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Ohio’s Secretary of State is accusing fellow Republican and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder of 162 violations of campaign finance laws, related to the felony criminal charges for bribery and racketeering Householder is facing in federal court.
The violations have been turned over to the Ohio Elections Commission.
Ohio Secetary of State Frank LaRose said he connected the dots, building on the work done by the FBI in its criminal complaint naming Householder and four others, including the former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, in the dark money scandal. The allegations from LaRose relate to not only the nuclear bailout law the five pushed for, but also the effort to stop the attempt to put the law on the ballot last year.
LaRose said Householder and his group established shell companies to conceal contributions, converted funds for personal use, and used threats and intimidation to keep people from signing petitions.
The filing also names several entities that were charged in the federal case, including Generation Now and "Company A," widely believed to be FirstEnergy.
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