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Husted: “People living in poverty are just not very, they’re not very experienced at navigating the real world”

DAYTON, OHIO — Today, Ohioans in Dayton gathered for the fourth stop of Husted’s Real World Tour, calling out Jon Husted for his out of touch attacks on hardworking families.

Ohioans are already struggling with high grocery and utility prices due to Jon Husted’s corruption, and the skyrocketing cost of gas is forcing families to cut back even more. Instead of working to lower costs, Jon Husted has insulted struggling Ohioans as “not very experienced at navigating the real world” and dismissed the mounting affordability crisis by telling Ohioans to fix their “work ethic” and to simply “earn more” money to make ends meet.

“Today, we are here celebrating Earth Day, and we hope to bring many politicians in Washington like Senator Jon Husted back to Earth, and back to reality. The reality is many people are struggling paycheck to paycheck. The reality is the gas prices are higher,” said State Representative Desiree Tims (Dayton — District 38). “We need to bring down the cost of your electricity bill — we can’t have politicians cutting backroom deals with utility companies to the tune of billions of dollars that we are subsidizing. We can have an Ohio that we can all afford, but it requires our politicians coming to the table and living in reality.”

“Jon Husted has said that poor people don’t know how to navigate the real world. And I guess if you think about the world that Jon Husted lives in, he is probably right. In Jon Husted’s world there are the people like him at the top, the people with so much power and privilege that they feel like the rules do not apply to them,” said Rose Lounsbury, candidate for State Representative (Dayton — District 36). “They can engage in the largest bribery scandal in the history of our state with zero consequences. They have no responsibility for their actions and they feel no accountability, and they feel justified taking advantage of the rest of us.” 

“Jon Husted says that you don’t know how the world works and that affordability is just a buzzword. Jon Husted says that I just need to work harder to overcome the cost of inflation,” said Chris Gibbs, a soybean farmer in Shelby County. “I know how the world works. And all I see is Jon Husted on the sidelines, supporting the very policies that make it harder for me and my fellow farmers to survive.”

“I realize that Jon Husted is not very experienced at navigating the real world. His policies reflect an inability to recognize the needs and struggles of his own constituency. When I listen to Senator Husted, I hear a man who doesn’t know how to navigate real world issues faced by Ohioans on a daily basis,” said Rev. Aileen Maddox of the St. Paul AME Zion Church in Dayton. “His response to those struggling has been to earn more money, as if he is not aware of the fact that many Ohioans are working for low wages and the fact that they are low wage earners mean that they are taxed more due to the policies voted on by Senator Husted.” 

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Husted: Iran war is ‘good news for the global economy’

COLUMBUS, OHIO — This week, Jon Husted voted for the fifth time to support the Administration’s war in Iran, continuing to back the expensive foreign intervention in the Middle East that has sent costs skyrocketing for Ohioans.

Because of the Husted-backed war, Ohioans are being hit by soaring gas prices, and farmers are getting crushed by rising diesel and fertilizer costs, which will raise the price of groceries. Despite all this, Husted thinks the war is “good news for the global economy” and going “much better than anyone thought it would.”

Husted also continues to insult struggling Ohioans as “not very experienced at navigating the real world” and consistently dismisses the mounting affordability crisis by telling Ohioans to fix their “work ethic” and to simply “earn more” money to make ends meet.

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“Jon Husted has now voted five times to support the endless war in the Middle East while hardworking Ohioans are getting crushed by skyrocketing costs. Instead of fighting to lower gas prices for families or fertilizer prices for farmers, Husted supports sending more money overseas while lecturing us to work harder.”

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ASSOCIATED PRESS: Republicans plan big spending to keep Ohio’s Senate seat. A bribery scandal adds to their challenges

COLUMBUS, OHIO — New reporting from the Associated Press reveals that Senator Jon Husted’s ties to the FirstEnergy bribery scandal, the largest corruption scheme in Ohio history, are much deeper than previously known.

