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ICYMI: Ohio Democrats Sue DeWine over FirstEnergy Scandal

“We’re not going to let DeWine stonewall his way out of responsibility for this scandal.”

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Ohio Democratic Party this week announced a lawsuit against Mike DeWine and his office to get answers about what DeWine knew and when about the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history. Since October, Ohio Democrats have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal, a scandal Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for, but have been stonewalled by DeWine at every turn.

“We’re not going to let Mike DeWine stonewall his way out of responsibility for this scandal. Ohioans are looking for justice, and we’ll work to get it for them however we can. We’re also offering a better way forward: cleaning up corruption and putting working families first,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters.

The lawsuit is gaining traction across Ohio, making news across the state. Read more below:

Cleveland.com: Ohio Democratic Party sues Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration over redacted records

“The Ohio Democratic Party announced Thursday it is suing Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration, claiming a copy of the governor’s schedule it received via a public-records request was full of illegal redactions.

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“The Democratic Party’s lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, questions the DeWine administration’s reasoning for redacting parts, and, in some cases, entire entries, of the governor’s schedule from January 2019 until the present.

“The redacted schedule, among other things, shows that DeWine met on June 10, 2019 with Mike Dowling, who then led FirstEnergy’s lobbying efforts, for half an hour at the governor’s mansion in suburban Columbus. The calendar entry doesn’t say what the meeting was about, though DeWine signed HB6 the following month.”

Cleveland.com: ‘Today in Ohio’ Podcast: What do Ohio Democrats think Gov. Mike DeWine is hiding by blacking out parts of his calendar?

“This is the biggest corruption scandal in the state’s history. $60 million in bribes, billions of dollars at stake of our money in our pocket. And it does point to the governor’s office.”

WKYC-TV: Ohio Democratic Party sues Gov. Mike DeWine for redacted records in FirstEnergy HB6 investigation

“In January of this year, the Ohio Democratic Party submitted an extensive public records request to the governor’s office for documents ranging from communications between DeWine and FirstEnergy executives, to DeWine’s daily calendar. Many of the dates and events that DeWine sent back were redacted.”

WJW-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“The party says that Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for over a hundred days.” 

WEWS-TV – Ohio Democratic Party Sues Governor Over Records

“It’s been almost two years since the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history was brought to light, and the state’s Democratic Party says it still has not received all the answers it’s looking for, so it’s suing Governor Mike DeWine.

…

“The party says it wants to know what the governor knew about the $60 million bribery scandal over Ohio’s nuclear bailout bill and when he knew it.” 

WTAM Radio: Ohio Democrats Taking Governor Mike DeWine To Court  

“Ohio Democrats taking Governor Mike DeWine to court.

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“The party requested the governor’s calendar from that year, and when they received the calendar, most of the names and information about the meetings were crossed out and blacked out.” 

WSYX-TV: Democrats sue Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine hoping to link him to House Bill 6 scandal

“Democrats are working to link Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to the scandal, which toppled former House Speaker Larry Householder. On Thursday they launched an opening volley, suing DeWine for the release of more official records.

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“The controversial House Bill 6 provided taxpayer bailouts for utility company FirstEnergy to shore up its aging nuclear power plants. Federal investigators said it also led to what they called the state’s largest corruption case, alleging the utility bribed state officials to get the bill passed. 

“Thursday the Ohio Democratic Party sued DeWine, demanding access to an unredacted version of DeWine’s official calendar. The party is looking to see if it can link DeWine to meetings with FirstEnergy officials. 

Statehouse News Bureau: Ohio Democratic Party sues DeWine over FirstEnergy, nuclear bailout law records

“The Ohio Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration, saying they’re breaking the state’s public records law in turning over documents with information blacked out.

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“Facing public pressure, DeWine released redacted documents that didn’t follow the law and refused to release the rest,” Walters said. “We’re not going to let DeWine stonewall his way out of responsibility for this scandal.”

WCMH-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“Attorney General candidate Jeff Crossman and Auditor candidate Taylor Sappington say they plan on releasing records that were finally secured from DeWine, and Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters will announce legal action against the governor for illegally rejecting records requests filed by the Party.” 

WBNS-TV: Ohio Democratic Party sues DeWine over redacted records in connection to FirstEnergy scandal

“‘Frustrated by what it calls ‘stonewalling’ tactics from Gov. Mike DeWine, the Ohio Democratic Party announced that it has filed a lawsuit seeking redacted records from the governor’s office regarding the FirstEnergy House Bill 6 bribery scandal.

“According to a statement by the party, Democrats in Ohio have been working since October to get ‘answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal – which Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for.’”

