Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost gave another reason not to explain his involvement in the largest corruption scandal in state history: There are other cases in this case – including two that he is prosecuting – and there may be more.
Regardless of Yost’s position, last year, as they made their closing arguments in court, federal prosecutors seemed to have taken at least a passing interest in his involvement in an vital phase of the scandal.
Former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, the defendant, told a co-conspirator in June 2019 that he had dinner with Yost. This was at a time when AG was in its rightful place to assist stop repeal corrupt law that provided Akron-based FirstEnergy with billions in financial aid. Borges told his co-conspirator that Yost promised to assist wherever he could legally, the messages said.
Ohio’s attorney general has since declined to say whether Borges’ statement was true.
Regardless of his motivation, Yost dealt a weighty blow to the attempt to overturn the decision on August 12, 2019, when rejected the voting summary for repeal. Supporters must seek approval from the AG before they can begin their efforts in earnest, and they do missed 36 of 90 days they had to collect 265,000 certified signatures to invalidate the ballot.
Their effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
In her closing argument in last year’s criminal trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Gaffney Painter appeared to link Borges’ claims of AG assistance to the $10,000 contribution he made to Yost several months later. The money came from FirstEnergy, was laundered through a 501(c)(4) gloomy money group, and then placed in the bank account of a shell company that Borges had just created.
Painter explained that this was part of $100,000 in FirstEnergy gloomy money that went to Borges’ shell company – and clarified that the money was not intended solely for Borges’ personal enrichment.
“He also used the money to pursue the company’s goals,” she said, according to the minutes of the proceedings.
Just two sentences later, the federal prosecutor added: “These donations also included a $10,000 donation to Dave Yost on October 15, 2019 during the period of the (repeal) referendum using money provided to (Borges) by Generation Now. ”
Generation Now was a gloomy money group that was used to launder $60 million in FirstEnergy dollars to support a corrupt bailout program and was later indicted by the feds and then he pleaded guilty.
Does not say
The scandal erupted in July 2021 when the FBI arrested Borges, former House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, and three others. When this occurred, Yost donated the donation he received from Borges to charity.
But as recently as last week, Ohio’s attorney general declined to reveal what he knows about the origins of gloomy money or what assist he may have provided to Borges, a longtime friend and consultant who now serves a five-year prison sentence for his role in the bailout scandal.
“Regarding the donation, Matt (Borges) has been a long-time supporter of Dave (Yost), so it is not unusual for (Borges) to contribute to the campaign fund,” Yost spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said in an emailed response on detailed questions about the origin of the donation and whether Yost believes it was in return for anything he had done. “After Borges was indicted, AG Yost donated this money to a human trafficking organization to help survivors.”
Last year, Yost was named as a potential witness in the Borges trial, and Yost’s office used that as a reason not to comment on messages presented in court in which his name appeared. Ultimately, the AG never took a position on the matter, which also led to: 20 years in prison for Householder.
Yost was not named as a potential witness in any criminal proceedings related to the scandal, much less was gagged by a judge. But his office says the fact he could be subpoenaed in the future is a reason not to comment on the role Ohio’s top cop played in protecting the bailout law fueled by $61 million in corporate bribes.
“Mr. Borges is appealing the verdict – if granted, there will be a new trial and AG Yost may be added to the prosecution’s witness list again,” McCorkle said last week.
Central stage
In February, Yost moved from the periphery of the rescue drama to a major player when he filed state charges against two top FirstEnergy executives as the rescue package was being planned and passed. Sam Randazzo, Gov. Mike DeWine’s nominee to be Ohio’s top regulator, was also charged in the case.
The state’s indictment revealed an entire decade suspicious, previously unknown dealings between management and Randazzo, who died by suicide in April. Besides, Yost filed separate state charges against Householder in March.
McCorkle, Yost’s spokeswoman, cited these or any potential cases as the reason the attorney general did not discuss what he knew and did about the corrupt bailout at the time he was said to have dined with one of the conspirators, rejecting the repeal language and receiving $10,000 in gloomy money from the company financing the conspiracy.
“If Mr. Borges or any other defendant chooses to substantiate any of these allegations when it is his, her or their turn to go to trial, we will appropriately and vigorously address them in court (through) evidence, arguments and testimony,” McCorkle said. “Giving Mr. Borges or any other defendant a preview of what we would like to present makes no sense either legally or strategically.”
Yost is widely expected to run for governor in 2026. Time will tell whether he will see the need to explain his role in the historic scandal to the public by then.
But his involvement was enough for federal prosecutors to spend considerable time on it as they tried to make a final impression on the jury at the end of the six-week trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Painter described how Yost spoke to Householder twice about assistance, and Householder then deleted the call logs. She also described how Borges lobbied Yost to interpret the aid as a legal tax and thus exempt from a voter-initiated veto.
And she paraphrased a June 26, 2019 text message that Borges sent to co-conspirator Juan Cespedes. He said he “had dinner with Yost and put the (repeal) referendum issue on his radar,” Painter said.
She then quoted Borges: “Don’t repeat it. But (Yost) said, “I would be against it if it weren’t for FirstEnergy’s support and your commitment.” He thinks the problem is bad policy, but wants to support it. If in any way the law allows him to reject the language, he will do so.”
Federal prosecutors then turned to what Ohio’s top law enforcement official actually did.
“And what did he do, what did Attorney General Yost do? He rejected the original language of the petition,” Painter said. “And (one of the repeal organizers) testified that this initial rejection cost them 36 days of the 90-day period to collect signatures and that it presented a significant obstacle to their efforts.”
