A Republican former state lawmaker who was a critical “no” vote on the 2019 nuclear power plant bailout law known as House Bill 6 told a federal court why he first called the FBI about it.
It was more testimony for the prosecution in the racketeering trial of Republican former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder and ex-Ohio GOP chair Matt Borges.
Dave Greenspan, now the president of Westlake City Council, says he opposed House Bill 6 because he didn’t like corporate bailouts. But when both Householder and lobbyist Neil Clark warned him there would be repercussions if he voted against House Bill 6, Greenspan reached out to the FBI.
Greenspan also said he got a call telling him to delete texts from Householder. On Wednesday, Householder former strategist Jeff Longstreth testified that he’d told that man to call Greenspan with that message.
Householder’s attorney was pointed in cross-examination of Greenspan’s decision to call the FBI.
After the jury left the room, the attorney blasted the judge for overruling some of his team’s objections and accusing the judge of “tying our hands”. Householder and Borges have maintained they’re not guilty of playing roles in a $61 million bribery scheme to pass House Bill 6 for FirstEnergy, which owned the nuclear plants through a former subsidiary.
FirstEnergy and Generation Now, the dark money group prosecutors say Householder used to funnel money from FirstEnergy to candidates that would support him for speaker, have entered plea deals. Longstreth has pleaded guilty, as has former lobbyist Juan Cespedes, who testified for the prosecution last week.
