Husted: I had nothing to do with HB 6 nuclear bailout
COLUMBUS – Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted says the only people asking him questions about House Bill 6 and the massive public corruption case that followed are reporters.
His answers? No, he hasn’t hired a lawyer. No, he hasn’t been questioned by federal investigators. No, he had no involvement in the passage of House Bill 6.
Husted, a Republican who has held elected office since 2001, fielded questions on Tuesday, a week after his name came up in civil court filings.
Two former Firstenergy Corp. executives – Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling – said Husted and dozens of other government and business officials likely have “discoverable information” that they’d like to use to defend themselves against a shareholder lawsuit.
Jones and Dowling, who were fired in October 2020, and a dozen others are being sued by Firstenergy shareholders in federal court for allegedly breaching their fiduciary duties, enriching themselves, wasting corporate assets and violating securities laws.
The shareholder case is in the discovery stage, where lawyers investigate and gather evidence.
In addition to the shareholder lawsuits, there is a criminal case that became public in July 2020 with the arrests of five men, including then Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges.
Householder, who was expelled from his legislative seat, and Borges have pleaded not guilty to racketeering.
Two others pleaded guilty and a third died by suicide in March.
Firstenergy Corp. signed a deferred prosecution agreement in July 2021, agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors and pay a $230 million fine.
Laura A. Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau.