Gov. Mike DeWine Won't Say He Regrets Picking Energy Regulator Now at the Center of Historic Bribery

Gov. Mike DeWine Won't Say He Regrets Picking Energy Regulator Now at the Center of Historic Bribery Scandal


A huge Ohio utility paid Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s pick to be the state’s top utility regulator millions and the regulator, Sam Randazzo, proceeded to do favors for the utility that were worth at least hundreds of millions, the utility and federal prosecutors have said.

But more than a year into one of the biggest public-corruption scandals in Ohio history, the governor’s staff won’t say that DeWine regrets hiring Randazzo in the first place.

When the scandal broke last July, then-House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford and four associates were charged in what prosecutors said was “likely the largest bribery and money-laundering scheme ever in the state of Ohio.”

They said Akron-based FirstEnergy and others funneled $61 million through 501(c)(4) “dark money” groups and into an effort to pass a $1.3 billion package that would bail out two aging nuclear reactors, two aging coal plants and provide what amounted to a $102 million-a-year subsidy for FirstEnergy. It also gutted renewable and energy efficiency standards.

Read more: https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/08/13/gov-mike-dewine-wont-say-he-regrets-picking-energy-regulator-now-at-the-center-of-historic-bribery-scandal