COLUMBUS, Ohio — U.S. Sen. Jon Husted can't leave Washington, D.C., to testify in the largest public corruption trial in Ohio history due to the "Iran war," the defense attorneys said, but did find time to return to the state to attend a fundraiser.
The senator's team understands the poor optics, they said, but argued that the virtual testimony is due to scheduling conflicts.
For the past five weeks, the state has made its case that former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and VP Mike Dowling paid former Public Utilities Commission Chair Sam Randazzo $4.3 million in bribes, along with $61 million spent to create and pass House Bill 6. H.B. 6 was legislation to provide a billion-dollar bailout to their struggling nuclear facilities, all at the expense of Ohio ratepayers.
In March of 2023, a federal jury found that former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges, beyond a reasonable doubt, participated in this racketeering scheme that has now left four men guilty and two dead by suicide. Householder is nearly three years into his 20-year prison sentence for accepting the bribe from FirstEnergy, while Borges is out after serving half of his five-year sentence.
For a more in-depth recap, please click here.
For years, we have been uncovering the close ties between FirstEnergy and major political players. Our previous investigations have shown that FirstEnergy executives say that then-Lt. Gov. Husted worked closely with them to pass H.B. 6 in 2019, after they helped fund his campaign.
"What do you have to say as this trial is going on?" I asked Husted in late February. "Are you prepared to testify in it?"
"I wanted to save the nuclear power plants, and I was right about that because if we didn't have those nuclear power plants today, energy prices in Ohio would be skyrocketing out of control," Husted replied. "I was focused on trying to save those nuclear power plants, and thankfully, they didn't close, and it was my job. My job is to work with the people who are making those decisions, and I'm proud of the work I did."
Click here to see considerably more texts about Husted and how he was allegedly leading the push for H.B. 6.
Husted has not been accused of any wrongdoing and was set to be a defense witness on Friday, March 13.
"If I'm asked to help out with anything, I'll always do that," Husted said.
But the senator's testimony won't be at the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. It will be hundreds of miles away.
"Given the war, his availability is not great," Dowling's defense attorney Steve Grimes said in court. "We have spoken with his counsel... Given everything that's going on in the world, we don't feel that he can or should insist upon him leaving his post in Washington DC right now."
Judge Susan Baker Ross approved Husted to be virtually available due to the U.S. military campaign against Iran. Grimes said it would be next Friday.
Husted takes flight
Both the House and Senate already voted to reject resolutions to restrict President Donald Trump's powers in his fight with Iran, meaning that he can continue his attacks.
After this, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth decided to travel to Florida for a conference, and other executive officials flew to their home states for the weekend.
But Husted, who doesn't sit on any committees related to safety, military or foreign affairs, can't find time to return to Ohio to testify, according to Grimes and the defense.
Well, he did.
"Senator Husted, are you flying home to testify?" a woman can be heard asking on a cell phone video, which can be watched in the player at the top of this article.
The woman, who does not work for an Ohio politician or candidate, showed the senator getting into the security line at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in D.C. on Thursday.
In another video sent to us, a man found Husted walking in the John Glenn Columbus International Airport that same evening. The senator ignored the Ohioan, who repeatedly asked about FirstEnergy.
We discovered that the senator is set to attend a fundraiser on Friday. Husted is the keynote speaker at the Greene County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, where tickets were up to $1,000.
"[He should] explain to Ohioans what he means by unavailable or dealing with the war, if he's in fact here in the state raising money for his embattled Senate campaign," state Sen. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) said. "It's despicable, and I can't think of a more significant breach of trust."
Weinstein was a state witness in the trial and believes that Husted just doesn't want to deal with the publicity.
"I'm not surprised he doesn't want to show up in person," the lawmaker said. "He's so deeply intertwined in this whole case, but it's incredibly disappointing."
We reached out to Husted's team, and Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Eck disputed the defense attorneys.
Husted on the (virtual) stand
"Our team never said that the senator needed to stay in Washington to monitor the war," Eck said. "Those words came from the defense counsel. and I'll just leave it at that."
Grimes, while on a break during the trial, answered our call.
"I only talked with his representatives, and what I said in court is based on my conversations, and you can quote me on that," Grimes said.
Husted has never missed a vote in the Senate, and doesn't want to start, Eck said.
"If he gets called for a vote, he gets called for a vote, so we did suggest that we were open to potentially testifying virtually," he added.
Husted offered many dates in person, the staffer continued, but none worked for the changing trial schedule.
I asked for documentation that they offered multiple times in person and never brought up the war, but didn't receive it.
"Nobody wishes more than us that we could spend more time in Ohio," Eck said. "The senator has been an elected official in Ohio and based out of Ohio for a while, but this responsibility requires us to be in the Senate chamber when called upon."
Husted can cast votes and also support "the justice system" at the same time, Eck continued.
Case Western Reserve University business law professor Eric Chaffee said that he understands why Husted could be reluctant to testify in person.
"When you're trying to get elected, being associated with what's one of, if not the largest bribery scandal in the history of the state, it's something that's really kind of a bad look," Chaffee said.
The nonpartisan expert added that it doesn’t help Husted’s credibility that he is already in town.
"It's surprising that you would come to Ohio for purposes of a fundraiser, but not to do your public duty to be part of a trial," he said.
Even if it is more beneficial for Husted to testify without the press hounding him after, the optics of coming back to Ohio don't look great, Chaffee said.
"Is a GOP fundraising dinner more important than testifying in person?" I asked Eck.
"Absolutely not, absolutely not," Eck responded. "Morgan, I don't think anybody's surprised to hear that an elected official that's gonna be on the ballot in a couple of months has to raise money for that race, but that has never been his priority."
But why couldn’t he be in person for next Friday, when Congress didn’t have any votes?
"We potentially could have," Eck said.
Several hours after we reached out to Husted's team with questions, Eck said that the testimony had just been moved from Friday to Wednesday — when he does have to take votes in the Senate.
Eck denied that the schedule change was due to my inquiries.
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