COLUMBUS, Ohio — Follow the money – nearly $61 million, to be specific —and the trail from Company A, now reported as First Energy, to a web of operatives, campaigns and pockets of a group called the Enterprise.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio David DeVillers alleges that Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R-Glenford) is the head a network of corruption centered around the 501(c)(4) Generation Now.
"The codefendants in this case, along with Larry Householder, are all political advisors, lobbyists, who all worked in different capacities. But make no mistake, this is Larry Householder's 501(c)(4)," said DeVillers.
Over three years, Householder and associates are alleged to have moved the millions into a racketeering machine.
"RICO charges are reserved for the most egregious conduct, you often probably heard a lot about it in a lot of mob cases. But this case is certainly justified for RICO," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffmann.
The affidavit alleges money from FirstEnergy and subsidiaries funneled through a non-profit called Generation Now and paid for campaign mailers and media buys, donations along with bribes to influence votes on HB6, and a massive campaign to suppress a ballot initiative to stop the controversial energy bill.
"Make no mistake. these allegations are bribery pure and symple, this was a quid pro quo. This was play, pay-to-play," said DeVillers.
Each member of the Enterprise named in the affidavit received or transferred anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
Some money went directly to Enterprise members. The affidavit says Householder received quarterly payments from Generation Now beginning in 2017 — a total of $2.9 million in 2017 and 2018..
The affidavit says that money was to get him into office and the speaker's chair.
"Larry Householder at the time in 2018 was not yet Speaker of the House, he had to be elected to Speaker of the House. So, millions of dollars were filtered from Company A through Generation Now to numerous, dozens of different enterprises controlled by members of the conspiracy," said DeVillers.
And as for his personal debts —
"The allegations are, about half a million dollars went to his personal beneft. About 300,000 dollars went to pay off a lawsuit that he had and some legal fees. Another 100,000 dollars went to a house in Florida, and various other money," said DeVillers
When the efforts to push HB6 began, the payments increased. $9.5 million went from Company A to Generation Now during the same period the bill was being debated. The affidavit alleges the Enterprise used that money to purchase media and mailers and to pressure legislators.
"You may have remembered in 2019, commercials, mailings, flyers, they all ultimately came from Company A," said DeVillers.
The next chunk of money came to fund the effort to end the campaign to overturn HB6 after it passed in 2019. $38 million went from FirstEnergy to Generation Now, and to media companies, strategists, and individuals, and others to stop the repeal initiative.
"That money was even used, hundreds of thousands of dollars of that money were provided to other ballot services, signature services, to do nothing. That is if the Enterprise hires them, they are conflicted from working on the ballot initiative to reverse HB6," said DeVillers.
And Devillers says that the investigation is still ongoing and more could be discovered before Householder and others are arraigned in August.
"We are still looking into accounts, we are still searching for exactly how much money went into whose account," DeVillers said.