Ohio’s former chairman of the Public Utilities Commissioner, facing charges in the state’s biggest corruption case, has been found dead. The body of Sam Randazzo was discovered late Tuesday morning in a building he owned in Columbus. He was 74.
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Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been indicted on ten new state felony charges alleging misuse of campaign money and ethics violations, Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Tuesday.
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Ohio Democratic lawmakers want the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted after news reports questioned the administration’s actions after the House Bill 6 scandal came to light.
At a Thursday news conference, State House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said the suggestion is that the administration did nothing when possibly criminal activity came to light.
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Nearly five years after House Bill 6 became law and six months after former House Speaker Larry Householder was sent to prison, Ohio Democrats plan to introduce legislation again to stop corruption at the Statehouse.
State Reps. Daniel Troy (pictured above), D-Willowick, and Rachel Baker, D-Cincinnati, plan a news conference Tuesday to announce the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act requiring dark money groups to identify contributors and disclose spending.
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Following the sentencing of former Ohio Republican Speaker of the House Larry Householder on Thursday, Ohio lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives voiced their opinions.
A federal judge sentenced Householder this week to the maximum of 20 years in federal prison for his participation in the largest bribery scandal in state history.
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A federal judge sentenced former Ohio Republican Speaker of the House Larry Householder today to the maximum 20 years in federal prison Thursday for his involvement in the largest bribery scandal in state history.
Prosecutors asked federal judge Timothy Black to sentence him to 16-20 years. The 64-year-old Householder asked for less than two years. Householder was remanded to the custody of U.S. marshals following Thursday’s hearing.
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After more than two years, Attorney General Dave Yost’s civil lawsuit against FirstEnergy, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, and others connected to the House Bill (HB) 6 scandal is once more being permitted to move forward.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Brown has granted Yost’s motion to lift the stay on proceedings in the case.
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A federal jury found former Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder and former state Republican Party leader Matt Borges guilty of racketeering conspiracy in what federal prosecutors have called the largest public corruption case in state history.
The two each face up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced in the coming months. Appeals could also be filed.
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Republicans in the Ohio House are pushing to modify the state’s ethics laws to, among other things, limit elected officials’ ability to serve on corporate boards and require more transparency from lobbyists and utility board applicants.
Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Township), flanked by 11 of the 43 Republicans who backed him for speaker, unveiled proposed legislation, called the “Ohio Ethics and Financial Disclosure Reform Act,” which would make lobbyists disclose all of the money they receive from each client and forbid elected officials from serving on corporate boards of directors after being elected.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wants a judge to cut attorneys’ fees by $10 million as ratepayers near a settlement in a class action lawsuit with FirstEnergy.
Yost filed an objection in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio against the lawyers’ plan to receive a third of the $49 million settlement that still needs final approval from Judge Edmund Sargus.
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On Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) released new records pertaining to the FirstEnergy scandal, indicating that Governor Mike DeWine (R) frequently spoke with a “risk communications team” as well as attorneys including Ohio Attorney General David Yost (R) concerning the issue.
Jeff Crossman and Taylor Sappington, respectively Democratic candidates for Ohio attorney general and Ohio Auditor, are also publicizing these documents via their campaign websites to underscore what their party suggests is increasing evidence of culpability on DeWine’s part. (Crossman will face Yost in this November’s election; Sappington is running against incumbent Auditor Keith Faber.)
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Ohio paused its investigation into FirstEnergy and House Bill 6 after federal prosecutors said continuing could interfere with their ongoing criminal investigation.
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairwoman Jenifer French, a former judge, said she understood how the four PUCO investigations into FirstEnergy and the passage of House Bill 6 could create issues for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
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Text messages between FirstEnergy Corp. executives indicate Ohio Lieutenant Governor John Husted (R) had discussions with company officials related to the scandal-plagued House Bill 6, according to a motion filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
In July 2019, Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed that measure into law, bailing out the FirstEnergy-operated Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants to $1.3 billion. Federal attorneys have since accused numerous political bigwigs, including former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, of partaking in a $61 million bribery scheme to enact the bill. The company has itself been smacked with a $230 million fine for its part in the scandal.
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Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Chairwoman Elizabeth Walters last week filed a preliminary injunction seeking assurance that Gov. Mike DeWine (R) will preserve all records pertaining to House Bill 6 as an ODP lawsuit goes forward.
The legislation, which DeWine signed into law in July 2019, created a $1.3 billion bailout for the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear-power plants operated by FirstEnergy Corp. Federal prosecutors have alleged that GOP former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and numerous other individuals, including erstwhile Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, participated in a $61 million bribery scheme to effect the subsidies.
