Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted during their victory party for Ohio’s gubernatorial race at the Ohio Republican Party’s election night party at the Sheraton Capitol Square on November 6, 2018. (Photo by Justin Merriman/Getty Images)
Power. Politics. Greed. Bribery. Regulatory capture. The buying and selling of government. Robbing the people blind.
In the wretched hustle of public corruption, modern Ohio Republican state politicians make the notorious “ Ohio Gang ” of the Teapot Dome scandal look like rank amateurs .
Consider the latest: Three-and-a-half years after news of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history broke, citizens are seeing fresh indictments with damning new details about the breadth and depth of the depravity , including how the entire operation reached into the orbit and actions of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted .
Let’s marshal our facts.
What we know
The latest indictments concern a $1.3 billion dollar bailout that Akron-based FirstEnergy has already admitted to the federal government that it paid more than $60 million in bribes to purchase. Former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former state GOP Chairman Matt Borges are serving federal prison sentences for their roles. Two other lobbyists cooperated and are awaiting sentencing, while a third died by suicide wearing a “DeWine for governor” t-shirt .