U.S. Senator Jon Husted testified in the largest public corruption trial in Ohio history Wednesday morning.
After he was unable to testify last week due to the "Iran war," Husted appeared over Zoom.
Watch his testimony below:
For 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, which was legislation to provide a billion-dollar bailout to their struggling nuclear facilities at the expense of Ohio utility customers.
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In March of 2023, a federal jury found that former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges participated in the 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.
Jones and Dowling face nearly a dozen state charges each, ranging from bribery to corrupt activity. Last year, a federal grand jury indicted them on racketeering charges.
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.
Husted is now a candidate in one of the most closely watched Senate races this cycle.
