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

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Today, on National Honesty Day, will Jon Husted finally tell the truth about his role in the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history? 

As a reminder, Jon Husted remains at the center of the massive scandal, with new reporting from the Associated Press revealing Husted’s ties to be much deeper than previously known:

• Previous reporting has already uncovered phone calls, text messages, and secret meetings between Husted and the indicted FirstEnergy executives, and Husted was forced to testify for the defense in a state criminal trial.

• When Husted was forced to testify, his testimony showed discrepancies from public documents and reporting, only raising more questions. 

• This political headache isn’t going away for Husted anytime soon, as the United States Supreme Court upheld the conviction of one of Jon Husted’s top allies just this week.

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

“On National Honesty Day, Ohioans are calling on Jon Husted to come clean about his central role in the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history that’s costing families thousands of dollars more on their utility bills. It seems every week more details come to light about Jon Husted’s deep ties to this massive corruption scheme. Ohioans deserve accountability and answers about how deep his involvement goes.”

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

CINCINNATI, OHIO — Today, Ohioans in Cincinnati gathered for the final 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.

“For people in this district in Cincinnati, they go to work. They work as hard as they can. Jon Husted would say they just don’t understand the real world. That’s what he said about Ohioans who are struggling to get by — that maybe if they had a different work ethic, they would be able to get ahead,” said Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (District 24 — Cincinnati). “Jon Husted does not understand what most Ohioans are going through. Jon Husted was involved in one of the largest bribery scandals in Ohio’s history. He believes that taxpayer dollars, your dollars, should go to bail out billion dollar corporations to make life easier for millionaires and billionaires.”

“I always try to take the high road. But I was absolutely stunned when Jon Husted said people living in poverty are ‘just not very experienced at navigating the real world.’ He said if you can’t afford groceries, just ‘earn more.’ He even said working families have a ‘broken’ work ethic. What an insult to our hardworking Ohio families. Jon Husted — working people understand how the world works,” said Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Kearney.

“The increase in utilities are my main concern. In the past we were able to manage pretty well. However, this winter was pretty brutal for us, as I am sure it was for many of you, and the increase in cost has really put a strain on our finances,” said Jackie Robbins, a Cincinnati native and retired Ohioan. “This brings me to Mr. Husted who seems to have gone out of his way to make life harder for working families in Ohio by leading the charge to give utility companies a billion dollar taxpayer bailout that contributed to our electric bills skyrocketing by more than $600 annually. And believe me I have felt the pain of this increase.”

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U.S. Supreme Court upholds the conviction of top Jon Husted ally

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Today, the United States Supreme Court upheld the conviction of one of Jon Husted’s top allies in the FirstEnergy corruption scheme — the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history — proving this political headache isn’t going away for Husted anytime soon.

As a reminder, Jon Husted remains at the center of the massive scandal, with new reporting from the Associated Press revealing Husted’s ties to be much deeper than previously known. Previous reporting has already uncovered phone calls, text messages, and secret meetings between Husted and the indicted FirstEnergy executives, and Husted was forced to testify for the defense in a state criminal trial. 

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

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is another reminder that Jon Husted remains at the center of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history, and it’s costing Ohioans thousands of dollars more on their utility bills. As more details come to light about Jon Husted’s deep ties to the corruption scheme, Ohioans deserve accountability and answers about how deep his 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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Costs keep rising because of the Husted-backed war in Iran, but Husted says it’s ‘good news for the global economy’

COLUMBUS, OHIO — This week, Jon Husted voted against multiple bipartisan proposals that would have lowered the skyrocketing cost of groceries, health care, and utility bills for Ohio families. Husted also voted against a bipartisan proposal to protect families from rising prices driven by reckless tariffs and another endless war in the Middle East.

Ohio families are already getting crushed with skyrocketing gas, utility, grocery, and health care costs. Instead of doing anything to lower costs, Husted keeps insulting 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:

“Ohioans are sick and tired of Jon Husted voting to make their lives more expensive. Instead of fighting to lower costs for families at home, Husted keeps supporting to send more money overseas while lecturing Ohioans to work harder. Jon Husted couldn’t be more out of touch with what families in this state are going through, and they will send him packing in November.” 

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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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