Ohio Democrats Sue Mike DeWine Over FirstEnergy Bribery Scandal
May 5, 2022
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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