Timeline of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder case
Federal investigators outline their case against Republican former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four of his colleagues in an 81-page criminal complaint filed in federal court in Columbus.
It’s a redacted complaint, with the names of some of the companies, organizations and individuals involved undisclosed as the investigation continues into what U.S. Attorney David DeVillers called “likely the largest bribery, money-laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of Ohio.”
Here’s a timeline of how the case unfolded over the past four years:
• January 2001: Larry Householder, a state representative from Perry County, is elected Speaker of the Ohio House, a leadership post he retained through 2004. According to court documents, he “resigned from office after reports of alleged corrupt activity surfaced in the media and were publicly referred to the FBI. He was never charged.”
• November 2016: “Company A” informs investors and others in its annual report to stockholders about “a weak energy market, poor forecast demands and hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, particularly from its nuclear energy affiliate….” In a later earnings conference call, the company’s president and chief executive officer says, “Our top priority is the preservation of our two nuclear power plants (in Ohio)… and legislation for a zero-emission nuclear program is expected to be introduced soon.”
The latter comments have been attributed in multiple sources to Chuck Jones, FirstEnergy president and CEO. He wrote in the company’s 2016 annual report, “… We’re participating in legislative efforts in Ohio an Pennsylvania that recognize the environmental and energy security benefits of our baseload nuclear power plants.”
• Also in November 2016: Householder is elected once again to the Ohio House, replacing outgoing 72nd District Rep. Bill Hayes, who was elected Licking County prosecutor.
• January 2017: Householder takes a “trip on Company A’s private jet.”
• February 2017: Generation Now, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, incorporates in the state of Delaware. Investigators say the nonprofit was incorporated by Jeffrey Longstreth, longtime Householder campaign and political strategist, but ultimately controlled Householder.
Generation Now was not required to disclose its donors.
• March 2017: “Company A” begins making quarterly payments of $250,000, via a bank account in the name of Generation Now. In 2017 and 2018, the nonprofit and other entities it controlled received more than $2.9 million from the company. Eventually, the company made nearly $61 million in secret payments over a three-year period to Generation Now.
• May 2017: Lawmakers in the Ohio House and Senate introduced several bills in 2017 to create a “Zero-Emissions Nuclear Resource Program,” including a rider on electric customers’ bills. In testimony on one of those bills, Jones told an Ohio Senate panel that FirstEnergy’s two Ohio nuclear plants, Davis-Besse near Toledo and Perry east of Cleveland, could be forced to close without a subsidy.
The three bills did not move out of their respective chambers during the 2017-18 session.
• April 2018: Republican House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger abruptly resigns amid an FBI investigation. Householder and then-Rep. Ryan Smith, R-Bidwell, jockey for support to take the Speaker’s seat.
• May 2018: More than 10 candidates supportive of Householder win their primaries over Republicans who were supportive of Smith.
• June 2018: Smith is elected Speaker following an unprecedented 11 rounds of voting before he received the needed support.
Federal investigators said Generation Now funneled money from Company A to help 21 Householder-supportive candidates win during the primary and general elections.
• January 2019: Householder is elected Speaker, following a “bitter leadership battle” that lasted nearly a year.
Candidates backed by Householder during the 2018 election cycle won their races, giving him the support needed to secure the leadership post.
According to investigators, Generation Now “transitioned quickly to fulfilling its end of the corrupt bargain with Company A – passing nuclear bailout legislation. In fact, on Jan. 7, 2019, the day he was elected Speaker, Householder pledged to create a standing subcommittee on energy generation.”
• April 2019: Two freshmen lawmakers, Reps. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, and Shane Wilkin, R-Hillsboro, introduce House Bill 6, creating the “Ohio Clean Air Program,” effectively a nuclear plant bailout.
The legislation had its initial hearing before a House subcommittee that month, with subsequent hearings and dozens of proponents, opponents and interested parties providing testimony.
Dave Griffing, vice president of government affairs for FirstEnergy Solutions, is listed among the first to offer testimony in favor of the legislation.
• May 2019: The Ohio House passes HB 6 by a vote of 53-43. Investigators said Company A wired $9.5 million to Generation Now, mostly in May, to pay for a “media blitz” to sway support for HB 6. It paid another $7.3 million-plus for “polls, media buys and mailers” in June.
• June 2019: The Ohio Senate’s Energy and Public Utilities Committee begins deliberations on HB 6, with 10 hearings over the course of about a month.
• July 2019: The Ohio Senate passes HB 6, 19-12, and the Ohio House concurs the same day, 51-38. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the legislation into law, with its provisions taking effect in late October, though a new 85-cent-per-month fee on residential ratepayers bills does not start until next year.
• August 2019: An initiative petition from a group, Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, submits its first summary petition for a referendum to place HB 6 before voters. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost later signed off on the language, allowing opponents to move forward in their efforts to overturn the new state law.
About that same time, Matt Borges, former Ohio GOP chairman, incorporates the “17 Consulting Group” and a bank account, with an initial $400,000 from Generation Now wired into it, to block the referendum.
The latter efforts included mailers and other ads, the hiring of signature-collecting firms to stop their involvement in the petition circulation and bribes to signature collectors to stop their work.
• October 2019: Ohioans Against Corporate Bailout fails to gather enough signatures to stop HB 6 from taking effect.
• July 21, 2020: Householder, Longstreth, Borges, FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Cespedes and lobbyist Neil Clark are arrested for racketeering.
• July 30, 2020:Householder is removed as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives but permitted to remain a lawmaker. Bob Cupp, R-Lima, becomes the next speaker.
• Oct. 29, 2020: Cespedes and Longstreth enter plea agreements.
mkovac@dispatch.com
