COLUMBUS, Ohio — U.S. Senator Jon Husted met with the alleged mastermind of Ohio's largest public corruption scheme two days before scandal-ridden bribery legislation was introduced, according to his official calendar.
As former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and VP Mike Dowling are on trial for bribery, their close ties to major political players continue to be revealed.
"How far deep do you think the scandal went?" I asked state Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid).
"I think all the significant actors have yet to be discovered," Smith responded.
But one name kept coming up in the Summit County courtroom.
"He had access to Jon Husted, the lieutenant governor of the state of Ohio," Steven Grimes, the attorney for Dowling, said during the opening statements.
RELATED: Everything you need to know about the FirstEnergy trial if you haven't been paying attention
For years, we have been uncovering the relationships between Husted, the FirstEnergy executives and former Public Utilities Commission Chair Sam Randazzo.
Jones and Dowling maintain their innocence, while Randazzo took his own life in 2024 after pleading not guilty.
Husted has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
"He's always been an advocate for FirstEnergy, and FirstEnergy was perhaps the most poorly run company in the state of Ohio," Smith said about Husted.
Husted frequently communicated with FirstEnergy execs before, during and after his campaign.
Text messages from our 2024 public records request show the executives spent at least $3.5 million through dark money groups to help fund Gov. Mike DeWine and Husted’s campaign.
Not only did we discover texts linking DeWine and Husted to FirstEnergy, but the administration had been wrapped up with Randazzo.
DeWine defended his top advisor, Laurel Dawson, after a criminal indictment alleged she knew about millions going to Randazzo from FirstEnergy right before he was appointed to power by the governor. She helped vet the former chair of the Public Utilities Commission, the supposed watchdog of utilities, after her family had already received a $10,000 loan from him.
The governor's team insists she didn't know the millions were a bribe payment.
FirstEnergy gave Randazzo $4.3 million to do their bidding, help the company out and also create House Bill 6, according to the prosecution. FirstEnergy spent $61 million to get legislation giving it a billion-dollar bailout for its struggling company.
The then-lieutenant governor was also in communication with them about H.B. 6. Husted has always denied he knew this was a bribe.
Dowling emailed Jones before H.B. 6 passed in 2019, saying the governor “left the details of H.B. 6 to others — (John Husted) and Danny." Dan McCarthy was DeWine's legislative director after having been a lobbyist for FirstEnergy.
A brand new records request shows Husted’s calendar from 2019. Two days before H.B. 6 was introduced, Husted had a scheduled meeting with Randazzo, the bill drafter. Combined with our records from 2024, the calendar lines up dates and times, giving more legitimacy to texts between FirstEnergy officials that Husted was talking to them as frequently as they said.
Call logs showed dozens of conversations between Husted, Randazzo and leaders within FirstEnergy.
Throughout the hearing process, Husted had reported a dozen meetings related to energy policy, H.B. 6, more than any specific bill on his calendar. Starting in April, he met with energy lobbyists or officials mentioned in the H.B. 6 records, including lobbyist Matt Evans and strategist Rex Elssas.
He had meetings about nuclear energy both in his office and with DeWine and at the governor's residence. He also went up to Akron to see Jones.
When the Senate was holding up H.B. 6's passage, Jones texted House Speaker Larry Householder.
"Husted called me two nights ago and was supposed to get it in the Senate version," Jones said.
"He’s not a legislator," Householder responded.
"I know, but he said Senate leaders would listen," Jones replied. "He didn't deliver."
Click here to see considerably more texts about Husted and how he was allegedly leading the push for H.B. 6.
"Jon Husted seems to have been First Energy's selected official of choice in Columbus," Smith said.
After the bill was signed into law, advocates tried to get it repealed. The same day the attorney general was set to certify that effort, Husted met with Householder, who landed in prison for his role in the scheme.
Husted also met with FirstEnergy executives and lobbyists who were actively trying to prevent the petition during the fall of 2019. Former GOP leader Matt Borges just finished his prison sentence for his role in trying to block the repeal.
We reached out to Husted’s team on Monday morning and asked them half a dozen questions, including why he was so involved in this legislation. By Tuesday evening, his team still hadn’t responded to comment.
But back in 2024, he was unhappy with my questioning.
RELATED: Ohio Lt. Gov. Husted denies knowledge of corruption scheme in wake of FirstEnergy texts
"With FirstEnergy executives talking about you, relying on you to pass House Bill 6, why should people believe you that you didn't know about this scheme?" I asked in June of 2024.
"Well, first of all, everybody in the room may not have been around back when this all started, the Paris Climate Accords in 2000..." Husted started addressing zero-carbon energy.
He advocated publicly for the saving of nuclear power plants, he said.
"There is every reason to believe that they were gonna go out — if they had, we'd be in an energy deficit today, so it's important that they were saved," Husted said. "That was a very public position I'd taken and I stand by that position."
"That has nothing to do with the texts about the bribery scheme," I responded.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "We weren't involved. Texts to other people — texts to other people shared amongst themselves — have nothing to do with me. And I wasn't involved in that conversation."
Back in the Summit County courtroom in 2026, the defense said meetings with Husted were professional.
"This is a very typical thing that politicians do at the end of a campaign," Jones' attorney Carole Rendon said. "They meet with their supporters and thank them for their support."
Husted is listed as a witness for the defense and could testify in the next few weeks.
"Jon's always been a really good friend of FirstEnergy," Smith said. "With friends like that, I don't know if you need enemies."
RELATED: New texts show FirstEnergy allegedly working with Gov. DeWine to pass House Bill 6
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
