Uncategorized

For Immediate Release:

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

“It’s hard to escape dirty laundry that keeps piling up when you can’t hide under a rock anymore.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Ohio Capital Journal today called out Mike DeWine and his deep connections to the largest public corruption scandal in state history. The commentary pointed out the various scandals DeWine has tried to distance himself from, a campaign strategy that won’t work this year as Ohio Democrats continue fighting to hold DeWine and his administration accountable.

“This outrage happened on DeWine’s watch and with his blessing. Ohioans didn’t know how crooked House Bill 6 was or how many politicians, including the governor, were willing to look away until federal prosecutors blew the lid off the alleged criminal enterprise to screw ratepayers in return for boosted political careers,” writes Ohio Capital Journal.

Last week, the Ohio Democratic Party announced the filing of several public records requests to get answers from Mike DeWine, Jon Husted and their administration about who knew what and when about the HB 6 scandal. The party will continue seeking answers on behalf of Ohio voters who continue spending more than $230,000 a day for the bribery scheme ringled by Ohio Republicans.

 Read more from the Ohio Capital Journal here and below:

• Follow the money. Its corrupting influence runs through all the great scandals piling up in Ohio under Republican rule. From the biggest online charter school rip-off of tax dollars to the largest public corruption indictment in state history, money has paved the way to epic wrongdoing under GOP management. 
• But when people in high places slip on hubris and expose brazen graft at public expense — and they always do — the swarm of politicians who were only too happy to pocket donor checks and look the other way scatter like insects under a rock that’s been lifted.
• Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is one of those spooked bugs racing away from his political entanglement in the blockbuster bribery and money-laundering case that goes to trial this year. 
• The state’s largest electric utility pumped $1 million into groups backing DeWine in 2018, according to a Dayton Daily News investigation following the money. The company also pumped big bucks into groups helping his daughter’s failed campaign for county prosecutor.
• DeWine hired multiple administration staffers and advisors with close ties to FirstEnergy, including a former top aide linked to one of the dark money groups implicated in passage of the bailout legislation (House Bill 6) written for and by the utility. 
• The governor also appointed and steadfastly supported Ohio’s former top utility regulator, now accused of profiting in association with the FirstEnergy scandal. DeWine knew of Sam Randazzo’s deep business relationship with the utility when he chose him at the urging of company executives.
• But even damning disclosures of Randazzo’s $4.3 million utility bribe and his blatant efforts on behalf of FirstEnergy — constructing House Bill 6, delaying a company rate case, lobbying for legislation to save the utility millions — didn’t dissuade DeWine from expressing “great confidence” in his regulator. 
• Even after the FBI raided Randazzo’s home as part of the FirstEnergy bribery probe and he resigned under a cloud of suspicion, DeWine praised him for doing “very, very good work as chair.”
• Eighteen months on, the DeWine-appointed nominating council that recommends PUCO candidates to the governor includes members tied to passage of the notorious bailout bill. 
• Even after the FBI arrested former House Speaker Larry Householder, who engineered approval of House Bill 6 and was subsequently charged with taking money to pass it, DeWine rejected an effort to repeal the corruption-ridden legislation. “We need balance in our energy,” was all he could say about a bill passed with more than $60 million in bribe money.
• He had put the full weight of the governor’s office behind the nuclear bailout bill and signed the corrupt measure into law the very day it passed. The “energy” legislation championed by DeWine also put ratepayers on the hook to bail out two money-losing, hyper-polluting coal plants (one in Indiana) partially owned by other utilities and two FirstEnergy subsidiaries. 
• Don’t hold your breath. But remember, this outrage happened on DeWine’s watch and with his blessing. Ohioans didn’t know how crooked House Bill 6 was or how many politicians, including the governor, were willing to look away until federal prosecutors blew the lid off the alleged criminal enterprise to screw ratepayers in return for boosted political careers.
• DeWine is understandably trying to put as much distance as possible between his reelection campaign and the biggest open investigation of Statehouse corruption in the country. 
• But it’s hard to escape dirty laundry that keeps piling up when you can’t hide under a rock anymore.

