• News
  • Business
  • Donate
  • Features
    • Opinions
    • Arts & Style
    • Video
    • Photos
    • Interviews
    • Audio
  • About Us
  • New Americans Business Magazine
  • Contact
  • News
  • Business
  • Donate
  • Features
    • Opinions
    • Arts & Style
    • Video
    • Photos
    • Interviews
    • Audio
  • About Us
  • New Americans Business Magazine
  • Contact
Popular
Recent
Comments
Tags
  • U. S. 2020 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program opens Wednesday, Oct, 3

    October 1, 2018

    Feyi Tolani: An Advocate-In-Nursing

    November 1, 2018

    America’s Immigration Debate: The “Danger of Telling a Single Story.”

    February 13, 2017
  • Shaping Safer Schools: Inside Ohio’s 2025 School S ...

    June 14, 2025

    City of Columbus Remembers Founder of Tommy’ ...

    June 13, 2025

    NAPOC Salutes President Bola Tinubu for Conferring ...

    June 12, 2025
  • Good job, sir!

    January 12, 2021

    I'm call Haji I live the dadaab comp I am a refuge ...

    October 12, 2020

    Narayan vai, you spoke the truth about the importa ...

    September 6, 2020
  • Zora's House Zoning Code Zimbabwe Youths Youth of the Year Youth Foundation Youth Development of Columbus Youngstown Younger Ohioans Young At Art You Don’t Know Yoruba Club 21 Yoga International Day Yoga Day Yoga and Marathon X Gender Passport Wuyue Dance Worthington Christian School World Refugee Day World Radio Day World Mental Health Day World Hygiene Day World Hijab Day World Food Day World Cup 2022
  • Shaping Safer Schools: Inside Ohio’s 2025 School S ...

  • City of Columbus Remembers Founder of Tommy’ ...

  • NAPOC Salutes President Bola Tinubu for Conferring ...

  • Franklin County Trades Academy Opens For In-Demand ...

  • 411 Participate In Columbus BAPS Charities Walk-Ru ...

  • First Commissioned Art Excites Brandon Boggs

  • African United Foundation Offers Hope for Children ...

  • Liberians In Columbus, Inc. Partners Mid-Ohio Food ...

  • Senator Michele Reynolds – A Bridge Builder

  • Email From Obama: I’m Not Ready For Photo Op!

  • Senator Michele Reynolds – A Bridge Builder

  • Liberians In Columbus, Inc. Partners Mid-Ohio Food ...

  • African United Foundation Offers Hope for Children ...

  • First Commissioned Art Excites Brandon Boggs

  • 411 Participate In Columbus BAPS Charities Walk-Ru ...

  • Franklin County Trades Academy Opens For In-Demand ...

  • NAPOC Salutes President Bola Tinubu for Conferring ...

  • City of Columbus Remembers Founder of Tommy’ ...

  • Shaping Safer Schools: Inside Ohio’s 2025 School S ...

  • Email From Obama: I’m Not Ready For Photo Op!

Previous Next

$60M bribery charges: Ohio Governor, Lt Governor and Senate President ask Speaker to resign

Posted by: New Americans Magazine , July 21, 2020
  • Alleged to have in March 2017,  began receiving quarterly $250,000 payments from the related-energy companies into the bank account of Generation Now.

“This is a sad day for Ohio” was how Ohio Governor Mike DeWine described the arrest and a criminal charge against Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, former chair of Ohio Republican Party, Mathew Borges, three other individuals and 501(c)(4) entity in a federal public corruption racketeering conspiracy involving $60 million.

Governor DeWine was joined by Lt. Governor Jon Husted and Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof to call for immediate resignation of Speaker Householder considering the enormity of the charges as disclosed by the U.S Attorney David DeVillers at a press conference in Columbus.

“I am deeply concerned about the allegations of wrongdoing in the criminal complaint issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.   Every American has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.  Because of the nature of these charges, it will be impossible for Speaker Householder to effectively lead the Ohio House of Representatives; therefore, I am calling on Speaker Householder to resign immediately,” said Governor Dewine.

In his statement, Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted said, “As a former House Speaker, it makes me incredibly sad. With the announcement of today’s criminal complaints, the Speaker can no longer effectively perform his duties and should resign.”

“Ohio is in the midst of a pandemic response and economic downturn, and the institution of the House of Representatives must remain operational, and the integrity of the office and the institution must be restored.”

Also, Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof said, “The allegations made today are very detailed, they are very serious, and they are very troubling to me, and undoubtedly, to the people of Ohio. Every member of the Ohio legislature has a sacred trust with the citizens of this state, and the people deserve the honest services of their elected representatives.”

“The seriousness and gravity of the allegations cast a dark shadow over the People’s House. It is clear that he cannot continue to lead the Ohio House of Representatives. He should resign.”

The Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder was arrested Tuesday, July 21, 2020 morning and charged in a federal racketeering conspiracy involving approximately $60 million paid to a 501(c)(4) entity to pass and uphold a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout.

A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, South District of Ohio said, “It is alleged that Larry Householder, 61, of Glenford, Ohio, and the enterprise conspired to violate the racketeering statute through honest services wire fraud, receipt of millions of dollars in bribes and money laundering.

