By JULIE CARR SMYTH and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The powerful Republican speaker of the Ohio House and four associates have been arrested in a $60 million federal bribery case connected to a taxpayer-funded bailout of Ohio’s two nuclear power plants.
FBI agents also raided Speaker Larry Householder’s farm.
U.S. Attorney David DeVillers says the ploy was probably the largest bribery scheme ever perpetrated against the state of Ohio.
Governor Mike DeWine is calling on Householder to resign immediately.
Householder was one of the driving forces behind the nuclear plants’ financial rescue that will direct over $150 million a year through 2026 to the plants near Cleveland and Toledo.
Also arrested were Householder adviser Jeffrey Longstreth, long-time Statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark, former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matthew Borges; and Juan Cespedes.