Ohio files complaint on ex-House speaker’s campaign spending

FILE – In this Oct. 30, 2019, file photo, Republican Ohio state Rep. Larry Householder sits at the head of a legislative session as Speaker of the House, in Columbus. Householder’s name will be on the ballot Nov. 3, 2020, as the disgraced lawmaker intends to serve his district for another term despite facing federal bribery charges for his alleged involvement in a $60 million bribery scheme that shook the Statehouse this summer and led his party to remove him from the House speaker role. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

by: The Associated Press

Posted: Oct 23, 2020 / 08:59 PM EDT

Updated: Oct 23, 2020 / 08:59 PM EDT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a complaint with the state Elections Commission saying the former Ohio House speaker’s payments of more than $900,000 in campaign contributions to attorneys defending him in a federal racketeering case weren’t appropriate.

The complaint filed Friday says the payments from Rep. Larry Householder’s campaign committee violate Ohio campaign finance law.

Federal authorities allege the Republican speaker was the central figure in a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by FirstEnergy Corp. to obtain a $1 billion bailout for two Ohio nuclear plants operated at the time by a wholly-owned FirstEnergy subsidiary.