The power of the question

Kenn Dowell, one of HB-6's lesser-known personalities, scurried like a bug and hurled "yo mama" jokes when confronted with his role in the largest bribery scheme in state history (that we know about).

Cuyahoga County political insider Kenn Dowell.

HB-6, the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history (that we know about), went to the highest levels of our state government. But the dirty secret is that the power plays trickled down to two-bit hustlers like Kenn Dowell.

Dowell, the former political director for one-time Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, is largely unknown outside Cleveland insider circles. As such, I was surprised to see Dowell co-headlining the Columbus Democratic Third Friday luncheon on April 25.

Eagle-eyed readers of The Rooster will remember Cleveland-based Saint Claire detailing Dowell’s corrupt relationship with FirstEnergy during the passage of HB-6.

Most notably, however, former state and federal FirstEnergy lobbyist Joel Bailey had “a lot of concerns” about FirstEnergy partnering with Dowell, which is rather eye-popping considering the unsavory nature of their plotting that ended with federal racketeering and bribery charges.

David Turner, the then-FirstEnergy Manager of External Accounts, agreed with Bailey’s assessment:

Dowell’s appearance at the Third Friday Luncheon proved fortuitous timing, as Franklin County Judge Richard Brown, a former Democratic State Representative who voted against HB-6 as a member of the lower legislative chamber in 2019, granted Bailey and other FirstEnergy lobbyists immunity to testify about their involvement in the passage of HB-6.

Bailey had previously invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over 100 times during a deposition, which suggests he has quite the story to tell—a story which we know involves concerns about Dowell’s involvement.

I don’t fault the organizers of the Third Friday luncheon for not knowing this information about Dowell, though they would have known had they subscribed to The Rooster.

But I do have enough political sources in Cleveland to know that Saint Claire’s exposé on Dowell and his partner, the alleged Pastor Aaron Phillips, mortally wounded Dowell’s bid for a vacated seat on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, which he initially sought with the blessing of local Congresswoman Shontel Brown (D-Tel Aviv).

I didn’t attend the luncheon to embarrass Dowell on the grand stage, though he probably felt that way. If that were my ultimate goal, I would have bogarted the public Q&A session to ask questions that I wanted to ask him on the record, like:

• “A Franklin County judge recently granted your old friend Joel Bailey immunity. He is the former FirstEnergy state and federal lobbyist with ‘concerns’ about Michael Dowling, the since-indicted FirstEnergy Vice President of Bribes, working with you. Do you remember any conversations with Bailey?”

• “You’re here on behalf of your SuperPAC, Voices for a Better Future. Are you still working with the alleged pastor himself, Aaron Phillips, whom Dowling said in texts that he bribed?”

• “I’m sure your consulting business is picking up this election year. Who are you supporting in Cleveland?”

Are these questions pointed? Sure. But they’re not loaded. It’s not as if I’m fabricating emails from FirstEnergy executives and lobbyists or bank statements. And it’s not like HB-6 is some minor scandal, either.

I waited until after the event for the confrontation, shortly after I caught Dowell taking a creepshot of me from across the room. He had been talking to some unknown woman, and she had him pinned on one side of the table. I made my move to pin him on the other side.

Dowell told me to go fuck myself, which is his God-given right as an American citizen:

The thing about the Boat House at Confluence Park, where the luncheon was hosted, is that there is basically one way in and one way out. Seeing as Dowell was an invited headliner and not wanting to cause a scene on private property, I told Dowell I’d wait for him outside.

“Don’t do that,” he said. “It will only get worse.”

I walked outside, wondering if he was rich enough to activate my literal retirement plan, which is suing somebody’s pants off for assaulting me.

But I had to steel myself for some sort of confrontation from an already agitated Dowell. You never know how people are going to react in this business, and it’s not like my friends call me Don Karate.

Thankfully, however, Dowell went crying to the property manager, who politely tried to mislead me about where I could and couldn’t stand while I waited on Dowell.

Had Dowell waited another few minutes, I would have been moved to a position where, at best, I could have only shouted at him from a distance. But Dowell, flanked by three partisan soldiers, came strolling out of the exit during the negotiations with the property manager.

As I stressed, I would have preferred to have a civil conversation. But that route wouldn’t have been nearly as hilarious as a man wearing a cross necklace shouting about making “sweet love” to my “ugly” mother, but only after he “shaved her back hair.”

The property manager shrieking about calling the police as if I were some bomb-carrying maniac was a touch that I wouldn’t have been able to script in my wildest dreams.

And again, Dowell is free to act that way. He might be sitting on the Board of Elections if The Rooster hadn’t published what we did. It’s natural for him to feel some sort of way against me, especially at an event in Columbus where he only came for a free lunch and to knock over some kindly senior citizens.

But for a guy who hosts a podcast called Strategic Moves, Dowell didn’t strike me as someone confident about his involvement with HB-6.

In fact, in those 180 seconds of interaction, it’s easy to see why the FirstEnergy lobbyist had “concerns” about the company’s Vice President of Bribes working with Dowell.

Dowell comes across as a cross-wearing, easily combustible huckster who cracks like an egg at the first hint of pressure.

No local, state, or federal prosecutor has charged Dowell with any wrongdoing relating to HB-6.

But he doesn’t strike me as a guy sleeping well knowing that a bevy of former FirstEnergy executives and lobbyists were granted immunity that didn’t extend to him.

A brave woman’s death reminds us that Columbus has a long way to go with Leslie Wexner

Leslie Wexner and his longtime friend, Jeff Epstein

Virginia Giuffre, one of the numerous victims of the dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, died by suicide over the weekend, according to a release from her family.

My heart breaks at the loss, and I can only imagine the trauma that Giuffre had to navigate, and I hope she can find peace in whatever comes after the Hell she endured here on Earth.

Her death is another reminder that local children’s thong salesman Leslie Wexner probably shouldn’t have his name on a bunch of buildings around town.