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Ex-Ohio House speaker relieved for corruption trial's start

 

As his federal racketeering trial kicked off Monday, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder said he is optimistic and looking forward to telling his side of the story.

 

“It should be a very good six weeks for me," Householder told reporters as he awaited opening statements in the courtroom. What will reporters hear? "Truth,” he said, adding that he was not nervous or anxious for the proceeding.

 

The Perry County Republican, once one of Ohio's most powerful politicians, is on trial in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati alongside lobbyist Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, in what prosecutors have described as the largest corruption case in state history.

 

A jury must decide whether Householder, 63, and Borges, 50, are guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering. Both have pleaded not guilty and maintain their innocence. Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

 

“Larry Householder sold the Statehouse," Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Glatfelter told jurors in the government's opening statement. "He ripped off the people he was elected to serve and made backroom deals to exchange his power for money.”

 

An indictment alleges Householder, Borges, three other people and a dark money group called Generation Now orchestrated an elaborate scheme, secretly funded by FirstEnergy Corp., to secure Householder’s power, elect his allies, pass legislation containing a $1 billion bailout for two aging nuclear power plants, and then vex a ballot effort to overturn the bill with a dirty tricks campaign. The arrests happened in July 2020.

 

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Swanky D.C. dinners between FirstEnergy execs and Householder led to corrupt scheme, prosecutors say

 

In late 2016, as Larry Householder was plotting his return to the Ohio House speakership, Akron-based FirstEnergy was drowning in losses from its uncompetitive nuclear and coal generators, the company’s treasurer testified Tuesday.

 

But just a month or so later, Householder and his associates flew on a private plane owned by FirstEnergy to Washington D.C. for a swanky series of dinners and drinks with top executives with the company, an FBI agent testified Tuesday. FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones joined them after flying in on a separate FirstEnergy flight, the agent, Blane Wetzel, said.

Within weeks, FirstEnergy money was flowing into Householder’s political machine.

 

Tuesday was the second day of the racketeering trial of Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges. 

 

The men are accused of participating in a scheme to use $61 million — mostly in FirstEnergy money — to elect Republican lawmakers and make Householder speaker in 2019. In return, Householder rammed through a $1.3 billion bailout that mostly benefited FirstEnergy, the company admitted in a deferred prosecution agreement. Borges is accused of participating in a conspiracy to thwart an effort to repeal the bailout law — House Bill 6 — through a ballot initiative.

 

In opening statements Monday, federal prosecutors said that Householder corruptly engineered the scheme to put himself in a position of power and to pay himself more than $500,000. For their part, Householder’s lawyers said he raised money to build a coalition and achieve the speakership so that he could save jobs in Ohio.

 

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1 hour ago, China said:

The men are accused of participating in a scheme to use $61 million — mostly in FirstEnergy money — to elect Republican lawmakers and make Householder speaker in 2019. In return, Householder rammed through a $1.3 billion bailout that mostly benefited FirstEnergy, the company admitted in a deferred prosecution agreement.


I'm always impressed by the ratios. How well investing in politicians works. 
 

Spend 0.06B to get 1.3B in taxpayer dollars. 

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Michigan Gov. savages Indiana & Ohio for “bigotry” as conservatives fume

 

Conservatives are fuming after Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called out Ohio and Indiana for restricting LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights in her 2023 State of the State address.

 

“Bigotry is bad for business,” Whitmer exclaimed while discussing the need for Michigan to expand reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws in the state.

 

Whitmer explained that not only is protecting these civil rights the right thing to do, but it’s also good for the economy because states lose talent when their laws are too extreme.

 

She then issued a direct challenge to her neighbors.

 

“Together, we are going to change Michigan from a state with century-old bans to forward looking protections. Our message is simple: we will fight for your freedom. And you know what? Let’s go on offense. I’ll go to any state that restricts people’s freedoms and win business and hardworking people from them. I’m looking at you, Ohio and Indiana.”

 

 

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On 9/28/2021 at 2:39 PM, LadySkinsFan said:

Trump loses in arbitration regarding non disclosure agreement (NDA) during 2016 campaign. Lawsuit was brought by Omarosa Manigault Newman. 

 

"Donald has used this type of vexatious litigation to intimidate, harass and bully for years," said Manigault Newman in a statement. "Finally the bully has met his match!"

 

 

I'm betting that most of his NDAs are vague in language as being non specific. I say it opens the floodgates of people talking. 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bully-met-match-trump-loses-141034285.html

 

 

Amount Disclosed: 2016 Trump Campaign Settles Nondisclosure Agreement for $450,000

 

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD J. Trump’s 2016 campaign will pay $450,000 as part of a years-long legal battle over nondisclosure agreements it required employees to sign, Bloomberg reported.

 

The settlement with Jessica Denson—whom the campaign tried to silence after the former staffer sued for sex discrimination and harassment— effectively nixes the nondisclosure agreements that hundreds of workers signed. The campaign estimated that at least 422 people signed identical contracts, according to Denson’s attorneys.

