HB 6 Householder Trial Update

Four weeks into the House Bill 6-related trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former FirstEnergy lobbyist Matt Borges, here are some of the latest developments:

• An FBI agent detailed how Householder personally netted more than $500,000 from an alleged bribery scheme involving FirstEnergy.
• Prosecutors said FirstEnergy lobbyist Juan Cespedes, who has already pleaded guilty, was a key middleman in the scheme to “sell the Statehouse.”
• Cespedes testified that he and Borges offered $15,000 as a bribe to get information from the HB 6 repeal campaign, and that officials at FirstEnergy were aware of the plan.
• In a recorded conversation from 2019, Borges told an FBI informant, “It would be bad for both of us if the story came out. But it would be worse for you.”

Meanwhile, WKYC TV in Cleveland recently ran this half-hour special to breakdown the HB 6 scandal. The broadcast includes insight from John Seryak, the OMA’s energy engineer and president of RunnerStone LLC. 2/16/2023