###

Peach-flavored cake has flip-flops and reads, “Happy Impeachment, Jane!” 

Columbus, OH — To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Jane Timken calling Anthony Gonzalez’s vote to impeach Trump “rational,” the Ohio Democratic Party is delivering a one-of-a-kind im-peach cake to Timken campaign headquarters. 

Prior to launching her U.S. Senate campaign, Timken said she “didn’t know” how she would have voted on impeachment and defended Anthony Gonzalez’s “rational reason” to vote to impeach. Then, after being greeted with attacks from Josh Mandel and other Republicans upon entering the race, Timken reversed her defense of Gonzalez — executing what Cleveland.com called a “jaw-dropping flip flop.”

The cake celebrating Timken’s one-year anniversary is decorated with flip-flops and reads, “Happy Impeachment, Jane!” You can view the cake here: 

Timken’s flip-flop on Anthony Gonzalez has haunted her in a GOP Senate primary that has become “increasingly brutal” as candidates “showcase their support and loyalty to Donald Trump.” After Anthony Gonzalez announced his retirement from Congress, Mandel mocked Timken by sarcastically impersonating her, tweeting, “Um do I need to change my pro-impeachment stance now? Or should I poll it first?” 

The issue has been such a disaster for Timken that Trump himself brought it up at a Hunger Games-style meeting of the GOP Senate candidates last year. Club for Growth started airing attack ads on the issue, saying, “…Timken claimed she didn’t know how she would have voted on Trump’s impeachment while passionately defending her RINO congressman after he voted to impeach Trump.” Just last month, Timken was asked twice if she regretted defending Gonzalez – a sitting congressman from the party she previously chaired – and failed to answer the question both times. 

“One year ago, Jane Timken revealed she thought voting for impeachment was ‘rational,’ and then when that position did not benefit her, Jane Timken ditched that position like the typical politician she is. While she can’t have her im-peach-ment cake and eat it too, Jane Timken can feast on this flip-flop cake for showing that given the choice, she will always choose the self-interested political calculation that benefits her political career–no matter how half-baked or indefensible,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.  

###

For Immediate Release:

Monday, January 31, 2022

Columbus, OH — One week after Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters called on Mike DeWine to tell Ohio voters what he knew and when about the largest public corruption scandal in state history, questions about the scandal remain unanswered. Last week, the Ohio Democratic Party announced the submission and resubmission of several public records requests to get to the bottom of the scandal. Those requests remain unanswered.

If the DeWine administration continues to stall and refuses to answer questions Ohio voters deserve to know, the Ohio Democratic Party is prepared to take legal action.

“One week later, and still crickets from Mike DeWine and his administration. DeWine’s lack of response raises even more questions about what he’s trying to hide and why, questions we plan to get to the bottom of on behalf of Ohio voters,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

Since October, the party has been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the HB 6 bribery scandal, but has been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for over one hundred days.

Public records requests recently submitted by the party include:

• Any communications among Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, their staffs and special interest groups tied to the HB 6 scandal.
• Any communications between those individuals and individuals who are implicated in the scandal.
• Any communications involving Sam Randazzo’s appointment to the Public Utilities Commission.
• Any communications between DeWine/Husted and statewide officeholders regarding HB 6.
• The demotion of Laurel Dawson & the resignation of Dan McCarthy.

The party also resubmitted previous public records requests that include: a visitor’s log from the governor’s office and the governor’s mansion; any vetting of Sam Randazzo; and communications between Mike DeWine’s staff and FirstEnergy.

The party will provide updates to the media and Ohio voters as the process plays out and as we continue to demand accountability from people in power.

###

  January 31, 2022 

Good Monday afternoon, and welcome back to Mike Check, your weekly source of all the infighting, conspiracy spewing and corruption that’s making headlines in and around the Republican governor’s race and Mike DeWine’s statehouse, courtesy of the Ohio Democratic Party.