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In a Wednesday press release, a former U.S. Congressman and current gubernatorial candidate slammed incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine (R) for allegedly turning a blind eye to warning signs regarding the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) who was part of the FirstEnergy corruption scandal.
“Why did Mike DeWine ignore a 200-page warning about Sam Randazzo’s unethical behavior and appoint him to lead the Public Utilities Commission anyway?” said Jim Renacci in the release. “What else did DeWine know about FirstEnergy’s scandalous corruption? There are still several unanswered questions about this scheme that frauded Ohio taxpayers. With every new court filing, news report, or resignation, the FirstEnergy noose keeps tightening around Mike DeWine. Enough is enough: conservatives have a chance next month to vote for real accountable conservative leadership and put an end to Mike DeWine’s 40-year corrupt establishment career.”
The comments came on the heels of a news story published in The Ohio Capital Journal claiming that DeWine was in possession of a 198-page dossier “alleging Sam Randazzo – a lawyer and lobbyist who represented gas companies and industrial scale electricity buyers – used businesses registered in his name to ‘funnel’ money from FirstEnergy to buy real estate.”
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“In recent years, there has been a global shift in attitudes toward the development of new nuclear technologies to deploy scalable clean energy,” Rep. Dick Stein, R-Norwalk, said. “This legislation will bring Ohio to the forefront of advanced nuclear innovation and strengthen our domestic supply chains. This legislation is a proactive measure to tell the federal government Ohio is here to be a solution to find a clean, carbon-free energy source.”
The new authority, according to a news release, would be responsible for the development of advanced nuclear reactor commercialization, isotope production and nuclear waste reduction.
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After years of corrupt dealings between the Clinton family, the Biden family, and the administration of former President Barack Obama, all of which contributed to Russia’s near-total monopoly on uranium, one Ohio utility company needs to keep that Uranium flowing for its nuclear energy production.
The National Energy Institute (NEI), a trade group of U.S. nuclear power generation companies including Duke Energy Corp … and Exelon Corp … is lobbying the White House to keep the exemption on uranium imports from Russia, the sources said, according to a report in Reuters.
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FirstEnergy, the company at the heart of a $60 million bribery scheme that led to the indictment and ouster of Ohio’s House speaker, did not charge customers to fund stadium naming rights, according to a recent report by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).
The audit examined records for Cleveland Illuminating Co., Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison and FirstEnergy Corp., according to a news release, and confirmed no payments were booked into accounts held by FirstEnergy’s three Ohio utilities, meaning no costs were passed onto customers.
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FirstEnergy customers in Ohio will see nearly $30 million in refunds on their electric bills after the Public Utility of Commission of Ohio ordered the money returned.
The PUCO ordered implementation of the recently passed and signed House Bill 128, which was one of the many bills introduced this year in the Ohio General Assembly aimed at tackling the House Bill 6 scandal that led to the indictment and eventual removal from office of former House Speaker Larry Householder.
The bill, which became effective June 30, dealt with “decoupling,” which Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has referred to as designed to allow FirstEnergy to overcharge customers.
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It’s been over seven months since the FBI announced a criminal complaint stemming from Ohio House Bill 6 (HB6). Arrests were made for what feds call a bribery and racketeering plan bankrolled by First Energy Solutions to elect state representatives and a House Speaker that would ensure the bill passed (and stopped efforts to repeal it) – giving a $1.3 billion bailout to two Ohio nuclear energy plants.
A new report lays out the $1M relationship between First Energy companies and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s campaign.
FirstEnergy has agreed to give up what could have been a $120 million windfall in 2021, and Ohio put on hold its ongoing lawsuit relating the state’s nuclear bailout law.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday what he called a “big win” for state consumers when the energy company said it would forego a provision in the law that guaranteed FirstEnergy the ability to recapture yearly profits based on its profit numbers from 2018.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Governor Michael DeWine wrote a letter to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) Nominating Commission Wednesday telling them to offer new candidates for the vacancy left by the resignation of former PUCO Chairman Samuel Randazzo. DeWine rejected the slate of four finalists screened by the 12-member Nominating Council. “The list contained candidates who could be an appropriate addition to the PUCO,” wrote DeWine. “I reject the first list and request you reconvene the PUCO Nominating Council to provide me with a second list. The second list may include candidates that have previously applied, along with new applicants.” The four applicants submitted to the governor on December 21 were: Angela Amos – policy advisor at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Anne Vogel – governor DeWine’s energy policy Director and former Director of Federal Government Affairs at American Electric Power (AEP); Greg Poulos – Director of Consumer Advocates of the PJM States, Inc.; Judith French – jurist and former Ohio Supreme Court Justice. French was just appointed by DeWine to head the Ohio Department of Insurance. Vogel recently fell under scrutiny and criticism from the Energy and Policy institute for alleged ties to AEP dark money.…
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The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio again took aim at the company at the heart of the state’s controversial nuclear bailout bill.