Spectrum News: ODP sues Gov. Mike DeWine over HB6 scandal“The Ohio Democratic Party is suing Republican Governor Mike DeWine. The lawsuit claims that a copy of the governor’s schedule was full of illegal redactions. 

“This lawsuit stems from the House Bill 6 investigation. Frankly, we don’t know what’s been redacted on the governor’s schedule and that is what the Ohio Democratic Party is basically saying that they want the full unredacted schedule so that they can see who the governor is meeting with and when.” 

WTVN Radio: Ohio Democratic Party Suing Governor’s Administration

“Democrats say a copy of the governor’s public schedule from a public records request had multiple redactions, redactions Democrats claim are illegal. 

“Cleveland.com reports one was a meeting the governor had months before he signed the $2 billion HB 6 bailout bill into law, with a man FirstEnergy has named one of the people who paid millions in bribes to get the law passed.” 

Toledo Blade: Democrats sue for DeWine records

“Ohio Democrats on Thursday announced the filing of a lawsuit to force Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to release records they contend could show what he may have known about the bribery scheme that led to the enactment of a consumer-financed $1 billion nuclear plant bailout.

“State party Chairman Liz Walters said they are frustrated that they received highly redacted copies of the governor’s meeting schedule in response to their public records requests. One thing they did receive, however, was what they characterized as hundreds of letters warning Mr. DeWine not to appoint former utilities consultant Sam Randazzo as chairman of the powerful Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

“‘We deserve to know what did Mike DeWine know and when did he know it,’ said state Rep. Jeff Crossman (D., Parma), Democratic challenger to Republican Attorney General Dave Yost.”

WTVG-TV: Democrats sue DeWine 

“They [Democrats] want to know if the Governor had any knowledge of what was happening behind the scenes when this scandal was unfolding…That scandal surrounded House Bill 6 which bailed out struggling nuclear power plants including the Davis-Besse plant in Ottawa county. 

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“Democrats want to know if Governor DeWine was involved. Last year they sued him for various public records. They say the records they received were incomplete and highly redacted. They are going back to court to get the unredacted documents.” 

WTOL-TV: Ohio Dems sue over HB6

“The Ohio Democratic Party is suing Governor Mike DeWine — seeking redacted records from the governor’s office about the FirstEnergy HB6 bribery scandal. according to the lawsuit — democrats have been working since October to get answers. 

“The $60 million dollar scandal came to light in July 2020 when then-Ohio House speaker Larry Householder, was indicted on racketeering charges.”

WNWO-TV: Ohio Democrats suing Governor Mike DeWine

“Ohio Democrats have asked for the governor’s calendar but are not happy with the redacted versions they got back.” 

WDTN-TV: Ohio Democratic Party sues Gov. Mike DeWine

“The party says that Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for the FirstEnergy scandal – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for over a hundred days.”

WRGT-TV: Ohio Democrats sue Governor DeWine over First Energy Bribery Scandal

“The Ohio Democratic Party announced Thursday a lawsuit against Governor Mike DeWine and his office in what Democrats claim is the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio’s history.

…

“The party says this marks the next steps in the ongoing battle with DeWine and his administration.” 

WKBN-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“Ohio Democrats say they have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal.”

WTRF-TV: Ohio party sues Governor Mike DeWine

“Ohio Democrats said they took the next steps in the ongoing battle with Mike DeWine and his administration in what they call the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history.” 

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Columbus, OH — It’s going to be hard to unite the Republican Party behind California Vance after eight months of relentless, nasty attacks from his former primary opponents. As Cleveland.com’s Brent Larkin wrote, “With few exceptions, the only time the four leading candidates tell the truth is when they talk about each other.” And the GOP U.S. Senate candidates sure told the truth about California Vance – exposing the baggage he is carrying into the general election. 

“Ohio Republicans were right about one thing: J.D. Vance is a phony, fraud, and a condescending elitist,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.   

Here are the highlights of the attacks leveled against Vance over the past eight months: 

May: 

• Gibbons told The Vindicator that Vance is “backed by a big-tech guy from the West Coast and he put $13.5 million into his campaign.” He also said “If somebody can move in from out of state and with outside of the state money come into this state with really abandoning it until it was time to run for the U.S. Senate and the state elects that individual then I feel sorry for the voters in this state. I don’t think the voters of this state are going to be duped into that.”
• Gibbons told the New York Times Trump’s endorsement of Vance shocked him and said he was someone who “flew in from the West Coast.” He said, “Ohioans should be insulted.”

April: 

• Jane Timken told Dayton 24/7 News, “I’m not going to Washington DC to try to get myself canceled on social media or make a name for myself.”
• Mike Gibbons told NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard that he thought Trump made a mistake and that “I don’t think JD is qualified as a conservative.” 
• At the WLWT debate, Matt Dolan took a shot at Vance for calling the atrocities in Ukraine a “distraction,” saying, “I know who doesn’t think this is a distraction: The good people in northeastern Ohio, where we have thousands of Ukrainian folks.”

