Firstenergy PAC gave to 65 in Ohio in July
The 2020 primary was over. The $1.3 billion bailout of two nuclearpower plants in Ohio was enshrined in state law. Yet in the weeks before the arrest of then-house Speaker Larry Householder, the energy company at the center of the situation donated $158,000 to Ohio politicians.
Most of the 65 recipients of donations from Akron-based Firstenergy’s political action committee were Republicans. The money was given between July 6 and July 16, the day that a federal criminal complaint was filed against Householder and four others in connection with what U.S. Attorney David Devillers would call one of Ohio’s largest bribery schemes. The men were arrested five days later.
To critics, the donations stink of an “insurance policy” as legislators now ponder repealing a scandal-scarred bailout that had helped Firstenergy. The company says it was just working to help its customers and shareholders.
Last week, Firstenergy didn’t dispute the contributions, which it reported in an Aug. 20 filing.
However, several politicians told The Cincinnati Enquirer on Wednesday that their campaigns never received the money.
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith French’s campaign said it never got the $7,000 that the PAC reported giving on July 16.
“We went through every report, stacks of checks and everything,” French campaign manager Trevor Vessels said. “We never got a check from them. If we do get a check, it will be immediately returned.”
Likewise, state Rep. Jamie Callender, R-concord, never received a donation, a spokesman said. Callender, a sponsor of the bailout bill, House Bill 6, pledged to donate contributions from the company to charity.
Several Democratic representatives said they, too, never received contributions from the PAC in July, a caucus spokeswoman said. Candidates don’t have to report contributions received in July until Oct. 22.
The reason for the discrepancy was not known Wednesday.
Householder and his allies are accused of funneling nearly $61 million from Company A, believed to be Firstenergy Corp., and its affiliates toward three goals: electing Householder as speaker of the House, passing a $1.3 billion bailout for the two nuclear plants owned at the time by Firstenergy Solutions, and defending House Bill 6 against a ballot initiative to block the new law.
Federal investigators allege that those millions were moved through “dark money” groups — those that do not need to disclose their donors — such as the Householder-aligned Generation Now.
Other money — donations from Firstenergy’s PAC — was disclosed in campaign finance records.
Here’s what those records showed: On the day in October 2019 that House Bill 6 became law, Firstenergy PAC donated nearly $53,000 to House Republicans’ campaign funds and other GOP accounts.
In the days before Householder’s arrest, the PAC donated the total of $158,000 to state lawmakers and to French and another Supreme Court justice, Republican Sharon Kennedy.
What’s unusual about those donations is the timing. House Bill 6 had been settled law for months. The 2020 primary finished in late April, and the general election was months away.
The House had not met since June 11, and the Senate wasn’t talking about energy policy in its sessions. Firstenergy’s PAC had no history of making large donations in previous Julys.
The only major energy news that month: The arrests of Householder and his allies on July 21.
That day, Firstenergy Corp. reported that it had received subpoenas in connection with the investigation surrounding House Bill 6 and intended to cooperate fully. No one from Firstenergy or its affiliated companies has been charged.
Firstenergy Corp. said in a statement that its PAC “supports both Republican and Democrat candidates and officeholders whose interests align with those of our customers, employees and shareholders. Firstenergy’s PAC contributions are legal and reported consistent with established federal, state and legal requirements.”
Of the money donated in July, 81% went to GOP politicians; 16 Democrats were sent a total of $29,500.