Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has agreed to settle the largest bribery and money laundering scandal in state history with the massive utility that funded it.
At just $20 million, the settlement amounts only to less than a third of the bribes Akron-based FirstEnergy paid and it is dwarfed by the benefits Ohio utilities have received from Ohioans as a consequence of the corrupt legislation those bribes paid for.
Yost’s office sends out frequent press releases, but not one regarding Monday’s settlement, which was first reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer , citing an SEC filing by FirstEnergy.
In response to questions, his office said Yost had “voluntarily walled himself off from the case months ago to avoid any suggestion that the case was politically driven or any outcome was influenced by politics or political decision making.” But it didn’t explain how.
The statement comes after more than a year of questions about the attorney general’s own involvement in the fight to pass and protect the $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout that mostly went to FirstEnergy.