As the gubernatorial race heats up, Republicans are in disarray with Mike DeWine’s popularity dropping by the day, facing attacks both inside and outside of the Republican Party, and having to answer for the largest public corruption scandal in state history. It’s hard to keep up with all of the corruption and mess surrounding Mike DeWine and the GOP gubernatorial primary, so here are some stories you may have missed:

NO ONE WANTS TO BE LIKE MIKE. In the latest sign of trouble for Mike DeWine, a new Axios report outlines how Republican Senate candidates are not only running away from Mike DeWine on the campaign trail, they’re actively attacking him to gain support with fellow Republicans. Josh Mandel has called Mike DeWine ‘a RINO,’ Jane Timken and Bernie Moreno have tempered their praise of DeWine and J.D. Vance has gone from endorsing DeWine in ‘18 to criticizing his handling of the pandemic. This is all sad, but the saddest part? DeWine would still campaign with any single one of them. Woof.

AN “UNPRECEDENTED PHENOMENON.”  DeWine is also making national headlines as one of the GOP governors around the country who are increasingly vulnerable due to a primary challenger. Renacci continues to go after DeWine for not being ‘Trumpian’ enough, and even the failed blogger from Florida himself has raised the question of whether DeWine should get through a primary. One thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on: how much we don’t want Mike DeWine to be the governor.

A ‘PRO-TRUMP’ GOVERNOR? That’s the campaign Jim Renacci is running and it has Mike DeWine running scared. Things are so bad support-wise for DeWine that his primary challenger has a real shot at the nomination. In fact, recent internal polling discussed by Ohio media outlets shows Renacci is leading DeWine by 8 points. By the way, when asked about the state of the race, all Mike DeWine would offer was another “no comment.”

Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. If you have questions my email is [email protected]. Have a great week!

###

Columbus, OH —  Today, J.D. Vance will be campaigning with Marjorie Taylor Greene. One version of J.D. would be disgusted by Greene and the radical positions she’s taken, another version of J.D. would embrace it to try and gain some sort of traction in the messy GOP primary. The thing about J.D. is he’s a phony, making it impossible to know which version of J.D. you’re gonna get on any given day. 

Here’s a couple of issues that J.D. Vance before he ran for U.S. Senate and Marjorie Taylor Greene disagreed about: 

Issue	Pre-U.S. Senate Candidate J.D. Vance	U.S. Senate Candidate J.D. Vance	Marjorie Taylor Greene
Trump	Vance has called Trump an “idiot,” “reprehensible,” and “noxious.”	Vance desperately apologized for his anti-Trump past.	Greene has been called “Trump in heels.”
Wearing Masks	In a tweet unearthed by Josh Mandel, Vance tweeted, “Make everyone wear masks.”	Vance tweeted, “I don’t know why we should mask our children under any circumstance.”	Greene was fined nearly $90,000 for refusing to wear a mask on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
Anti-Semitism	Vance liked a tweet implying Trump supporters were anti-semitic.	Vance has promoted Soros conspiracy theories, saying, the “result of his ‘philanthropy’ is death and crime across America.”	Greene compared COVID-19 mitigation measures to the Holocaust and claimed that the 2018 California wildfires were ignited by a space laser controlled by a corporate cabal, including the Rothschild banking firm.
Racism	Vance said, “A lot of people think Trump is just the first to appeal to the racism and xenophobia that were already there, but I think he’s making the problem worse.”	Vance called immigrants “dirty” at a candidate forum in 2021.	Videos unearthed during her campaign found Marjorie Taylor Greene suggesting that Muslims do not belong in government, she thinks Black people “are held slaves to the Democratic Party,” called George Soros a Nazi, and said she would feel “proud” to see a Confederate monument if she were Black because it symbolizes progress made since the Civil War.

“Silicon Valley Vance appearing with Marjorie Taylor Greene today will shine a spotlight on Vance’s anti-Trump past and how phony of a candidate he really is. Today’s rally will only serve to highlight just how desperate Vance is to further his own ambition at the expense of working Ohioans,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

###