FirstEnergy lawsuit: Attorneys want to depose Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, subpoena DeWine records

Attorneys suing Akron-based FirstEnergy want to depose Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, including what he knew about $4.3 million that the company paid to ex-Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo.

They also subpoenaed records from Gov. Mike DeWine, Cleveland.com first reported. The subpoena seeks records about ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder's political campaign, political contributions in 2018, House Bill 6 to bailout two nuclear plants, term limits and Alice DeWine's bid for Greene County prosecutor, among other topics.

The subpoena seeks records from Jan. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2020.

FirstEnergy previously admitted it bribed Randazzo, who had influence over utilities as Ohio's top regulator, and Householder, who championed House Bill 6. Randazzo has said he did nothing wrong. Householder was sentenced in June to 20 years in prison earlier this year for orchestrating the bribery scheme.

Federal prosecutors have said their criminal investigation is ongoing.

In addition to the criminal case, investors filed civil lawsuits, saying they lost billions of dollars because of FirstEnergy's role in the corruption. Attorneys in those lawsuits want to interview under oath Randazzo, Husted and others.

"We’re aware of the civil investor lawsuit against FirstEnergy," Husted press secretary Hayley Carducci said. "The lieutenant governor has already provided public records pertaining to this, and we will continue to comply as we have done in the past. There’s no new information to disclose."

FirstEnergy executives saw Husted as an ally in their quest to score a larger subsidy, previously released text messages showed. Ex-FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, who was ousted after the scandal came to light, described Husted and Randazzo as "fighting to the end" for more years on the nuclear bailout.

The deposition list is described as "defendants and non-parties directly involved in and terminated as a result of their involvement with Randazzo, SFAO (Randazzo's company Sustainability Funding Alliance of Ohio, Inc), and the $4.3 million payment."

Other names include:

• Current and former FirstEnergy executives, members of the board of directors and lobbyists. Current CFO K. Jon Taylor, treasurer Steve Staub, Energy Harbor President and CEO John Judge and Judge's predecessor Donald Schneider and former Chief Ethics Officer Ebony Yeboah-Amankwah are among those listed.

• Former associates of Householder's political operation, Anna Lippincott and Megan Fitzmartin.

• Partners for Progress, a FirstEnergy dark money group once run by Dan McCarthy, who later became Gov. Mike DeWine's top lobbyist.

The list was part of a filing that asked Randazzo and his attorneys to turn over more records about the $4.3 million payment, which FirstEnergy called a bribe and Randazzo maintains was the final payment in a longstanding contract.

In a Nov. 6 court order, Special Master Shawn Judge told Randazzo and his company to provide those records after several delays. "Litigation is not a game, and the Court’s Order are directives to be followed, not mere suggestions either to be ignored," he wrote.

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FirstEnergy lawsuit: Attorneys seek to depose Lt. Gov. Jon Husted