On the same day Larry Householder (R) was voted out as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, the longtime legislator was officially indicted by a federal grand jury on a racketeering conspiracy charge related to the alleged $61 million bribery scheme by FirstEnergy to pass and maintain a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout.

In a unanimous decision, House members voted to remove Householder from the powerful position more than a week after his arrest for his alleged involvement in a three-year scheme resulting in the passage of House Bill 6, which authorized zero-emission credits for FirstEnergy Solutions’ (FES) Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants. (See Feds: FE Paid $61M in Bribes to Win Nuke Subsidy.)

The members quickly approved the measure without any debate in the Thursday morning session. Householder, who still retains his seat in the house despite calls for his resignation, was not present for the vote. Rep. Bob Cupp, a former Ohio Supreme Court justice, was elected speaker by a 55-38 vote.

Republican House leaders, including Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Butler, who was vying for Householder’s position, issued a statement after the vote.

“Today’s strong bipartisan vote to remove Larry Householder as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives is not a decision any member of the House took lightly, but it was clear that Mr. Householder is unable to effectively lead the House,” the statement said. “This is an opportunity to move the House forward and continue our work to move Ohio forward.”

Legislators on the other side of the aisle were also quick to tout Thursday’s vote for removal.

“The criminal allegations detailed last week and the indictment handed down today made it clear that Larry Householder could no longer serve as speaker of the People’s House,” said House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D). “His removal is the first step toward restoring public trust, which for the second time in three years has been eroded by Republican leadership that sees itself as above the law.”

Thursday’s action follows a call late last week by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) to repeal H.B. 6 and a denial of any wrongdoing by FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones. (See Ohio Gov. Calls for Repeal of Nuke Bailout and FirstEnergy, AEP CEOs Deny Wrongdoing.)

Grand Jury Indictment

Coming immediately after the House vote, U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers, of the Southern District of Ohio, announced the grand jury indictment of Householder and four others, including: Matt Borges, a lobbyist who previously served as chair of the Ohio Republican Party; Jeff Longstreth, Householder’s longtime campaign and political strategist; Neil Clark, a lobbyist who owns and operates Grant Street Consultants and previously served as budget director for the Ohio Republican Caucus; and Juan Cespedes, a multiclient lobbyist.

Jennifer Thornton, a Department of Justice spokeswoman, said the charges in Thursday’s indictment were the same as the ones issued in the July 21 criminal complaint.

According to the indictment, from March 2017 to March 2020, the “enterprise” headed by Householder received millions of dollars in exchange for his help in passing H.B. 6. “Company A,” which references FirstEnergy in the indictment, filtered nearly $61 million to a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization called Generation Now, created by Longstreth and controlled by Householder, to elect him to the speaker role and to support House candidates loyal to him.

Money from Generation Now was also used to fund television advertisements and mailers supporting H.B. 6, according to the indictment. Finally, money was used to defeat a ballot referendum that sought to overturn the law — including bribes to those working for the referendum.

The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint also alleges that money passed from “Company A” through Generation Now was used to pay for Householder’s campaign staff, which would otherwise have been paid by his candidate committee, Friends of Larry Householder. It also alleges Householder received more than $400,000 in personal benefits, including funds to settle a personal lawsuit, payments on a house he owns in Florida and to pay off credit card debt.

The racketeering conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Thursday’s indictment also seeks forfeiture of any property derived from the racketeering activity and the proceeds from several different bank accounts of Generation Now.

“Dark money is a breeding ground for corruption,” DeVillers said in a statement. “This investigation continues.”

Second Repeal Effort

Meanwhile, two Democratic House members last week proposed repealing part of the state’s two-year budget bill that allows FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities — Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison — to consider the profits made by all three subsidiaries averaged together when determining whether they have earned “significantly excessive” profits.

Cleveland.com reported that the provision was added by an unknown House member to the budget bill signed by DeWine last year.