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Ohio Democratic Party Statement on the Arrest of a Journalist During Governor’s Press Conference

Columbus, OH – Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement after a journalist was arrested yesterday at Governor DeWine’s press conference. 

“At a time when journalists and news media already have to worry about their safety and well-being due to political attacks, the arrest of a journalist for simply doing his job is unacceptable. Freedom of the press is one of the core tenets of our nation, and yesterday’s incident flew in the face of that freedom,” said Chair Walters.

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ICYMI: Trial Reveals Dave Yost, Frank LaRose Have Ties To Ongoing FirstEnergy Bribery Scandal

Columbus, OH – As the federal court trial surrounding the $60 million FirstEnergy bribery scandal has unfolded, we have learned more about additional GOP politicians’ ties to the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history, including Dave Yost and Frank LaRose.

“While we wait for justice to be served for Larry Householder and Matt Borges, we cannot lose sight of politicians like Frank LaRose and Dave Yost who enabled this scandal to take place. Any Republican looking for a new job come 2024 should have to explain to voters why they’re being named in the most damning federal court case in Ohio political history,” said Chair Walters. 

According to court documents, Dave Yost opposed HB6, the legislation behind the scandal, but kept his opposition silent because of his FirstEnergy donors. 

  • From The Ohio Capital Journal: 

    “Cespedes asked Borges what the attorney general thought.

    He’s sympathetic, but he wants to go back and look at the law,” Borges replied.

    As they discussed the matter further, Borges said “Don’t repeat this,” but Yost believed the bailout was a bad law.

    Yost “‘would be out front (in opposition) if not for (FirstEnergy) support and your involvement,’” Borges quoted Yost as saying.

    As attorney general, Yost also would have to approve any repeal language before it went on the ballot. The AG also wanted to help with that if he could, Borges said.

    “If there’s any way the law will allow him to reject the language, he will do it,” Borges texted.

Frank LaRose was all too eager to help move the legislation forward, as long as he got his back scratched, too.

  • From the Toledo Blade: 

    Cespedes and Mr. Borges also talked about supporting Secretary of State Frank  LaRose, the state’s top elections official and chairman of the Ohio Ballot Board that would also have reviewed the referendum language had it gotten that far. They expected an attempt to try to force Mr. LaRose to recuse himself from the board.

    “He’s going to be a friend in this process,” Mr. Borges tested to Cespedes. “So let’s be prepared to speak up for him.”

    Cespedes responded, “We will support him more than anyone.”

More below on the deep connections between Ohio Republicans with higher political ambitions and the FirstEnergy bribery scandal: 

Dave Yost

  • Yost’s Campaign manager was Matt Borges, who Yost once called the ‘wise man of Ohio politics,’ and who is set to go to trial for his role in the scandal.
    • Yost took $10k from Borges before he eventually caved to public pressure to give it back. Yost once said, “It would be foolish for anyone to accept campaign contributions from these defendants.”
  • Yost has not taken meaningful legal action to go after his friends in the Ohio Republican Party.
  • Yost received a subpoena to testify in the trial.

Matt Dolan

Frank LaRose

Mike Carey

Ohio Republican Party Donations 

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Ohio Democratic Party Statement ahead of the State of the Union

Columbus, OH – Today, Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address. 

“Thanks to President Biden and Ohio Democrats like Sherrod Brown, Joyce Beatty, Shontel Brown, Marcy Kaptur, Greg Landsman and Emilia Sykes, the state of our union is strong. From the new Intel plant to the Brent Spence Bridge, Ohio Democrats are creating good-paying jobs across the state that are going to help us compete with the rest of the world. We’re taking on Wall Street while saving pensions and putting more money in the pockets of working families. With Ohio Democrats leading the charge, our state and our country are stronger,” said Chair Walters.

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ICYMI: Chair Walters Op-Ed for Cincinnati.com: Bribery Scandal Runs Deep within Ohio Republican Party

Columbus, OH – In case you missed it, Chair Elizabeth Walters penned an op-ed for Cincinnati.com that details the deep connections between Ohio Republicans and the FirstEnergy Bribery scandal as the federal court trial plays out in Cincinnati. While disgraced former Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges are the ones on trial, several prominent Republicans remain closely connected to the scandal, including those with higher political ambitions in 2024.

