Larry Householder, 4 others reportedly in custody, FBI at Ohio House Speaker’s farm

[GMDino]

https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/breaking-news-fbi-agents-are-at-ohio-house-speaker-larry-householders-farm/JCKHFEK4ZFH5HJF5O4MCP3BY2M/

Quote:Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others are reportedly in federal custody, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Also in federal custody are former Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges, lobbyist Neil Clark, lobbyist and Ohio Civil Rights Commission member Juan Cespedes and political consultant Jeff Longstreth, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Police activity is being reported at Householder’s farm in Perry County and the U.S. Attorney’s office said it is holding a 2:30 p.m. press conference today related to $60 million in bribes paid to a state official and associates.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio David DeVillers are expected to brief the press on a federal racketeering case, a news advisory says.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were at the Householder property in Glenford early this morning, said Perry County Sheriff Sgt. Brandon Forester. “I do not know any details on that. You need to contact the FBI. They wouldn’t release any information to us.”

FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said, “The FBI is conducting law enforcement activity in the area.”
Householder could not be reached for comment.

Evan Machan, communications director for the Ohio Republican Party, said he would withhold comment until after the federal news conference today.

Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, will not be issuing a statement, said John Fortney, press secretary for the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus.


“President Obhof chairs JLEC, the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, and cannot comment on the case,” Fortney said. “We have session today at 1:30pm and will continue to conduct the Senate’s business. All questions about today’s headlines are referred to the House.”

Householder, a farmer and businessman in Glenford, has led the GOP-controlled Ohio House since January 2019. He previously held the speaker’s gavel 2001 to 2004 but left due to term limits. He returned to the House in January 2017 and mounted a campaign to become the first lawmaker to recapture the speakership in nearly six decades.

The speaker, who one of the three most powerful politicians in Ohio, wields enormous influence over how the state spends more than $140 billion and can halt any piece of legislation.

In addition to earning his lawmaker salary, Householder earned income from Householder Farms, Peoples State Bank, Peoples National Bancshares, Perry Warehouse Company Ltd, and Householder & Sons Family, according to his latest filing with the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine postponed plans for a press conference on the coronavirus crisis this afternoon due to the U.S. Attorney’s 2:30 media briefing.

This is a developing story. Check back later for more updates.

[BmorePat87]

Whoa, that’s a hell of a scandal

[*Nately120*]

Once I google the party affiliations of the participants I'll weigh in on the validity of the case against them.

[GMDino]

(07-21-2020, 02:10 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I'm gonna guess Whig party?  Damn them.

Bullmoose.  But you were close.

[GMDino]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/21/ohio-house-speaker-larry-householder-arrested-bribery-case-source/5478219002/

Quote:CINCINNATI – Federal officials arrested Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others on Tuesday morning in connection with a $60 million bribery case.


U.S. Attorney David DeVillers' office would not discuss details of the case, but a source involved in the investigation confirmed Householder's arrest to The Cincinnati Enquirer of the USA TODAY Network.
Also arrested, according to the source: Neil Clark from Grant Street Consultants and once called by USA Today “one of the best connected lobbyists in Columbus"; former Ohio Republican Party chair and consultant Matthew Borges; Juan Cespedes, co-founder of The Oxley Group in Columbus; and Jeffrey Longstreth, adviser to Householder. 


The scope of the federal investigation, the dollars involved and the arrests Tuesday make this one of the largest public corruption cases in Ohio in years.


A spokeswoman for DeVillers said an Ohio official and associates were charged in the case, which she described as a "public corruption racketeering conspiracy involving $60 million." DeVillers has scheduled a 2:30 p.m. ET press conference to discuss the case.


The arrests are the result of a nearly two-year FBI investigation that included undercover federal agents who met with Householder and Clark, a source close to the investigation told The Columbus Dispatch. During those meetings, the source said, the two men made incriminating statements. 


A dispatcher for the Perry County sheriff's office told the Columbus Dispatch they were assisting the FBI this morning "in the area" of Householder's farm. She declined to specify it was the Householder farm.
Householder is one of the biggest names in Ohio politics and has been a major player for years in the state's Republican Party. He's known as an aggressive fundraiser who doesn't shy away from hardball tactics on the campaign trail or in the statehouse.

Larry Householder:This top Ohio Republican has made a career of thriving in chaos


He first served as Ohio's House speaker from 2001 to 2004. The FBI launched an investigation in 2004 into allegations that Householder and his aides took kickbacks from vendors and traded legislation for campaign contributions. The investigation ended in 2006 with no charges filed.