Four other individuals also arrested and charged along Speaker Householder include Mathew Borges, 48, of Bexley, a lobbyist who previously served as chair of the Ohio Republican Party; Jeffrey Longstreth, 44, of Columbus, Householder’s longtime campaign and political strategist; Neil Clark, 67, of Columbus, a lobbyist who owns and operates Grant Street Consultants and previously served as budget director for the Ohio Republican Caucus; and Juan Cespedes, 40, of Columbus, a multi-client lobbyist.

Generation Now, a corporate entity registered as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, was also charged.

The five individual defendants had initial appearances via video conference at 1pm July 21, at which time the case was unsealed.

According to the 80-page criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, July 21, 2020, from March 2017 to March 2020, the enterprise received millions of dollars in exchange for Householder’s and the enterprise’s help in passing House Bill 6, a billion-dollar bailout that saved two failing, Ohio nuclear power plants from closing.

The defendants then also allegedly worked to corruptly ensure that HB 6 went into effect by defeating a ballot initiative to overturn the legislation. The Enterprise received approximately $60 million into Generation Now from an energy company and its affiliates during the relevant period.

As alleged, in February 2017, Longstreth incorporated Generation Now as a 501(c)(4) social welfare entity purporting to promote energy independence and economic development; however, the entity was secretly controlled by Householder.

As Clark stated in a recorded conversation, “Generation Now is the Speaker’s (c)(4).” Pursuant to federal law, the names and addresses of contributors to 501(c)(4)s are not made available for public inspection.

In March 2017, Householder began receiving quarterly $250,000 payments from the related-energy companies into the bank account of Generation Now. The defendants allegedly spent millions of the company’s dollars to support Householder’s political bid to become Speaker, to support House candidates they believed would back Householder, and for their own personal benefit.  When asked how much money was in Generation Now, Clark said, “it’s unlimited.”

The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint also alleges:

In 2018, the enterprise spent energy company-to-Generation Now money on approximately 21 different state candidates – 15 (including Householder) in the primary, and six additional candidates in the general election.

The Enterprise spent more than one million in fall 2018 alone to flood the airways with negative ads against enterprise opponents.  Most of these candidates won the 2018 general election. All who won voted for Householder as Speaker.

Money passed from the energy company through Generation Now was used to pay for Householder campaign staff, which would otherwise have been paid by Householder’s candidate committee, Friends of Larry Householder.

Householder received more than $400,000 in personal benefits as a result of the payments into Generation Now, including funds to settle a personal lawsuit, to pay for costs associated with his residence in Florida, and to pay off thousands of dollars of credit card debt.

The enterprise paid $15,000 to an individual to provide insider information about the ballot initiative and offered to pay signature collectors for the ballot initiative $2,500 cash and plane fare to stop gathering signatures.

The racketeering conspiracy as charged in this case is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

“It takes courage for citizens to assist law enforcement in the ways detailed in the affidavit,” U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers said.

“We are grateful to those who felt a moral duty to work together with agents in bringing to light this alleged, significant public corruption.”

“All forms of public corruption are unacceptable,” stated FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman. “When the corruption is alleged to reach some of the highest levels of our state government, the citizens of Ohio should be shocked and appalled.”

The case is being investigated by the FBI. Deputy Criminal Chief Emily N. Glatfelter, Assistant United States Attorney Matthew C. Singer, as well as Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief Timothy Mangan and Assistant United States Attorney Megan Gaffney Painter, are representing the United States in this case.

Post Views: 2,143

Tags: Speaker Larry Householder

Share!
Tweet

New Americans Magazine

About the author

Deba Uwadiae is an international journalist, author, global analyst, consultant, publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the New Americans Magazine Group, Columbus, Ohio. He is a member of the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association, OCLA.

Related Posts

Shaping Safer Schools: Inside Ohio’s 2025 School Safety Summit

By Taiwo Akinlami In a time when school safety concerns are mounting across the United Sta ...

City of Columbus Remembers Founder of Tommy’s Diner

By Okon Ekpenyong The Mayor of Columbus, Andrew Ginther, joined other leaders of the community ...

NAPOC Salutes President Bola Tinubu for Conferring National Honors On Two Members

Members of the National Association of Political Correspondents, NAPOC have commended President ...

Franklin County Trades Academy Opens For In-Demand Careers for Residents

 The Columbus Urban League and the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services a ...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Popular
Recent
Comments
  • U. S. 2020 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program opens Wednesday, Oct, 3

    October 1, 2018

    Feyi Tolani: An Advocate-In-Nursing

    November 1, 2018

    America’s Immigration Debate: The “Danger of Telling a Single Story.”

    February 13, 2017
  • Shaping Safer Schools: Inside Ohio’s 2025 School S ...

    June 14, 2025

    City of Columbus Remembers Founder of Tommy’ ...

    June 13, 2025

    NAPOC Salutes President Bola Tinubu for Conferring ...

    June 12, 2025
  • Good job, sir!

    January 12, 2021

    I'm call Haji I live the dadaab comp I am a refuge ...

    October 12, 2020

    Narayan vai, you spoke the truth about the importa ...

    September 6, 2020

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016

Contact Form


1+1=


American international journalist and author of "The Immigrant on Columbus Way: A True Life Guide To Settling Down As A New Immigrant To America "

Current/Past Issues

  • DailyNews
  • Hotels
  • Hotwire
  • Merchantic
  • Reference
  • Thesaurus
  • Urbanspoon

All used images are licensed by The New Americans Magazine.

Copyright © 2024 The New Americans Magazine | Layout and design by LiQiD inc