“Working Ohioans, who have been fleeced by radical republican politicians for far too long, deserve accountability, and we’re hopeful that the Larry Householders and Matt Borges of the world will be brought to justice soon. But we’re also hopeful that the Republican politicians who have empowered them or who stood complicitly by as they orchestrated illegal schemes will be held accountable, too – especially the ones who will be asking the voters of Ohio for a new job come 2024,” writes Walters. 

Read more of Walters’ op-ed for Cincinnati.com HERE and below: 

  • This week, federal trials begin in Cincinnati for the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history. We’re hopeful that the individuals who orchestrated this multi-million bribery scheme will finally be held accountable. 
  • We know that top-level GOP politicians and operatives took millions of dollars from dark money groups connected to FirstEnergy and used that money to enrich themselves and fellow public officials. 
  • Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll hear about the misdeeds of Larry Householder and Matt Borges. But the scandal reaches much deeper within the Ohio Republican Party, including current elected officials with higher political ambitions. 
  • Dave Yost, allegedly the state’s top cop, has yet to take any meaningful action to hold his friends in the Ohio Republican Party accountable for the bribery scandal. Which makes sense when you remember that his campaign manager was Matt Borges, who gave Yost a $10,000 donation after he got his piece of the pie from the dark money scheme. Yost himself said, “It would be foolish for anyone to accept campaign contributions from these defendants,” before he was publicly shamed into giving Borges’ donation to charity. 
  • And there’s Matt Dolan, newly-announced candidate for U.S. Senate, who voted for HB 6 and told Cleveland.com in 2020 that he’d vote for it again.
  • FirstEnergy’s dark money group gave $85,000 to Matt Dolan’s dark money group, and probably not out of the goodness of their hearts.
  • Frank LaRose took more than $25,000 from FirstEnergy in 2018 and FirstEnergy still sits on LaRose’s top 20 list of political donors. As recently as 2021, LaRose was fundraising with the Strategy Group, who produced dark-money funded ads for the HB 6 campaign. 
  • And sitting Congressman Mike Carey gave $100,000 to Larry Householder’s dark money group through his employer, Murray Energy. When FirstEnergy executives were texting about the donation, one put it pretty bluntly: “Mike Carey has all the paperwork.”
  • Meanwhile, the organization that is charged with electing all of these folks to higher office – the Ohio Republican Party – has taken more than $85,000 from FirstEnergy since 2018 and refuses to give that money back. It would be an interesting question for their new Chairman on what he plans to do with all that cash. 
  • Working Ohioans, who have been fleeced by radical republican politicians for far too long, deserve accountability, and we’re hopeful that the Larry Householders and Matt Borges of the world will be brought to justice soon. 
  • But we’re also hopeful that the Republican politicians who have empowered them or who stood complicitly by as they orchestrated illegal schemes will be held accountable, too – especially the ones who will be asking the voters of Ohio for a new job come 2024.

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Chair Walters Details Deep GOP Connections to FirstEnergy Bribery Scandal as Top Republicans Go to Trial

Columbus, OH – Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters hosted a virtual press conference to detail the deep connections between Ohio Republicans and the FirstEnergy Bribery scandal ahead of Monday’s trial in federal court. While disgraced former Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges are the ones on trial, several prominent Republicans remain closely connected to the scandal. 

“Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll hear about the misdeeds of Larry Householder and Matt Borges. But the scandal reaches much deeper within the Ohio Republican Party, including current elected officials with higher political ambitions,” said Chair Walters. 

For example: 

Dave Yost

  • Yost’s Campaign manager was Matt Borges, who Yost once called the ‘wise man of Ohio politics,’ and who is set to go to trial for his role in the scandal.
    • Yost took $10k from Borges before he eventually caved to public pressure to give it back. Yost once said, “It would be foolish for anyone to accept campaign contributions from these defendants.”
  • Yost has not taken meaningful legal action to go after his friends in the Ohio Republican Party.
  • Yost received a subpoena to testify in the trial.

Matt Dolan

Frank LaRose

Mike Carey

Ohio Republican Party Donations 

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