A term-limited Householder left Columbus in 2004 during the investigation.

After returning to the House a few years ago, Householder staged a comeback, with help from Democrats, when he took advantage of GOP infighting and returned to the speaker's post.
"When everyone else is in complete disarray is usually when I'm at my best," Householder told The Enquirer in 2019.


In his latest stint as speaker, Householder oversaw a controversial, Republican-led bailout of two Ohio nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, of Akron. House Bill 6, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in June, used ratepayer fees for the $1 billion bailout of the two northern Ohio plants.

The fight to approve the money was long and costly, extending even after the bill was signed into law. An effort to overturn the bailout ultimately failed after it met fierce resistance from well-funded competition. One group was a dark money operation called Generation Now, a 501©(4) that was not required to disclose donors under federal law. The group hired blockers to stall signature collectors working for those opposed to the bailout. 


The second group, Ohioans for Energy Security, paid for millions of dollars in advertisements, including ones that warned Ohioans that the Chinese would take over Ohio’s power grid if voters repealed the bailout.


FirstEnergy, which spun off FirstEnergy Solutions in bankruptcy proceedings, gave more than $1.1 million to Ohio politicians, including Householder, between 2017 and 2019.


FirstEnergy Solutions was later renamed Energy Harbor Corp. Cespedes, who was among those arrested Tuesday, was listed by the state as a lobbyist last year for Energy Harbor.


Borges, also arrested Tuesday, works for the Columbus-based firm 17 Consulting Group, which contributed $90,000 to a pro-nuclear energy group called Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance, which has ties to FirstEnergy Solutions.


Disclosure: Matthew Borges is a member of the Columbus-based firm 17 Consulting, which advises The Enquirer on legislative activity affecting the media industry. 

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(07-21-2020, 02:08 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Once I google the party affiliations of the participants I'll weigh in on the validity of the case against them.

You got a laugh out of me with this one.



Corrupt public officials should be anathema to everyone.

[Belsnickel]

(07-21-2020, 03:45 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: You got a laugh out of me with this one.



Corrupt public officials should be anathema to everyone.

Should be. But this is a weird world we live in.

[*Nately120*]

(07-21-2020, 03:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Should be. But this is a weird world we live in.

As long as the corrupt politicians on your team can convince you the corrupt politicians on the other team are totally worse you need not worry your sweet little head.

Anyways, let's just pardon this bastard and get on with it. 

[*michaelsean*]

You. Will. Eventually. Get. Caught. And you’re toast because the feds don’t mess up often when they bring a case.

[CarolinaBengalFanGuy]

(07-21-2020, 02:31 PM)GMDino Wrote: Bullmoose.  But you were close.

Hey leave the Bullmoose party alone. Interesting fact I learned while looking at the Bull Moose Party. It was defeated by the currently evil Racist Woodrow Wilson.

And to think he probably never would have been President if those two idiots hadn't split the party vote.

Damn this gets more interesting. Nearly a million people voted for a Socialist. In 1912 nonetheless.

[GMDino]

(07-21-2020, 11:43 PM)CarolinaBengalFanGuy Wrote: Hey leave the Bullmoose party alone. Interesting fact I learned while looking at the Bull Moose Party. It was defeated by the currently evil Racist Woodrow Wilson.

And to think he probably never would have been President if those two idiots hadn't split the party vote.

Damn this gets more interesting. Nearly a million people voted for a Socialist. In 1912 nonetheless.

Point of order that Wilson was evil and racist then too...it was just accepted then.  

[CarolinaBengalFanGuy]

(07-22-2020, 09:24 AM)GMDino Wrote: Point of order that Wilson was evil and racist then too...it was just accepted then.  

Are you on board with the crowd that says since the founding fathers were slave owners, anything good that they did is completely wiped away by their owning of slaves?

[GMDino]

(07-23-2020, 12:13 AM)CarolinaBengalFanGuy Wrote: Are you on board with the crowd that says since the founding fathers were slave owners, anything good that they did is completely wiped away by their owning of slaves?

I responded in your Founding Father's thread but I'll say it here too:  Flawed people can do great things.  It would be wrong to ignore either side of that.

[fredtoast]

(07-21-2020, 11:43 PM)CarolinaBengalFanGuy Wrote: Damn this gets more interesting. Nearly a million people voted for a Socialist. In 1912 nonetheless.

Before labor organized unions Socialist were a viable party. Early labor organizers/activist were mostly socialist/communists.