FirstEnergy PAC doled out to Ohio politicians just before Householder arrest
COLUMBUS -- "The 2020 primary was over. The $1.3 billion bailout of two Ohio nuclear plants was already law. Yet, in the weeks before then-House Speaker Larry Householder’s arrest, the energy company at the center of it all donated $158,000 to Ohio politicians.
In the days before Householder’s arrest, the PAC donated $158,000 to state lawmakers and two GOP Ohio Supreme Court justices: Judith French and Sharon Kennedy.
What’s unusual about these donations is the timing. House Bill 6 had been settled law for months. The 2020 primary finished in late April and the general election was months away.
Lawmakers in the Ohio House hadn’t met since June 11 and the Senate wasn’t talking about energy policy. The PAC had no history of large donations during July."
-- Jessie Balmert, Cincinnati Enquirer