U.S. Attorney General issues Criminal Complaint against Ohio House Speaker Householder

Governor issues statement asking for resignation

From GONGWER NEWS:

Speaker Larry Householder and others caught up in an FBI corruption sting are facing charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, up to 20 years in prison and fines of at least $250,000.

In outlining those charges, a federal magistrate on Tuesday also imposed travel restrictions on the Glenford Republican and ordered any firearms in his possession be removed during a preliminary video hearing.

The same conditions apply to Jeff Longstreth, an adviser for the speaker who along with Mr. Householder was one of five people arrested this morning tied to an alleged bribery scheme, and Matt Borges, a political operative who previously served as chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.

Juan Cespedes and Neil Clark, also arrested in connection with the probe, were still in the process of their hearings.

The magistrate released Speaker Householder and Messrs. Borges and Longstreth without bond on the condition that they not travel outside of the Southern District of Ohio without permission.

They also requested defendants be prevented from contacting their codefendants in the case.

The charges stem from the involvement of the speaker and others in the passage of HB 6, which served to among other things bail out nuclear plants owned by Energy Harbor, formerly known as FirstEnergy Solutions.

The federal complaint indicates authorities' review of the speaker's activities have been ongoing for some time.

It states that money from "Company A," which was "in search of a solution to its nuclear energy problem," began flowing to the speaker following "his January 2017 trip on Company A's private jet." The $250,000 quarterly payments were directed to a 501(c)(4) entity "secretly controlled by Householder called Generation Now," according to the complaint.

"Members of Householder's Enterprise used Company A's payments for their own personal benefit and to gain support for Householder's political bid to become Speaker," it further states. "In the spring and fall of 2018, the Enterprise spent millions in Company A money to support House candidates involved in primary and general elections whom the Enterprise believed would vote for Householder for Speaker and, ultimately, would follow his lead as Speaker and vote for bailout legislation for Company A."

Governor DeWine issued a statement asking for the Speaker to resign:

Following the news conference by U.S. Attorney DeVillers in Columbus this afternoon announcing a criminal complaint against Speaker Larry Householder and others for an alleged $60 million bribery scheme, Governor Mike DeWine today issued the following statement.

“I am deeply concerned about the allegations of wrongdoing in the criminal complaint issued today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Every American has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.  Because of the nature of these charges, it will be impossible for Speaker Householder to effectively lead the Ohio House of Representatives; therefore, I am calling on Speaker Householder to resign immediately.

"This is a sad day for Ohio."