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Merged Ohio House Speaker Householder, 4 colleagues arrested in $60 million bribery case

TurkeysGhost

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TurkeysGhost
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https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/07/21/ohio-bribery-case-state-official-charged-federal-prosecutors/5477862002/

Federal officials arrested Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others on Tuesday morning in connection with a $60 million bribery case.


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.
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Ohio House Speaker, 4 colleagues arrested in racketeering case

According to several news sources, the farm of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has just been raided by the FBI, and he and four cohorts have been arrested as part of a bribery investigation. Per the Columbus Dispatch:

Householder, 61, of Glenford, is charged in the alleged racketeering conspiracy involving the funneling of energy company funds through Generation Now, a dark money group formed by a longtime associate, with some proceeds used to back the campaigns of legislative candidates supportive of Householder’s run for Speaker.

Also arrested Tuesday as part of the alleged conspiracy were:

‒ Matt Borges, 48, of Bexley, the former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party and a lobbyist.

‒ Jeffrey Longstreth, 44, of Columbus, a longtime campaign and political strategist for Householder.

‒ Neil Clark, 67, of Columbus, a lobbyist who owns Grant Street Consultants.

‒ Juan Cespedes, 40, of Columbus, a lobbyist.
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Here is the criminal complaint by the US attorney:

To summarize, from March 2017 to March 2020, Householder's Enterprise received approximately $60 million from Company A entities, paid through Generation Now and controlled by Householder and the Enterprise. In exchange for payments from Company A, Householder's Enterprise helped pass House Bill 6, legislation described by an Enterprise member as a billion-dollar "bailout" that helped save from closure two failing nuclear power plants in Ohio affiliated with Company A. The Enterprise then worked to corruptly ensure that HB 6 went into effect by defeating a ballot initiative. To achieve these ends, and to conceal the scheme, Householder's Enterprise passed money received from Company A Corp. affiliates through multiple entities that it controlled. Householder's Enterprise then used the bribe payments to further the goals of the Enterprise, which include: (1) obtaining, preserving, and expanding Householder's political power in the State of Ohio through the receipt and use of secret payments; (2) enriching and benefitting the enterprise, its members, and associates; and (3) promoting, concealing, and protecting purposes (1) and (2) from public exposure and possible criminal prosecution.
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"Company A" is Energy Harbor, the electric company formerly known as FirstEnergy Solutions that owns the two power plants mentioned, along with many other coal plants in Ohio as well. Juan Cespedes, mentioned in the OP as one of the people arrested along with Householder, is a lobbyist for Energy Harbor. Basically, Energy Harbor (then-FirstEnergy) in large part financed Householder's run for House Speaker in Ohio, in exchange for his pushing for this bailout, which substantially benefitted FirstEnergy. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Under the bill signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine, every Ohio electricity customer would have to pay a new monthly surcharge through 2027 that ranges from 85 cents for residential customers to $2,400 for large industrial plants.

Of the $170 million per year brought in from the new surcharge, $150 million is to go to FirstEnergy Solutions, now known as Energy Harbor, to bail out its two northern Ohio nuclear power plants – Davis-Besse and Perry - with the remaining $20 million a year to support six solar power projects around the state.
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Craig4 said:
Naw, they'll call it another witch hunt and rally around him. He'll tell us all how he was unfairly targeted and hump Trump's leg for a pardon.
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One of the people involved has already been thrown under the bus as disloyal and not a true Republican.

One of Trump's Retweets that Captain Swoop posted in the Trump thread:

Trump Retweeted

Will Chamberlain
@willchamberlain
Matt Borges - the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party - set up a #NeverTrump PAC to try and elect Joe Biden
Today he was arrested in a $60 million bribery case
 
Armitage72 said:
One of the people involved has already been thrown under the bus as disloyal and not a true Republican.

One of Trump's Retweets that Captain Swoop posted in the Trump thread:

Trump Retweeted

Will Chamberlain
@willchamberlain
Matt Borges - the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party - set up a #NeverTrump PAC to try and elect Joe Biden
Today he was arrested in a $60 million bribery case
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Wrong motive. While they would obviously dislike this guy and consider him disloyal, the purpose of the tweet is to try spreading some of this **** onto Biden.
 
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