Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted is scheduled to testify Wednesday in the criminal trial of former FirstEnergy executives Chuck Jones and Michael Dowling — the latest development in a case that has mentioned Husted’s name more than 100 times and that prosecutors have described as the largest public corruption scheme in Ohio history.
Jones and Dowling are on trial for allegedly paying a $4.3 million bribe to Sam Randazzo, the former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Randazzo was charged in state and federal court in 2024. He died by suicide shortly after. The broader scandal centers on a $61 million scheme by FirstEnergy officials to buy influence in the Ohio General Assembly to secure passage of House Bill 6, a $1.3 billion ratepayer-funded bailout of the company’s failing nuclear and coal plants.
Throughout the trial, defense attorneys and witnesses have repeatedly identified Husted as a central figure in the events that preceded the bribery. Attorneys have argued that Husted — described in court as FirstEnergy’s “elected official of choice” — fought to install Randazzo as PUCO chair. Phone records introduced into evidence show Husted had nine calls with the FirstEnergy executive accused of orchestrating the bribery. His official calendar shows he met with that same executive two days before HB 6 was introduced in the legislature.
Husted’s lawyers initially said he could not testify in person due to congressional obligations related to the Iran war authorization, but he did travel to Ohio during that period for a fundraiser, according to reporting by WEWS.
HB 6 passed the Ohio legislature in 2019. Ohio households have since paid an estimated $663 more per year in electricity costs as a result, according to previous TiffinOhio.net reporting. The total cost of the bailout to ratepayers has exceeded $500 million.
Husted is currently serving as a U.S. Senator in what analysts have described as one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.