 

According to documents filed on Friday in a New York federal court, the ex-staffer will receive $25,000, and the remaining $425,000 will cover legal fees and other costs.

 

“Thanks to the court, this is another victory for truth and transparency. The Trump Campaign can hide nothing now, not even the real price they’ve agreed to pay for our tireless and victorious battle against their forced silence,” Denson said in a statement, per the report.

 

US District Judge Paul Gardephe, who has yet to approve the settlement, previously ruled that the 2016 campaign’s contract language was too vague and “unduly burdensome” to be valid. Denson’s lawyers have also asked Gardephe to certify the suit as a limited class action for other former employees who would be covered by the deal.

 

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THE VILLAGES VENDETTA

 

THE TROUBLE BEGAN in 2019 when residents of The Villages were suddenly hit with a 25 percent hike in their property taxes. In the master-planned retirement community of 130,000 across Sumter, Lake, and Marion counties in central Florida, many are on fixed incomes. The math they had done in plotting out their golden years had not accounted for a massive jump in taxes.

 

If the new taxes were intended to cover new amenities or upgrades for the Villagers, perhaps a hike would be worth the sacrifice. But the money was instead destined to subsidize further sprawl south of The Villages, ultimately benefitting the entity known locally either as “the developer” or “the family,” which could then escape paying the fees associated with the impact of their development.

 

“This place has grown like crazy,” said Oren Miller, who would go on to run for a seat on the county commission. “The developers pay no impact fees for schools, for fire, for EMS, for police, for parks and recreation, for government buildings. The only impact fees they do pay are for roads, and they only pay 40 percent of the recommended amount.”

 

The developer is a spaghetti bowl of LLCs doing business collectively as The Villages, which is still owned by the Morse family, descendants of Harold Schwartz, who founded what became the community in the 1970s as a trailer park. The family owns the robust local newspaper, The Villages Daily Sun; owns the radio station, which pipes Fox News and right-leaning updates through speakers in common areas and at pools; owns the glossy magazine; and also owns local politics.

 

But a group of fed-up Villagers decided to fight back through the only remotely democratic chink left in the armor of The Villages, the county commission. The deck was stacked against candidates challenging the family and its allies, but there still had to be elections. Backed by the Property Owners’ Association, three Villagers stepped up to run: Craig Estep, Oren Miller, and Gary Search. They ran as a ticket under the clever moniker EMS, promising to rescue The Villages.

 

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34 minutes ago, PokerPacker said:

Can't say I know Indiana law, but I do know they're illegal in VA.  Always good to know what's legal to carry.

 

Interesting.  I grew up in Washington, D.C.  And as a juvenile delinquent, my friend and I bought some from Sunny's Surplus in Georgetown, so I assume they weren't illegal in D.C., at least back in the late '70s to early '80s.

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4 hours ago, China said:

 

Interesting.  I grew up in Washington, D.C.  And as a juvenile delinquent, my friend and I bought some from Sunny's Surplus in Georgetown, so I assume they weren't illegal in D.C., at least back in the late '70s to early '80s.

Can't speak for the 70s and 80s, but I've found D.C. tends to have stricter laws than VA.  Which shouldn't be a surprise considering VA is an open-carry state.

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8 hours ago, China said:

THE VILLAGES VENDETTA

 

THE TROUBLE BEGAN in 2019 when residents of The Villages were suddenly hit with a 25 percent hike in their property taxes. In the master-planned retirement community of 130,000 across Sumter, Lake, and Marion counties in central Florida, many are on fixed incomes. The math they had done in plotting out their golden years had not accounted for a massive jump in taxes.

 

If the new taxes were intended to cover new amenities or upgrades for the Villagers, perhaps a hike would be worth the sacrifice. But the money was instead destined to subsidize further sprawl south of The Villages, ultimately benefitting the entity known locally either as “the developer” or “the family,” which could then escape paying the fees associated with the impact of their development.

 

“This place has grown like crazy,” said Oren Miller, who would go on to run for a seat on the county commission. “The developers pay no impact fees for schools, for fire, for EMS, for police, for parks and recreation, for government buildings. The only impact fees they do pay are for roads, and they only pay 40 percent of the recommended amount.”

 

The developer is a spaghetti bowl of LLCs doing business collectively as The Villages, which is still owned by the Morse family, descendants of Harold Schwartz, who founded what became the community in the 1970s as a trailer park. The family owns the robust local newspaper, The Villages Daily Sun; owns the radio station, which pipes Fox News and right-leaning updates through speakers in common areas and at pools; owns the glossy magazine; and also owns local politics.

 

But a group of fed-up Villagers decided to fight back through the only remotely democratic chink left in the armor of The Villages, the county commission. The deck was stacked against candidates challenging the family and its allies, but there still had to be elections. Backed by the Property Owners’ Association, three Villagers stepped up to run: Craig Estep, Oren Miller, and Gary Search. They ran as a ticket under the clever moniker EMS, promising to rescue The Villages.

 

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Haha! **** you, Floridians!

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