Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, at podium. (Photo from Ohio House website)
By Kathiann M. Kowalski
Parties are in the home stretch of trial preparation in the federal government’s criminal case against former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others. The case charges the defendants with bribery and a conspiracy related to House Bill 6, Ohio’s nuclear and coal bailout law. Developments include:
Motions in the federal government’s criminal case against Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges shed light on the parties’ legal strategies.
Pretrial fact-finding in shareholder cases could unearth more information from a dark money group linked to FirstEnergy, as well as an industry group that was a longtime client of former regulator Sam Randazzo.
American Electric Power wants to stop the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel from getting copies of subpoenas the company received from federal securities regulators.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio produced more documents responsive to federal subpoenas served last year, but it still has not provided all documents sought by the Energy News Network and Eye on Ohio.
Jury selection in the federal government’s case against former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges is still scheduled to begin on January 20. Trial could then start as soon as Jan. 23, confirmed spokesperson Jennifer Thornton of the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Three other co-defendants pled guilty but have not yet been sentenced, including the dark money organization Generation Now.
Lobbyist Neil Clark, another co-defendant, was found dead from an apparent suicide last year. Among other things, Householder has asked the court to keep recordings of statements Clark made to undercover federal agents out of evidence.
But statements by a co-conspirator are admissible evidence, and evidence will prove the conspiracy existed, the government responded. The alleged goals included preserving and expanding Householder’s political power through secret payments, plus enriching and benefitting the criminal enterprise, its members and associates.
Householder has also asked the court to block the government from introducing FirstEnergy’s deferred prosecution agreement or presenting evidence about the company’s alleged bribery of Sam Randazzo. Neither FirstEnergy nor Randazzo are defendants in the case. Among other things, FirstEnergy has admitted it paid $4.3 million to a company controlled by Randazzo shortly before Gov. Mike DeWine appointed him chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
The government responded that it doesn’t currently plan to introduce evidence about payments to Randazzo. Similarly, the government said it doesn’t plan to use the deferred prosecution agreement as an exhibit, although it may be referred to at trial. Presumably, the government will call one or more witnesses from FirstEnergy to testify.
Meanwhile, the government has asked the court to exclude testimony from an expert witness for Householder, who is expected to talk about what is “commonplace” in raising money for politics. However, the case is about an alleged racketeering conspiracy involving bribery, the government argued.
