A lobbyist for a former subsidiary of FirstEnergy who admitted guilt in the scandal involving the nuclear bailout law known as House Bill 6 took the stand for the prosecution Monday.
Juan Cespedes told jurors lobbyist Bob Klaffky gave former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder a $400,000 check in a meeting just before the 2018 election. Cespedes said the check came from FirstEnergy, made out to Generation Now, the dark money group Householder was using to back candidates he expected would support him for speaker.
Cespedes said another $100,000 check was delivered to Householder’s political strategist Jeff Longstreth, who’s also pleaded guilty.
Cespedes said his client also gave $50 million to promote House Bill 6, Householder’s nuclear power plant bailout law, and the effort to stop a ballot issue to overturn it.
He also said he kept his friend and fellow FirstEnergy lobbyist Matt Borges, who is also the former Ohio Republican Party chair, updated on what was happening. Borges has also has plead non-guilty and is a co-defendant with Householder.