The new reporting reveals that Husted played a key role in negotiating the billion dollar bailout to utility companies – even going as far as pushing to deliver $600 million more to FirstEnergy and other utilities at the expense of Ohio taxpayers. This further underscores Husted’s key role in the FirstEnergy corruption scheme, with previous reporting revealing phone calls, text messages, and secret meetings between Husted and the indicted FirstEnergy executives.

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“Jon Husted was at the center of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history and it’s costing Ohioans thousands of dollars more on their utility bills. Now we are learning that Jon Husted’s ties to the FirstEnergy bribery scandal run even deeper than previously known. Ohioans deserve answers about how deep Jon Husted’s involvement goes.” 

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Associated Press: Republicans plan big spending to keep Ohio’s Senate seat. A bribery scandal adds to their challenges

• As he seeks to retain his U.S. Senate seat this fall, Ohio Republican Jon Husted has been unable to escape the shadow of a $60 million bribery scandal that has roiled state politics for more than five years.

• Husted was recently called to testify as a defense witness in the related criminal trial of two former energy executives, testimony he might have to reprise after a hung jury led to a mistrial in the case in March. 

• A judge in Akron scheduled the retrial to begin Sept. 28, meaning Husted could be back on the witness stand a week before early voting begins for the November elections.

• Husted calendars that came to light during the recent trial involving executives for the utility, Akron-based FirstEnergy, showed a number of additional meetings or phone calls that he had with former CEO Chuck Jones, with the state’s former top utility regulator, who has since died, and with then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.

• The interactions noted in Husted’s calendars were around the time the bailout bill was being developed and passed. Evidence presented in various cases showed Jones and Dowling discussing a push by Husted for additional subsidies in the legislation.

• A longtime Ohio lobbyist told federal agents that FirstEnergy and FirstEnergy Solutions, the subsidiary that owned the nuclear power plants helped by the bailout, funneled dark money to nonprofits that benefited Husted and Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican.

• According to the notes from his Department of Justice interview obtained by The Associated Press and not previously reported, lobbyist Neil Clark identified one of the groups as Freedom Frontier. That was the very group that received a $1 million contribution in 2017 marked internally by FirstEnergy as “Husted campaign.”

• Internal FirstEnergy communications from 2017 and 2018, which is evidence in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, include discussions involving Jones, Dowling and others about attending Husted events as far back as 2016. They also reflect Dowling’s concerns about dark money contributions becoming public.

• Jones and Dowling also discussed strategies to contribute under alternate names. In July 2018, for instance, as the two were planning a DeWine-Husted fundraiser in Naples, Florida, they discussed contributing under one name while covering event costs under another — so there would be “no cost billed to (the) campaign.”

• Husted declined a request for further comment about the details that have emerged as the various cases surrounding the bribery scandal play out.

As a reminder, Jon Husted played a central role “running the show” in the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history alongside Dowling and Jones:

• New evidence during the trial revealed nine calls between Jon Husted and Mike Dowling in the months preceding a $4.3 million bribe to former Utilities Commission Chair Sam Randazzo. 

• New reporting revealed Jon Husted held secret meetings with Dowling and Jones, including with the “mastermind of Ohio’s largest public corruption scheme two days before scandal-ridden bribery legislation was introduced.”

• Neil Clark, a FirstEnergy lobbyist and co-defendant with former House Speaker Larry Householder, referred to Husted as FirstEnergy’s “golden boy.”

• Text messages between Husted, Dowling, and Jones reveal that the trio were in constant communication “before, during and after his campaign.” 

• Indicted FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones said Husted was a “good friend of FirstEnergy” who was “highly engaged” and “fighting to the end” in support of the massive bail out.

• A dinner between Jon Husted and the indicted FirstEnergy executives at the Athletic Club of Columbus was a focal point of the criminal trial.

• Public records show that FirstEnergy — led by Jones and Dowling — funneled $1 million in dark money to a dark money group backing Husted in 2017, part of the same corrupt scheme that led to federal and state indictments.

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