Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates have been arrested for racketeering in what the FBI is calling the largest bribery and money laundering scheme in state history.
Householder, 61, was arrested along with Neil Clark, Matt Borges (former Ohio GOP Chair), and Juan Cespedes. All men are lobbyists.
The speaker's political advisor, Jeff Longstreth, was also taken into custody.
The source said the arrests were connected to House Bill 6, the FirstEnergy nuclear bailout bill that was passed by the legislature and signed last year by Gov, Mike DeWine.
Court records said the Department of Justice alleges that "Company A" (FirstEnergy) paid $60,886,835.86 over three years into an entity controlled by Householder called "Generation Now" in return for passing House Bill 6.
U.S. Attorney David DeVillers said the conspiracy was to pass and maintain a $1.5 billion bailout in return for $61 million in "dark money" that was used for various things.
DeVilliers said the effort was deliberate and criminal. He said Householder lined his pockets with at least $500,000. Other money was used to influence the effort to get House Bill 6 passed. More money was used to get Householder's allies elected.
“Make no mistake these allegations are bribery pure and simple,” he said. “This was a quid pro quo. This was pay to play. I use the term pay to play because that’s the term they’ve used.”
DeVillers said during a news conference Tuesday that "Company A" provided the money through Generation Now, which has also been charged. Generation Now is a 501 (c)(4), which is supposed to exclusively provide social programs.
DeVillers said Generation Now provided no social programs. He said unlike a PAC or Super Pac, a 501 (c)(4) does not have to disclose its donors. He said they are also not supposed to support or fund a candidate, in which it did in this case.
DeVillers said there were no donors for Generation Now and all $61 million was donated by "Company A." Sometimes these donations were made directly and sometimes they were made through other sources.
The goal of "Company A" was to pass House Bill 6, maintain it, and not have it fall to a petition, DeVillers said. He said the first thing they had to do was build "Team Householder."
At this time, Householder was not yet Speaker of the House and millions of dollars were filtered through "Company A" and Generation Now to numerous different enterprises controlled by members of the conspiracy.
According to DeVillers, "Team Householder" was made up of 21 candidates who were running in 2018. He said millions of dollars went to these candidates and to attack their opposition to get them elected.
DeVillers said all of the candidates on "Team Householder" who were funded by Generation Now all voted for Householder to be speaker of the House.
Householder was elected to lead the Ohio House for the second time in a controversial vote.
Ahead of the vote, a letter written by legislative aide Marissa Reyes accused Householder supporters of racist and sexist comments.
DeVillers said only one member of "Team Householder" voted against House Bill 6, which passed in 2019.
After its passage, there was an initiative to reverse it and millions of dollars then went through "Company A" to Generation Now and were used to fight that initiative.
DeVillers said millions went to the people who have been arrested and they are still trying to figure out how much went to each person.
"We are not done with this case," DeVillers said.
DeVillers said the investigation is continuing. He wouldn’t speculate are reveal who is being investigated, but he said the investigation, which had to be covert to begin with, is now very much overt.
“There are a lot of FBI agents, knocking on a lot of doors, asking a lot of questions, serving a lot of subpoenas, executing a lot of search warrants,” he said. “And that’s going to go on for days.”
DeVillers said additional state and local charges could be brought against members of "Team Householder" as the investigation unfolds.
DeVillers said there is no evidence that the conspiracy touches Gov. Mike DeWine's office.
DeWine Tuesday, released a statement calling for the immediate resignation of Householder.
I am deeply concerned about the allegations of wrongdoing in the criminal complaint issued today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Every American has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Because of the nature of these charges, it will be impossible for Speaker Householder to effectively lead the Ohio House of Representatives; therefore, I am calling on Speaker Householder to resign immediately. This is a sad day for Ohio.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted also called for Householder to resign and said as a former House Speaker, this case makes him "incredibly sad."
GOP Chairman Jane Timken, Democratic Chairman David Pepper, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Secretary of State Frank LaRose are also calling for Householder to resign.
He called the case a "shameful betrayal of public trust."
Hoffman said this is the first time a racketeering charge has been used on a public official in the Southern District of Ohio.
He is also calling on anyone with information on the case, or any public corruption case, to come forward and call 614-849-1777.
DeVillers said this is an extremely complicated and complex case that took resources away from other issues the state is facing. He referenced two SWAT officers who were shot Tuesday as he discussed other cases agents could have been working on while they investigated Householder.
He said Householder will likely be tried in Cincinnati, but that is up to a judge.
FirstEnergy said Tuesday it has received subpoenas in connection with the investigation. The company said it is reviewing the details of the investigation and intends to fully cooperate.
Householder's attorney tells us they have no comment at this time. He is due back in Court August 6th.
ABC 6/FOX 28 will continue to update this developing story.