The PUCO initiated an audit of FirstEnergy’s compliance with corporate separation laws and regulations. Already, the commission is investigating the company’s Ohio distribution utilities’ political and charitable spending.
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FirstEnergy donated generously to Mike DeWine, his son Patrick DeWine, Larry Householder, who wanted to become House speaker for the second time in his life, as well as the Ohio Republican Party, as our special series shows.
FirstEnergy, as well as Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, helped Householder achieve his dream in January 2019. His first time as speaker was 2001-2004.
Householder, according to a story by cleveland.com, recruited a group of candidates for the House’s 2018 election who would need his help to gain office, the newspaper said, citing a federal charging document.
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The Dayton Daily News in January 2014 reported on allegations of pay-to-play in Attorney General DeWine’s office concerning an advisory panel.
His calendar shows he met frequently with (now deceased) Alex Arshinkoff, a lobbyist and the chairman of Summit County Republican Party who represented four companies doing business with DeWine’s office.
DeWine was not the only Ohio Republican engaging in pay-to-play. Indeed, previous news reports and public records show the Ohio Republican Party funneled money to DeWine and now disgraced former House Speaker Larry Householder from such donors as FirstEnergy.
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Mike DeWine, as former Ohio attorney general, often awarded no-bid contracts to lawyers and collections agencies to do state work. Many of those chosen vendors also happened to be his campaign donors.
The Dayton Daily News in July 2014 reported on the connections between Attorney General DeWine’s awarding of collections contracts to vendors who also just happened to be campaign donors.
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A new group calling itself the “Ohio Consumers Power Alliance” has formed in response to House Bill 6, a controversial piece of legislation that many consider being a bailout of FirstEnergy’s two Ohio-based nuclear plants. Under House Bill 6, the state would effectively subsidize the plants with taxpayer dollars through a new “Ohio Clean Air Program.” “The mission of the Ohio Consumers Power Alliance is to educate and mobilize our state’s energy consumers around opportunities to diversify Ohio’s energy portfolio and keep rates low,” Rachael Belz, director of the Ohio Consumers Power Alliance, said in a statement. She called House Bill 6 a “creative approach used to blatantly disguise a consumer-funded bailout of two old, uneconomical nuclear plants as a comprehensive energy policy.” “Our members remains staunchly opposed to rewarding FirstEnergy’s bad business decisions by allowing them to dig deep into the pockets of Ohio ratepayers to cover the bill with no end in sight,” Belz said. “We also remain deeply disappointed in our leaders for continuing to reject energy innovation and job growth while keeping Ohio firmly planted in the dark ages of the status quo.” Belz was one of many opponents to testify against the bill, which…
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Ohio legislators revealed Monday their latest plan to save Ohio’s only two nuclear power plants from bankruptcy. As previously reported, FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy that manages several power stations across the Midwest, announced that it was closing all three of the nuclear plants it owns and operates throughout the region. Two of these plants are located in Ohio, with the third in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Due to its close proximity to the Ohio border, many of the Pennsylvania plant’s employees hail from the Buckeye State, meaning that the overwhelming majority of the 2,300 employees set to be laid off from all three plants would be native Ohioans. The organization’s subsequent moves sparked national outrage and condemnation from Democrats, Republicans, and environmental groups: Energy companies like FirstEnergy and its subsidiaries are required to keep enough money in reserve to cover the cost of environmental cleanup should it be necessary. When FES filed for bankruptcy, FirstEnergy, the parent company, immediately began filing extensions with the federal government to discuss these requirements. Simultaneously, they met with private creditors to ensure all personal debts were either paid, nullified, or managed. When this was completed, FirstEnergy then decided to “spin-off” FES and act as if they were a wholly independent…
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Ohio Taxpayers could be stuck with a $1 billion nuclear cleanup bill if one national energy company has its way. The U.S Department of Justice, along with the “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Office of the Ohio Attorney General, acting on behalf of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,” are all jointly fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen. FirstEnergy, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities, maintains the subsidiary; FirstEnergy Solutions (FES). That subsidiary actively managed three nuclear power plants, three coal plants, two natural gas plants, and three wind plants. A majority of these plants are based on Ohio with nuclear plants in Oak Harbor and Perry, a gas plant on Lorain, and a wind plant in Blue Creek. While only one of the coal plants is located in Ohio, in Stratton, the other two rest just outside Ohio’s borders in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. As a result, they too employ many Ohioans. In March, FES announced that all three nuclear power plants would be shuttered within the next five years, laying off 2,300 workers. After attempting, and failing,…
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