Ohio Republican U.S. Senator Jon Husted (left) and delayed former Ohio regulator Sam Randazzo, who died by suicide after pleading not guilty in Ohio’s House Bill 6 political bribery scandal. (Photos and graphics: WEWS.)
According to his official calendar, Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio met with the alleged mastermind of Ohio’s largest public corruption scheme two days before the introduction of scandal-prone bribery legislation.
While former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and Vice President Mike Dowling are on trial for bribery, their close ties to major political players continue to come to featherlight.
“I don’t think all the significant actors have been discovered yet,” said state Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid.
But one name kept popping up in a Summit County courtroom.
“He had access to Jon Husted, the lieutenant governor of Ohio,” Steven Grimes, Dowling’s lawyer, said during opening remarks.
Jones and Dowling maintain their innocence, and Randazzo took his own life in 2024 without pleading guilty.
No charges were filed against Husted.
(*6*) Smith said of Husted.
Husted communicated frequently with FirstEnergy management before, during and after the campaign.
Text messages containing our 2024 public records request show that executives spent at least $3.5 million through shadowy money groups to assist fund Gov. Mike DeWine and Husted’s 2018 campaigns.
Not only did we uncover texts linking DeWine and Husted to FirstEnergy, but the administrative case was also settled with Randazzo.
DeWine defended his top aide, Laurel Dawson, after an indictment alleged she knew about millions of people going to Randazzo from FirstEnergy just before the governor installed him in 2019.
She helped vet the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission, the supposed regulator of utilities, after her family had already received a $10,000 loan from him.
The governor’s team insists she didn’t know the millions were a bribe.
According to prosecutors, FirstEnergy gave Randazzo $4.3 million to execute their bid, assist the company, and also create Ohio House Bill 6.
FirstEnergy spent $61 million to pass legislation providing billions in aid to the struggling company.
The then-Lieutenant Governor also contacted them about HB 6. Husted always denied knowing it was a bribe.
Dowling emailed Jones before the passage of HB 6 in 2019, saying the governor “left the details of HB 6 to others” – John [sic] Husted and Danny.
Dan McCarthy was DeWine’s legislative director after serving as a lobbyist for FirstEnergy.
A brand novel recording request shows the 2019 Husted calendar.
Two days before HB 6 was introduced, Husted had a scheduled meeting with Randazzo, the bill’s author.
Combined with our data obtained in 2024, the calendar includes dates and times, giving greater credence to text messages sent between FirstEnergy officials that Husted spoke to them as often as they claimed.
Call logs showed dozens of conversations between Husted, Randazzo and FirstEnergy leaders.
Throughout the hearing process, Husted reported more than a dozen meetings related to energy policy, HB 6, more than any specific bill on his calendar.
Since April 2019, he has met with lobbyists or energy officials named in the HB 6 records, including lobbyist Matt Evans and strategist Rex Elssa.
He held meetings on nuclear energy in his office, DeWine’s and the governor’s mansion. He also traveled to Akron to meet with Jones.
While the Senate was holding up passage of HB 6, Jones texted Householder.
“Husted called me two days ago and was supposed to get the Senate version,” Jones said.
“He is not a legislator,” Householder replied.
“I know, but he said Senate leaders would listen,” Jones replied. “He didn’t deliver.”
“It appears that Jon Husted was an elected official of First Energy in Columbus,” Smith said.
After the law came into force, supporters of the law tried to have it repealed.
On the same day that the attorney general was expected to confirm the effort, Husted met with former House Speaker Larry Householder, who landed in prison for his role in the scheme.
Husted also met with FirstEnergy executives and lobbyists who actively tried to prevent the petition from being filed in the fall of 2019.
Former GOP leader Matt Borges just finished serving a prison sentence for his role in trying to block repeal.
We reached out to Husted’s team on Monday morning and asked them six questions, including why he was so involved in this legislation.
His team still had not responded to comment as of Tuesday evening.
Husted has publicly advocated for a nuclear bailout, he said in 2024.
“There is reason to believe that they will come out. If they did, we would have an energy deficit today, so it is important that they are saved,” Husted continued. “It was a very public position that I took and I stand by it.”
He was asked about the management’s texts and the bribery program.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. (*2*) he replied.
In a 2026 Summit County courtroom, the defense stated that the meetings with Husted were professional in nature.
“It’s a very typical thing that politicians do at the end of a campaign,” said Jones’ lawyer, Carole Rendon. “They will meet with their supporters and thank them for their support.”
Husted has been listed as a defense witness and may testify in the next few weeks.
“Jon has always been a really good friend of FirstEnergy,” Smith said. “With friends like that, I don’t know if you need enemies.”
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.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