March:

• On the Bruce Hooley Show, Gibbons said: “J.D. Vance is a newcomer. He moved in from San Francisco, handpicked by Mitch McConnell.”

February: 

• Josh Mandel in a Newsmax interview said, “ [Vance is] a Never Trumper, he bragged about being a Never Trumper, they see him as a total fake and a phony here in Ohio.”
• In Mansfield, Gibbons slammed Vance, saying, “I’m the candidate that didn’t have to delete my tweets. I supported Donald Trump from the beginning.” 

January: 

• Timken went after J.D. Vance in an interview with the Washington Examiner, saying that he was a Johnny-come-lately on Trump and that “Ohio voters want authenticity.”

December: 

• On the Mark Levin Show, Mandel went after J.D. Vance for his political transformation on Trump, saying, “The fact that my opponent J.D. Vance did that and refused to vote for President Trump, it’s just unforgivable.”  
• At an event in Lorain County, Mandel went after Vance, saying, “I got people running against me who are smooth. I got one guy running against me who wrote a book, made a movie. He’s on Fox News all the time. When Trump was running against Hillary Clinton, this guy refused to vote for President Trump. Think about that for a second. When Trump was running against Hillary Clinton, he wouldn’t vote for Trump. That’s one of my opponents.”

November: 

• Dolan tweeted that Ohio didn’t need a “bomb thrower or aspiring cable TV star with empty rhetoric” – a clear shot at Vance’s past as a CNN contributor. 

October:

• Dolan decided to take a shot at Vance, who has famously deleted his anti-Trump tweets to cover up his record, saying that he doesn’t delete his tweets during the CCV forum Sunday. Dolan tweeted (forever, will not be deleted), “Unlike others, I don’t delete my tweets. I’m a transparent public official.”
• In a Newsmax interview, Mandel said Vance “gets a lot of love from Never Trumpers.”
• After J.D. Vance made disgusting comments about rape, Bernie Moreno made the understatement of the year when he told Breitbart that it was “sloppy” of Vance to use that word. Moreno also said that Vance could have clarified by saying that “rape is vile,” but Vance refused to do so.  
• Following Evan McMullin’s announcement he is challenging Mike Lee for Senate in Utah, Mandel went after J.D. Vance for his prior support of McMullin in 2016. He tweeted, “JD Vance’s 2016 presidential candidate is now running for senate to join him in the Never-Trump caucus.” He went on to share a clip of Vance trashing Trump and called Vance a “condescending elitist.”

September: 

• Reacting to a Business Insider investigation that Vance founded a sham non-profit to boost his political career, Mandel attacked Vance, saying, “Step 1: Abandon hometown Step 2: Profit off of crapping on hometown and calling people from there racists Step 3: Return from silicon valley to start nonprofit to ‘save’ hometown from opioids Step 4: Take the money from the nonprofit and instead use it for political campaign.”
• Mandel bashed Vance’s Big Tech and Hollywood connections in an interview with Ben Shapiro, saying, “I think if the election were held today in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Wall Street or DC, I think JD Vance would run away with it. But if the election was held today in Ohio, he’d get destroyed, because Ohioans are not buying what he’s selling…They see him as a total phony and a total fraud.”
• And finally, Mandel tweeted that it was an “eternal truth” that “J.D. Vance is a Never Trumper.”

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Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party issued the following statement after Ohio Republicans once again passed GOP-gerrymandered statehouse maps, ignoring repeated rulings from the Ohio Supreme Court and Ohio voters who have overwhelmingly called for fair maps and redistricting reforms. 

“Ohio Republicans’ latest rubber stamp of GOP-gerrymandered maps once again displays the disdain these politicians have for working Ohioans. From refusing to pass fair maps to sticking working families with a likely $25 million bill, it’s clear that Republicans don’t care about anyone but themselves and their own political interests,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters.

The repeated failure of Republicans to do their jobs and pass fair maps will likely cost Ohioans more than $25 million – the cost of holding two primary elections – and sow chaos, confusion and anger for Ohioans who believe voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around.

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DeWine Trying to Stonewall, Avoid Answering What He Knew & When About Largest Corruption Scandal in Ohio History

Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party announced a lawsuit against Governor Mike DeWine and his office to get answers about what DeWine knew and when about the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history. This marks the next steps in the ongoing battle with DeWine and his administration to secure the answers Ohioans deserve, as DeWine continues to try to stonewall and ‘no comment’ his way out of the scandal.

The lawsuit filed by the Party can be found HERE.

Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters announced the legal action against the governor this morning for illegally rejecting records requests filed by the party.

