LOVELAND MAGAZINE

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Tag: Larry Householde

  • Householder denies D.C. dinners, tying donations to legislation

    Householder denies D.C. dinners, tying donations to legislation

    BY: MARTY SCHLADEN – Ohio Capital Journal

    Former House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford. Source: Ohio General Assembly.

    CINCINNATI — Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder on Wednesday claimed that he never promised any legislative action to FirstEnergy in exchange for the tens of millions the company paid into a 501(c)(4) dark money group he controlled.

    He also denied attending dinners in Washington, D.C., during Donald Trump’s inauguration during which other witnesses said he met with top FirstEnergy executives. 

    And the former speaker denied that he demanded unquestioning loyalty from lawmakers whose elections he worked for. Instead, he said, he wanted them to be independent thinkers.

    After sitting through federal court testimony since Jan. 23, Householder on Wednesday took the witness stand in his own defense. That’s considered by many lawyers to be a risky strategy because he will be subject to cross examination by prosecutors who are eager to catch the former speaker in a lie.

    Householder, a Republican from Glenford, and former Ohio GOP chair Matt Borges are being tried on accusations of racketeering in a case that federal prosecutors have said is likely the biggest bribery and money laundering scandal in Ohio history. 

    Householder is accused of masterminding a scheme to use $61 million in utility money to elect House members who would vote to make him speaker at the beginning of 2019. He led the effort to pass a $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout of failing nuclear and coal plants the following July and then protected it from a repeal campaign that failed in October 2019. Prosecutors say the bailout was explicitly tied to FirstEnergy’s contributions.

    On the stand, Householder introduced himself as a guy from Appalachia who had worked for years to protect Ohio’s energy independence. But he also made a number of statements prosecutors are likely to challenge.

    One is that as it neared passage, the bailout law, House Bill 6, became the object of “misinformation” in commercials that he said were financed by the American Petroleum Institute. The nuclear reactors the law would subsidize couldn’t compete with natural gas, which Householder said the petroleum institute supported instead of nuclear power.

    However, in his testimony, Householder didn’t point to anything specific that the group had misstated. Similarly, he complained of misinformation in a Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial, but he didn’t point to anything specific, nor did he say whether he asked for a correction.

    At the same time, the former speaker seemed guilty of some misinformation of his own.

    Householder said one of the chief goals of House Bill 6 — dubbed the “Ohio Clean Air Program” — was to lower carbon emissions. But the bill provided hundreds of millions in subsidies to coal-burning plants owned by FirstEnergy subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions and other Ohio utilities.

    Householder’s claimed concern for carbon emissions also seems to clash with earlier statements he made on the stand. He testified that he was president of a group that owned an Alabama coal mine and that during an earlier stint in the Ohio House, he worked to subsidize coal production.

    Householder also tried to soften his image after three former House Republicans portrayed the former speaker as a heavy-handed autocrat who demanded loyalty at all times. He pointed out that even though they didn’t vote to make him speaker and they voted against HB 6, he didn’t remove Reps. Laura Lanese and Dave Greenspan from their leadership positions.

    In secret FBI recordings played earlier in the trial, lobbyist Neil Clark described Householder as ruthless and said he told Greenspan that because the lawmaker had opposed HB 6, Householder would never allow legislation Greenspan wanted to move forward. What Householder wanted, witnesses testified, were “casket carriers” — people so loyal that they would stay with him until he died and then lower his casket into the ground.

    But Householder on Tuesday said he didn’t want blind loyalty, he wanted independence. As for wanting casket carriers, that meant “I didn’t want enemies. I wanted friends,” Householder testified.

    Householder also disputed some of the basic factual allegations that had been made against him. 

    He denied testimony from former aide Jeffrey Longstreth that in an Oct. 10, 2018 meeting, lobbyist Robert Klaffky slid a $400,000 check from FirstEnergy Services across a conference table and under Householder’s hand. It was a FirstEnergy Services employee who gave him the check and there was no conference table to slide it across, Householder said.

    Even if that’s true, it’s hard to square that account with other parts of Householder’s testimony.

    At issue in the case is whether Householder pushed the bailout legislation in exchange for all the millions he received from FirstEnergy. He said he had little involvement in Generation Now, the main 501(c)(4) dark money group the company paid into and which supported Householder-friendly candidates and ferociously attacked their opponents.

    Householder said his understanding was that Generation Now was “a vehicle that would educate the public on issues that were important to Ohio.”

    But on Wednesday, Householder said he accepted a $400,000 check from FirstEnergy Solutions that was made out to Generation Now, which was created and controlled by Longstreth, his underling. The former speaker conceded that it was a huge contribution — and the jury might find it hard to credit that he played such a passive role in the group’s activities.

    Householder also denied Longstreth’s account of a dinner during Trump’s 2017 inaugural. Longstreth testified that he sat at one end of a long table in a crowded steakhouse with FirstEnergy Vice President Michael Dowling, while Householder sat at the other with CEO Chuck Jones. Longstreth said he couldn’t hear the conversation at the other end of the table, but he did hear Dowling instruct him to set up an organization that could accept “undisclosed and unlimited contributions” from FirstEnergy and its subsidiary. 

    Householder testified that he went to the inaugural with his wife and several of his sons and only briefly saw Jones and Dowling, but didn’t dine with them. Instead, he and his family went to the inauguration, the parade that followed and attended functions where they were photographed with such luminaries as former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight, Householder said.

