FirstEnergy made secret $1 million payment in 2017 to support ‘Husted campaign’ in Ohio
Columbus, Ohio — The Akron-based energy company at the center of a $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio made a secret $1 million contribution to a dark money group that backed Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in his 2018 bid for governor, cleveland.com /The Plain Dealer reported Wednesday.
FirstEnergy Corp.’s contribution to Freedom Frontier, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit political organization, came at the beginning of the House Bill 6 scandal, when dark money groups were created that would eventually be used to funnel bribe money to Republicans. Larry Householder when he secured the chairmanship of the Ohio House, electing allies and passing and defending a $1 billion bailout for two of the company’s affiliated nuclear power plants.
Householder is serving 20 years in prison for masterminding the scheme after being convicted of racketeering last year. He will be arraigned Friday in a separate state criminal case. He has appealed his federal conviction.
The seven-figure payment was revealed in a 600-page 2022 deposition from a FirstEnergy executive testifying in a lawsuit brought by shareholders, which the news organization obtained through a public records request.
At the time it was created, Husted was seen as one of the leading candidates for governor. That was until he agreed to merge his campaign with DeWine’s. The payment was not made directly to Husted’s campaign, but to an independent expenditure group. Husted spokeswoman Hayley Carducci said Husted — who is preparing to run for governor in 2026 — was not affiliated with Freedom Frontier.
After DeWine and Husted were elected in November 2018, Husted helped advance Sam Randazzo as the young administration’s candidate to become chairman of Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission, charged with regulating FirstEnergy and Ohio’s other utilities. DeWine pressed Randazzo as Ohio’s top utility regulator over stark warnings from fellow Republicans about his deep ties to FirstEnergy, which were first reported by The Associated Press in 2020.
Randazzo, who faced dozens of federal and state charges related to the scandal, including for taking $4.3 million in bribes from FirstEnergy in exchange for government favors, was found dead Tuesday.
Neither DeWine nor Husted have ever been accused of criminal or civil wrongdoing in connection with the passage of HB 6 or Randazzo’s appointment. However, documents from the two were subpoenaed as part of the investors’ lawsuit and Husted was set to be deposed.
Freedom Frontier did not have to disclose its donors. Of the $2.2 million in contributions reported in its 2017 tax returns, the nonprofit gave more than $1 million to Ohio Conservatives for a Change, reported cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer, a federal super PAC that supported Husted’s campaign.