COLUMBUS, Ohio — The attorneys for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Republican leader Matt Borges are feeling "hopeful" after a Cincinnati politician convicted of bribery got a pardon from President Donald Trump.
Once convicted of accepting $20,000 in bribes, former Cincinnati City Councilmember PG Sittenfeld's slate has been wiped clean.
RELATED: President Trump pardons former Cincinnati City Council member P.G. Sittenfeld
President Donald Trump pardoned the Democrat, who was sentenced to more than a year in prison in 2023.
And with this pardon comes interest from other influential Ohio politicos.
"Does the PG Sittenfeld pardon give you hope for a Larry Householder?" I asked Householder's attorney, Scott Pullins.
"Yeah, I can't comment, obviously, on what we're doing right now, what I'm working on, our legal team's working on," Pullins replied. "But it certainly gives us a lot of hope."
Thursday, Borges's appeals attorney, Dennis Belli, told me in a phone interview that the Sittenfeld pardon also gives him hope.
In March 2023, a jury found Householder and Borges guilty in the largest public corruption case in state history. Watch more below:
RELATED: Jury finds former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and co-defendant Matt Borges guilty
And earlier this month, a panel of federal court judges upheld the convictions of Householder and Borges.
RELATED: Federal appeals court upholds conviction of Householder in public corruption case
Clemency
I asked Gov. Mike DeWine about the pardon.
"Do you think Larry Householder and Matt Borges should be pardoned?" I asked.
"Look, I don't have any comment about the pardons," he responded. "These are decisions that are made by the president of the United States. I have authority in regard to state pardons, and I always will tell you about why I made a decision."
Pullins has been telling us for months now that the former speaker is seeking clemency, arguing the FBI was politically motivated in arresting the former speaker.
"They singled out Larry, him alone," he said. "No one else has been charged, no other politician — period."
Legal expert Steve Goodin, partner at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, said this could be a sympathetic argument for a pardon.
"It obviously strikes very close to home for Donald Trump who has been the subject of these kinds of inquiries and cases in the past," Gooden said.
In an interview in February, Attorney General Dave Yost refuted this allegation.
"He was indicted by President Trump's United States Attorney, David DeVillers, who, I believe, is the same political party," Yost said. "I don't think that dog hunts."
And Yost said he was against Householder getting out.
"I oppose," he said in February.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because I've seen the evidence and he committed multiple crimes," Yost said. "Even if his appeal is successful in the federal case, there is additional evidence of criminal acts that are included in the state's indictment."
Householder is also facing Ohio charges. He has pleaded not guilty to 10 felony counts in Cuyahoga County.
If convicted and appeals fail, it would take an act of the governor to clear him of that.
"If convicted in state court, Larry Householder—" I started to ask DeWine.
"I'm not gonna do a hypothetical," the governor said, interrupting me.
Previously, Pullins told us in an interview that the team is hoping to leverage Householder’s close relationship with Trump to get him out. Watch more below.
"What would you say about the appearance that Householder could be using his connections in order to get out of prison?” I asked the attorney in November.
"Well, yeah. He is," he responded. "Hopefully, he has some friends left that can help."
After our exclusive, in-depth interview in 2023, I've kept in touch with the head juror, Jerrod Haines, who convicted Householder in federal court.
He said that Householder was, once again, using power to get what he wanted.
"I definitely feel like he is using his connections to skip his sentence," he said. "I would feel that the justice system failed if he would be pardoned. I would feel that my time as a juror was wasted, even though I think it was a very valuable experience for me, my life was interrupted for seven weeks."
Haines told us in 2023 that he was left disillusioned with state government, hoping political leaders would finally learn not to undercut their citizens in exchange for power and money. Watch more below.
RELATED: Lead Householder juror explains why trial 'left sour taste' in his mouth
Paula Christian from WCPO contributed to this story.
For more extensive stories on the bribery scandal, follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
