Ohio governor lobbyist resigns; was linked to bribery probe
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press
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Updated:
Farnoush Amiri
Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel, center, accompanied by FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman, speaks during a news conference in Cincinnati, Thursday, July 22, 2021. Federal authorities say Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. would pay a $230 million penalty and fully cooperate as part of an agreement announced Thursday to settle federal charges against the company in a sweeping bribery scheme in Ohio.
Phil Masturzo
FILE - In this 2015 file photo, FirstEnergy Corp. then-President and CEO Charles "Chuck" Jones appears at the company's Akron, Ohio headquarters. Six top executives from the company have been fired, including Jones, since the alleged $60 million bribery case, involving ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others. Federal authorities say the Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. has agreed to a settlement that calls for the company to fully cooperate and pay a $230 million fine as part of a sweeping bribery scheme. The dismissal of Jones, who initially denied any wrongdoing by the company, appeared to be tied to a $4.3 million payment that FirstEnergy made in January 2019, purportedly to end a longstanding consulting contract with a person soon to be appointed Ohio’s top utility regulator.
HOGP
FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Ohio Governor's office shows former Public Utilities Commissioner of Ohio, Sam Randazzo, a seasoned utility lawyer and lobbyist, implicated in a bribery scheme to help win legislative passage of a $1 billion bailout for two Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp.'s nuclear power plants. Randazzo resigned from the commission in November after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome, the same day FirstEnergy revealed the payment.
John Minchillo
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, file photo, Republican Ohio state Rep. Larry Householder sits at the head of a legislative session as Speaker of the House, in Columbus. Householder is charged in a $60 million bribery case, alleging he helped a $1 billion nuclear plant bailout. The 2020 arrests of Householder and four associates in connection with the scheme have rocked politics and business across Ohio.
Amy Sancetta
FILE - In this May 18, 2011, file photo, a worker drives a tractor through a tree farm in North Perry, Ohio, near the cooling towers of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. A $60 million bribery case, involving ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others, alleges to have helped prop up the Perry and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio. The 2020 arrests of Householder and four associates in connection with the scheme have rocked politics and business across Ohio.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s top lobbyist, a man linked to an ongoing federal bribery probe but never charged, resigned Friday after three years on the job.
Legislative Director Dan McCarthy cited “the pace and grind” of the job and referred to predecessors who warned him against serving more than two years.
“I know I’ve run quite a bit over my two year commitment but I think now is the right time to resign as your Legislative Director,” McCarthy wrote in his letter to the Republican DeWine.
Federal prosecutors charged five individuals last year, including the then-House speaker, with orchestrating a $60 million bribery scheme to assure the 2019 passage of a bill bailing out two nuclear power plants. Prosecutors say the scheme also involved killing efforts to put a petition on the ballot to overturn the bailout.
The power plants were operated at the time by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp.
McCarthy is a former FirstEnergy lobbyist who was president of one of the dark money groups, Partners for Progress, which has been implicated in the alleged bribery scheme. McCarthy has said his actions were legal and DeWine’s office has said it has no indication McCarthy is a target of the probe, which continues.
Details in July court filings said Partners for Progress appeared to be independent while actually being controlled by FirstEnergy. FirstEnergy admitted to hand-picking the organization’s three leaders, including McCarthy, and funneling $15 million in FirstEnergy cash through the nonprofit to another dark money group, Generation Now.
Generation Now pleaded guilty to its role in the scheme in February. In addition, FirstEnergy has admitted to using dark money groups to fund the bailout effort, and agreed to pay $230 million and other conditions so prosecutors won’t forge ahead with a criminal case against the company.
