The Ohio House expelled its Republican speaker in a bipartisan unanimous vote after he was charged in connection with a $ 60 million bribery scheme.
Representative Larry Householder and four others were arrested on July 21 and charged as part of a bribery and bribery investigation that investigators called “the largest money-laundering and bribery scheme against people in the state of Ohio.”
According to local news reports, Householder has not spoken publicly about the case.
The arrests were part of a year-long investigation into public corruption and bribery linked to legislation that rescued two nuclear power plants in the state. The former speaker and his associates are accused of accepting corporate money for personal and political use to pass Bill 6 to financially rescue two FirstEnergy nuclear plants with more than $ 1 billion.
Householder was a key player in the legislation, which added a fee to every electricity bill in the state and directed more than $ 150 million a year through 2026 to plants near Cleveland and Toledo.
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“This is the most important thing we have done today,” said Republican Rep. Bob Cupp, a former Ohio Supreme Court justice who is a potential candidate to be the next speaker. “There is no doubt that people feel betrayed, used, and it has been a stain in the House, and people want to make sure we start again.”
Householder is the first president of the Ohio House that the house has eliminated.
The remaining members of the Householder leadership team have said he deserves the presumption of innocence, but “he lost the trust of his colleagues and the public” and was unable to run the House effectively. Colleagues from both parties had asked him to resign, but they refused.
The head of the family, former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges, lobbyist Neil Clark, lobbyist and member of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Juan Cespedes, and political consultant Jeff Longstreth could face up to 20 years of prison if convicted of their alleged work to pass the ransom and block attempts to cancel it, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI.
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Borges’ lawyer, Karl Schneider, said his client’s involvement in the case has been “exaggerated.”
The head of the family had been a speaker since 2019 after previously holding the position from 2001 to 2004. He left the position due to term limits, but joined the House in 2017. He was seen as one of the most powerful state legislators and Ohio influencers.
Previous attempts to rescue nuclear plants had stalled in the legislature before Householder became a spokesperson. Months after taking over, he launched a new plan to subsidize the plants and remove incentives for renewable energy. The proposal was approved a year ago despite opposition from many business and manufacturing leaders.
This is also not the first time Householder has been investigated for questionable practices.
When he left office, he and several top aides were under federal investigation for alleged money laundering and irregular campaign practices. The government closed the case without filing charges.
Householder is the second Ohio House speaker to be investigated in just over two years.
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Former Republican President Cliff Rosenberger was investigated in 2018 amid an FBI investigation into his trip, luxurious lifestyle, and a condo that he rented from a wealthy Republican donor. Rosenberger, who has claimed he did not violate any law, has not been charged, but the investigation remains open.
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