“We know DeWine met with Mike Dowling and Chuck Jones, the two men named as ordering the FirstEnergy bribes. Now, he’s trying to hide behind illegal redactions so we can’t see who else he’s been meeting with. But that’s not all. We believe the other record requests rejected by DeWine were done so illegally. So today, we’re re-submitting those requests. If his administration continues to reject these requests, we’re prepared to sue on those, too,” said Chair Walters.

Attorney General candidate Jeff Crossman and Auditor candidate Taylor Sappington joined the call and announced they’re releasing the records they’ve secured from DeWine to improve transparency and accountability around the scandal – in direct contrast to their Republican opponents who have done nothing to get answers.

“DeWine thinks he can ‘no comment’ his way out of the largest public corruption scheme in Ohio history. He thinks with Dave Yost and Keith Faber turning a blind eye, he’ll be able to get through this scandal unscathed.  Not on our watch. Ohio voters are looking for answers, and we’re here to get them,” said Rep. Crossman.

“Today, Jeff, Nan I along with our fellow Democrats are charting a better path forward. We’re promoting accountability and transparency – two things that have been missing in Ohio for too long. We’re sharing the records we’ve secured and are holding those in power to account for their misdeeds and corruption,” said Sappington.

The records can be found on Crossman’s website HERE and Sappington’s website HERE.

Since October, Ohio Democrats have been working on getting answers to who knew what and when about the FirstEnergy scandal – which Ohioans continue to pay $287,000 every single day for – but have been stonewalled at every turn by the DeWine administration, leaving public records requests unanswered for over a hundred days. The lack of accountability from DeWine is leading Ohioans to wonder what he’s hiding and why.

Nan Whaley, DeWine’s opponent, has released a plan to root out corruption and restore ethics in Ohio’s government and is leading the charge to hold Republicans accountable for the $60 million bribery scheme. Whaley’s full plan can be found HERE.

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Following the results of the Ohio GOP U.S. Senate primary, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement:

“It’s no wonder that an elitist like California Vance admits he feels ‘out of place’ in Ohio after leaving the state behind and moving to San Francisco, scoring a New York City book deal to cash in on Ohioans’ pain and making untold millions from a Netflix Hollywood movie deal. California Vance is an elitist and a fraud who blamed Ohio workers for their own hardships while absolving unfair trade deals and giant corporations of their role in outsourcing jobs and devastating Ohio communities. But it’s not just Ohioans who are fair game – California Vance actually thinks our whole country is ‘kind of a joke.’ Now, this Silicon Valley elitist is looking for another ticket out of Ohio so he can move back to Washington D.C. to become California’s third Senator. We look forward to holding California Vance accountable so every voter knows he’s an out-of-touch elitist who left Ohio behind and does not have Ohio values.” 

BACKGROUND: 

• Headline: Jason Williams: As J.D. Vance launches U.S. Senate campaign, does ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author still feel ‘out of place’ in Ohio? [Cincinnati.com, 7/2/21]
• Vance’s Central Argument In Hillbilly Elegy Is That “Hillbillies Themselves Are To Blame For Their Troubles.” According to the New Republic, “Vance’s central argument is that hillbillies themselves are to blame for their troubles. ‘Our religion has changed,’ he laments, to a version ‘heavy on emotional rhetoric’ and ‘light on the kind of social support’ that he needed as a child. He also faults ‘a peculiar crisis of masculinity.’ This brave new world, in sore need of that old time religion and manly men, is apparently to blame for everything from his mother’s drug addiction to the region’s economic crisis. ‘We spend our way to the poorhouse,’ he writes. ‘We buy giant TVs and iPads. Our children wear nice clothes thanks to high-interest credit cards and payday loans. We purchase homes we don’t need, refinance them for more spending money, and declare bankruptcy, often leaving them full of garbage in our wake. Thrift is inimical to our being.’” [New Republic, 11/17/16]
• Vance Made Most Of His Earnings From A Thiel-Backed Venture Capital Firm And Royalties From “Hillbilly Elegy.” According to CNBC, “Most of Vance’s earnings came from his Thiel-backed venture capital firm and royalties from his bestselling memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ according to Vance’s financial disclosure…” [CNBC, 11/26/21]
• J.D. Vance Said The Reason People Were Not Working Is Some Perceived Unfairness But It Was A “Lie” That “All The Jobs Went To The Chinese.” According to The Vindicator, Vance wrote in Hillbilly Elegy, “We talk about the value of hard work, but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: (Barack) Obama shut down the coal mines or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance.” [The Vindicator, 4/28/22]
• Headline: Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance says ‘our country is kind of a joke’ in justifying his off-color tweets [Insider, 1/24/22]

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