150 million annual subsidies earmarked for the Besse-Davis and Perry reactors under House Bill 6. Randazzo also allowed FirstEnergy to dodge a future 2024 review of its rates, the filing said. Randazzo resigned in late 2020 after his $4.3 million payout from FirstEnergy became public.
In the Nov. 9 motion, Householder’s attorneys argued that the Randazzo matter should not be mentioned in the trial because the $4.3 million payment to Randazzo was not part of the indictment against Householder. Also, neither FirstEnergy nor Randazzo have been charged with any crimes, the motion said.
FirstEnergy, meanwhile, agreed to a settlement with the state and the feds. In it, the company acknowledged it paid $60 million to Householder and his four alleged coconspirators. The bulk of those payments allegedly went through two intermediary organizations: Partners for Progress and Generation Now, both incorporated in Delaware. In the settlement, FirstEnergy agreed to pay a $230 million fine and to cooperate fully with ensuing federal and state investigations.
