Ohio Republican Senator Jon Husted testifies in the criminal defense of two former First Energy executives charged in Ohio’s largest-ever political bribery scandal. (Photo: Morgan Trau, WEWS.)
Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted testified Wednesday morning for the defense in the trial of two former First Energy executives, the latest development in the largest public bribery scandal in Ohio history.
After he was unable to testify last week because of the war in Iran, Husted appeared on Zoom.
Watch his testimony below:
For weeks, the state alleged that former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and Vice President Mike Dowling paid former Public Utilities Commission Chairman Sam Randazzo $4.3 million in bribes and that $61 million was spent to create and pass Ohio House Bill 6, which was legislation to provide billions of dollars in aid to their struggling nuclear facilities at the expense of Ohio utility customers.
In March 2023, a federal jury found that former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Republican Party leader Matt Borges participated in a scheme that left four men guilty and two dead by suicide.
Householder faces nearly three years of a 20-year prison sentence for accepting a bribe from FirstEnergy, while Borges is released after serving half of his five-year sentence.
Jones and Dowling face nearly a dozen state charges ranging from bribery to corrupt activity. A federal grand jury indicted them on racketeering charges last year.
For years, we have been uncovering FirstEnergy’s close ties to major political players.
Our previous investigations found FirstEnergy executives say then-Lt. Gov. Husted worked closely with them to pass HB 6 in 2019 after they helped finance his campaign.
Husted is now a candidate in one of the most closely watched Senate races this cycle.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau X AND Facebook.
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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