Read on Twitter
It's a busy news week^H^H^H^H century, but we really should pause for a moment to take notice of literally the largest political corruption scandal in Ohio history: the arrest of GOP House Speaker Larry Householder and four co-conspirators by the FBI on racketeering charges.
1/
1/
The indictment is just a string of eye-opening, jaw-dropping accusations. Householder and his co-accused are said to have engaged in a $60m bribery scheme to enact HB6, which provided a $1.3b bailout to the @firstenergycorp for its nuclear operations.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6999334-HOUSEHOLDER-COURT-DOCS.html
2/
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6999334-HOUSEHOLDER-COURT-DOCS.html
2/
The clearest analysis I read on this came from @nakedcapitalism's @yvessmith, who broke down the whole sordid tale with screenshots from the indictment.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/07/ohio-house-speaker-arrested-in-alleged-60-million-racketeering-bribery-money-laundering-scheme-a-window-into-politics-in-america.html
3/
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/07/ohio-house-speaker-arrested-in-alleged-60-million-racketeering-bribery-money-laundering-scheme-a-window-into-politics-in-america.html
3/
The tldr is:
* Householder secretly set up a money-laundering front org called "Generation Now" that evaded PAC reporting issues, allowing for $60m in secret payments;
* "Political strategist" Jeff Longstreth got $1m into his brokerage account;
4/
* Householder secretly set up a money-laundering front org called "Generation Now" that evaded PAC reporting issues, allowing for $60m in secret payments;
* "Political strategist" Jeff Longstreth got $1m into his brokerage account;
4/
* Householder got campaign money, renos to his Florida home, and his credit cards paid off;
* Lobbyists collected lavish fees of their own;
* Money went to fund primary challenges by Repubicans pledged to vote for the Firstenergy bailout and then funded their campaigns;
5/
* Lobbyists collected lavish fees of their own;
* Money went to fund primary challenges by Repubicans pledged to vote for the Firstenergy bailout and then funded their campaigns;
5/
* Householder's army of freshmen Reps voted him Speaker of the House;
* One of Householder's puppets introduced HB6 and its $1.2b for Firstenergy;
* Householder coordinated with Firstenergy to arm-twist, bully, threaten and bribe other lawmakers to vote for HB6;
6/
* One of Householder's puppets introduced HB6 and its $1.2b for Firstenergy;
* Householder coordinated with Firstenergy to arm-twist, bully, threaten and bribe other lawmakers to vote for HB6;
6/
* When voters launched a ballot initiative to fight the corporate welfare, Householder and Firstenergy masterminded a disinformation campaign warning people that signing the petition would give their personal information to the Chinese government (!!);
7/
7/
* The Householder "enterprise" offered bribes to public officials to help them defeat the ballot initiative;
* They used front-groups to offer bribes to signature gatherers for the ballot initiative: $2500 and a plane ticket if they'd quit their jobs;
8/
* They used front-groups to offer bribes to signature gatherers for the ballot initiative: $2500 and a plane ticket if they'd quit their jobs;
8/
* As they drew closer to victory on the $1.2b for their paymasters at Firstenergy, Householder and his "enterprise" set their sites on soliciting bribes from payday lenders to pass legislation favorable to them;
9/
9/
From the indictment, it's clear the FBI had internal informants and wiretaps from very early on. Householder and his co-conspirators put a LOT of this in writing, paving the way for the legendarily difficult-to-attain RICO charges.
10/
10/
Most of the $1.2b has not been paid to Firstenergy yet and could theoretically be clawed back if the state leg votes to overturn HB6; however, Firstenergy hasn't (yet?) been charged in connection with the scheme (Smith speculates that they may be cooperating with the FBI).
11/
11/
The RICO charge means that the conspirators could be subjected to far-reaching civil asset forfeiture, bankrupting them.
12/
12/
Of course, all this is against a backdrop of the Nov elections, in which the GOP is desperate to hold onto Ohio, a feat it has only managed through incredible voter suppression and gerrymandering.
13/
13/
If even a small number of state Republicans sit this election out because of the scandal, that could be game-changing.
eof/
eof/
