COLUMBUS — Just like the Ohio Republican Party, the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee has been a major recipient of Larry Householder’s ill-gotten largesse; the largest single contribution from the Friends of Larry Householder political action committee was a $1 million donation to the caucus’s campaign arm on Jan. 30 of this year.

“According to the allegations in the criminal complaint filed against Larry Householder, the speaker acquired power by supporting his chosen candidates through contributions from his campaign committee, the House Republican Campaign Committee and a web of interconnected entities he personally controlled,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. “The benefits of being on ‘Team Householder’ were campaign staffers that were paid by his co-conspirators, dark-money ads that praised them and slandered their opponents and promises of protection.

“The Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee should not be permitted to fund candidates and campaigns with proceeds from a criminal enterprise. Therefore, we are asking the courts and law enforcement to take appropriate action to freeze any accounts associated with Larry Householder and his co-conspirators and prevent further corruption of our political process here in Ohio.”

From the criminal complaint:

In March, several Republican House candidates who weren’t on “Team Householder” held a news conference condemning the dark-money attack ads against them and alleging that Householder was illegally coordinating with the Growth and Opportunity PAC.

One of the candidates stated there was “overwhelming circumstantial evidence” of the illegal coordination.

After this week’s criminal complaint was revealed, the evidence is no longer circumstantial.

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