Nuclear Bailout

The racketeering trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges was cancelled due to illness again Friday, giving jurors a long holiday weekend to mull striking new details revealed this week by players directly involved in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme.

Former FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Juan Cespedes spent a second day on the stand in federal court, telling jurors of former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges' involvement in the House Bill 6 corruption case.

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.

Federal prosecutors showed an invoice from a private investigator firm that detailed the surveillance it conducted on signature gatherers who wanted to repeal the nuclear power plant bailout.

The trial of Larry Householder and Matt Borges revealed more details of how FirstEnergy campaigned for House Bill 6 and the role Borges played in their lobbying effort.

The prosecution walked the jury through how Larry Householder became the Ohio House speaker and how House Bill 6 — a nuclear power plant bailout — passed through the Ohio General Assembly.

U.S. prosecutors laid out several documents and recordings in their racketeering case against former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former FirstEnergy lobbyist Matt Borges.

One of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder's lawyers questioned the fitness on Tuesday of U.S. District Judge Timothy Black to preside over the Republican's corruption trial.

Court documents state the Ohio AFL-CIO received $1.4 million from a dark money group — allegedly operated by former House Speaker Larry Householder — to help fight against a repeal of a nuclear power plant bailout bill.

The trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been put on hold after a juror tested positive for COVID-19. We discuss this and a rift at the Ohio Statehouse among Republicans.