    However, Householder said he and one of his sons flew to D.C. and back on a FirstEnergy jet. 

    The former speaker testified that on March 29, 2019 — more than two months later — he wrote a check for $2,647 reimbursing the company for the flight. But he didn’t say why it took him that long to make the payment or what prompted him to do so.

    In addition, paying for flights on private jets crashed pretty hard against another bit of Householder’s testimony Wednesday — that he is very frugal.

    “Anybody who’s been around me knows I’m cheap,” Householder said. “I drive a 2001 GMC Sonoma and I don’t like to spend money.”

  • Angling for appeal? Householder attorneys go after judge in corruption trial

    Angling for appeal? Householder attorneys go after judge in corruption trial

    Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, a Perry County Republican, second from left, with attorneys outside of his racketeering trial. Photo courtesy of WEWS.

    BY: MARTY SCHLADEN – Ohio Capital Journal

    CINCINNATI — There has been speculation since the start of a massive public corruption trial that lawyers for the main defendant — former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder — were banking on getting any conviction tossed out on appeal.

    There might have been evidence of that on Tuesday when one of the attorneys took the rare step of accusing the judge in the case of bias against his client. The attorney also suggested that the judge harbored a political grudge against Householder going back more than 22 years.

    Testimony resumed Tuesday in the case after repeated delays — first because of weather and then because a juror tested positive for covid. 

    When it did, federal prosecutors continued presenting extensive evidence to support allegations that Ohio utilities paid $61 million into Householder-controlled 501(c)(4) dark money groups and Householder used the money to elect friendly Republicans to make himself speaker in early 2019. Householder is accused of pushing through a $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout that primarily benefited his primary benefactor — Akron-based FirstEnergy — in return.

    Prosecutors have said it was likely the largest bribery and money-laundering scheme in Ohio history.

    Federal prosecutors are known to usually file charges only when they’re almost certain to get a conviction. That’s perhaps even more true when the case is against an elected official.

    And over the course of testimony so far, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Glatfelter has introduced reams of evidence in the form of emails and text messages, as well as transcripts of wiretaps and witness testimony — including that of co-defendants who have pleaded guilty.

    Householder’s attorneys have argued that their client raising money and electing candidates who would support his speaker’s bid was just politics as usual. They also argue that Householder only wanted to prop up failing nuclear and coal plants because he wanted to save jobs and protect the tax bases of the communities where they were located.

    Householder also is alleged to have pocketed $500,000 in utility money himself, but his lawyers say those were loans he fully intended to repay.

    However, the attorneys’ conduct on Tuesday might indicate that they’re looking past the jury trial.

    Before the jury entered the courtroom, Householder attorney Mark Marein rose to complain to U.S. District Judge Timothy Black  — about the conduct of Black himself.

    “We all collectively believe that the court holds animosity toward us,” Marein said, referring to Householder’s legal team. He added, “I question whether (Judge Black) should be presiding over this.”

    Black scolded Householder’s lawyers last week for muttering and making faces during Glatfelter’s opening statement. Among his criticisms, Black called the conduct “bush league.”

    The judge also dismissed a juror who refused to wear a mask in court. That prompted speculation that Householder’s lawyers were displeased because such a juror might be more sympathetic to their client, a pro-Trump Republican.

    But Marein gave a wholly different reason for suspecting that the judge was biased against Householder. He said that Black might be holding a grudge from 2000, when Black ran for the Ohio Supreme Court and Householder worked against the candidacy. 

    Both Marein and Black acknowledged that Marein was making the statements simply to get them into the record — presumably so they would be there in the event of an appeal. 

    There is some precedent for overturning public corruption convictions over complaints of judicial bias and prosecutorial misconduct. 

    In 2009, the conviction of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was thrown out after the FBI was found to have withheld exculpatory evidence and other misconduct. And in 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, ruling that the trial court judge allowed prosecutors to use an overly broad definition of bribery.

    But accusing a judge of bias in the middle of a trial has risks. Lawyers have said that if one genuinely believes a judge is biased, accusing that person of it in open court could simply make things worse. And in some instances, such accusations have resulted in professional sanctions against the lawyers making them.

    There were a few other developments of interest Tuesday:

    • Prosecutors played a recording of a wiretapped phone conversation between Householder and political operative Neil Clark in December 2017. Clark was also charged in the corruption scandal, but later died by suicide. In a laughing, profanity-strewn passage, the two talked about how Republicans legislators in 2010 drew a portion of Columbus into former U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi’s district. “Tiberi wanted a safer district,” Householder said, later adding, “He doesn’t like me because he thinks I f*****d with him.” The maps drawn in 2011 were said to have some of the most gerrymandered in the country. Last year, a Republican-controlled panel repeatedly refused orders from the state Supreme Court to draw them more evenly.
    • Householder allies and FirstEnergy officials in August 2017 discussed a third tranche of $250,000 from the company to a Householder-controlled dark-money group at the posh Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, where that state’s Coal Association was holding its annual meeting. The money flowed soon thereafter. That meeting follows a round of swanky dinners in Washington, D.C., involving Householder and FirstEnergy officials the previous January during former President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Two dark-money groups were set up within weeks and one quickly received the first $250,000 from FirstEnergy, even though was hemorrhaging money.

    The trial resumes Wednesday. It’s expected to last into March.