CINCINNATI — An FBI agent explained how efforts to bring legalized sports betting to Ohio helped flag potential criminal activity around the push to pass HB 6.
What You Need To Know
- FBI agent Nathan Holbrook took the stand in the federal corruption trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges
- Holbrook said he was working on a separate investigation into legalized sports betting in 2019
- During that investigation, lobbyist Neil Clark was recorded mentioning HB 6 and Householder while talking about his sports betting lobbying efforts
FBI agent Nathan Holbrook took the stand in the federal corruption trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges. The two are charged with racketeering conspiracy, accused of orchestrating a pay-to-play scheme that traded money and power for a billion dollar bailout of then-FirstEnergy Solutions’ struggling nuclear power plants in Ohio. Both pleaded not guilty.
Agent Nathan Holbrook was involved in a separate investigation in Cincinnati in 2019 when he learned about conversations that undercover agents secretly recorded with lobbyist Neil Clark.
Clark had met with undercover agents in July of 2019, under the assumption they were real estate developers with interests in getting sports betting legalized in Ohio. At the time, Clark was also lobbying on behalf of the sports betting industry.
In the recordings, Clark said Speaker Householder was upset with then-Rep. Dave Greenspan, the primary sponsor of a sports betting bill, because Greenspan had voted against HB 6, but suggested the "developers" donate $50,000 to Generation Now and that money would then be handed to Speaker Householder, with the assurance Householder would help pass the sports betting bill.
About a month later, Clark told one of the undercover agents over the phone that he already had two meetings with the Speaker and that Householder had "generally agreed to" making changes to the sports betting bill.
Clark pleaded not guilty to racketeering in the case, but died by suicide in 2021.
Former Republican strategist Jeffrey Longsteth and former FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Juan Cespedes both pleaded guilty. Cespedes testified in the trial earlier Wednesday.