COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two former FirstEnergy executives about to stand trial over their roles in the House Bill 6 scandal may call a lot more witnesses than they initially indicated, including a powerful former state lawmaker, current and former state utility regulators, and the former chief of staff to Gov. Mike DeWine.
Attorneys for Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling – FirstEnergy’s former CEO and top lobbyist, respectively – also restated in a court filing Tuesday that they still intend to call even more prominent witnesses to testify, including DeWine himself and U.S. Sen. Jon Husted.
During the trial, which is set to begin Jan. 26 in Summit County Common Pleas Court, prosecutors will seek to convict Jones and Dowling of several felony corruption charges stemming from claims that they paid a $4.3 million bribe in early 2019 to Sam Randazzo, the soon-to-be chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, to secure favorable treatment for the Akron-based electric utility…