[Ohio state representative Larry] Householder was arrested last week in connection with a $60 million racketeering conspiracy involving a 2019 nuclear power plant bailout bill that he helped pass, allegedly in exchange for payments. On Thursday, a federal grand jury indicted Householder with conspiracy to commit racketeering, a charge punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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The Republican-controlled House did not vote on whether to expel Householder from the legislature, WOSU reports, and he is running unopposed for reelection in the fall.
NPR
Federal agents arrested Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others Tuesday as part of a $60 million racketeering and bribery investigation that prosecutors described as one of the largest public corruption cases in Ohio history.
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The criminal complaint accused Householder of creating an enterprise, Generation Now Ohio, to collect large sums of money for him and others involved in the conspiracy and to advocate for the bailout of the nuclear plants. Some of the money also was spent on Householder's political campaign, as well as on the campaigns of allies, the complaint said.
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"Unlike campaign or PAC contributions, they were not regulated, not reported, not subject to public scrutiny – and the enterprise freely spent the bribe payments to further the enterprise’s political interests and to enrich themselves.”
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All the charges are tied to what federal prosecutors said was a criminal enterprise dedicated to securing a bailout for two nuclear power plants in northern Ohio owned by FirstEnergy Solutions of Akron. The bailout is expected to cost the state's utility ratepayers $1 billion.
A criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday described the effort as "Householder's Enterprise" and stated that he and his associates secretly used money from an energy company to expand their political power, enrich themselves and conceal their criminal conspiracy.
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Also charged Tuesday were four lobbyists and Republican operatives:
Matthew Borges, former Ohio Republican Party chair and consultant;
Neil Clark, founder of Grant Street Consultants and once called by USA Today “one of the best connected lobbyists in Columbus";
Juan Cespedes, co-founder of The Oxley Group in Columbus;
Jeffrey Longstreth, adviser to Householder;
Generation Now Ohio, a nonprofit that federal prosecutors link to Longstreth and Householder, also faces racketeering charges.
DeVillers said the arrests Tuesday will not end the investigation and that agents will continue to interview potential witnesses and execute search warrants in the coming days and weeks. "We're not done with this case," he said. "There are a lot of federal agents knocking on a lot of doors."
Cincinatti.com
And, I presume, a lot of people hustling for legal representation.
The Generation Now named in the complaint is unrelated to the Cincinnati-based workforce development nonprofit of the same name.
How stinky is that? Giving your criminal enterprise a name that will taint a legitimate nonprofit.
DeVillers said Generation Now was set up as a social welfare entity, which allowed it to avoid disclosing its donors. But he said "not a dime of the money" that flowed to the group went to social programs.
Despicable.
Chris Hoffman, special agent in charge of the FBI's Cincinnati office, which led the [two-year-long] investigation, said the charges Tuesday represent "a shameful betrayal of the public trust."
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The 82-page criminal complaint alleges Generation Now received about $60 million in exchange for Householder and other’s help in the passage of House Bill 6 and the blocking of a ballot initiative to overturn the legislation.
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Householder also came under FBI scrutiny during his first term as Ohio's House speaker from 2001 to 2004. The FBI launched an investigation in 2004 into allegations that Householder and his aides took kickbacks from vendors and traded legislation for campaign contributions. The investigation ended in 2006 with no charges filed.
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His rough-and-tumble approach to politics was reflected often in the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday. In a conversation recorded by the FBI in January 2018, Householder discussed how he would use Generation Now money to help political allies.
According to an excerpt of the conversation in the complaint, when he was reminded that some in the House supported another candidate for the Speaker's job, Householder replied, "Yeah, we can f*** them over later."
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Householder is one of the biggest names in Ohio politics and has been a major player for years in the state's Republican Party. He's known as an aggressive fundraiser who doesn't shy away from hardball tactics on the campaign trail or in the statehouse.
And now he's known as a racketeer. Soon he'll be known as a felon.
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