Latest indictment in FirstEnergy corruption scandal points to other types of “unholy alliances”
An examination of a shady Cleveland nonprofit in cahoots with FirstEnergy by Saint Claire.
The la development in the disgraceful saga that is Ohio’s largest political corruption scandal in history is the double federal indictment of FirstEnergy’s former CEO and board member, Chuck Jones, and senior VP of external affairs, Michael Dowling.
Available through Energy & Policy Institute's provided link, federal prosecutors detail the narrative of two separate bribery schemes Jones and Dowling helped orchestrate that “strategized to increase FirstEnergy’s profitability through payments to 501(c)4(s)’s whom they associated with public officials in return for specific official action benefitting FirstEnergy.”
A quick word on 501(c)(4)s, commonly called “c4s” (read: “C-fours”) or “dark money” groups…
The IRS defines its permissions as being based on “the promotion of social welfare” with an allowance for political activity, as long as politics isn’t the primary purpose.
At the same time, c4s aren’t obligated to report on their contributions and expenses in a timely or detailed manner, which makes it challenging to determine if the c4 isn’t pursuing politics as the primary purpose.
Its 501c status also makes it tax-exempt, meaning the tax burdens these c4s avoid then fall onto someone else, typically the average American taxpayer. C4s are pretty much the norm in politics, used by both Democrats and Republicans.
According to Friday’s indictment, c4s played a significant role in FirstEnergy’s $60 million bribery scheme, allowing Jones and Dowling to direct FirstEnergy money to seemingly independent organizations that then spent that money on work intended to benefit FirstEnergy.
Benefits include helping elect public officials Jones and Dowling felt would support FirstEnergy’s endeavors, such as voting for Larry Householder as Speaker and the ensuing HB-6 legislation and spreading pro-FirstEnergy propaganda.
Or to summarize the purpose of Cleveland City Council’s investigation into FirstEnergy back in 2020: “to restrict or destroy Cleveland Public Power and to influence or control the City’s legislative body as well as its executive branch.”
Cleveland City Council’s investigation specifically focused on Consumers Against Deceptive Fees (CADFs), considered just one of the many anonymously-funded c4s and LLCs that operated within a network to benefit FirstEnergy.
Known political insider (and former applicant for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections), Kenn Dowell, is listed as the President and "Natural Person Opening Account" dating back to May 2018.
The subpoenaed bank records of CADF show it received over $550,000 from FirstEnergy and made several payments to local groups and consultants operating within Cuyahoga’s political environment.
Cleveland City Council's included summary, as provided through the Energy & Policy Institute, shows who and what groups received some type of compensation through the FirstEnergy-funded c4, or “dark money” group.
No person or group represented above has been charged with a crime related to FirstEnergy.
However, former Ohio Republican Party chairman and lobbyist Matthew Borges, principal for Roetzel Consulting Services (parent company of Roetzel & Andress), was sentenced to five years in prison in 2023.
Political work—and all that comes with it—is legitimate work. Even if this writer thinks all politics is tainted.
There is no world in which there isn’t a local economy for “research,” “polling and mailing,” or “consulting.” And according to the latest federal indictment, CADF is not one of the c4s that is currently under investigation.
But it is necessary to consider how this relationship between FirstEnergy and CADF began, which makes the recently examined email all the more interesting.
Included is an email exchange between David H. Turner (current FE manager of external affairs), Joel D. Bailey (former FE lobbyist), Murphy P. Montler (former FE director of external affairs, who also died unexpectedly in August 2019), Daniel P. DeVille (former FE director of external affairs for The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. and Toledo Edison), John E. Skory (former FE VP of utility operations), and Michael Dowling (former FE senior vice president of external affairs).
Why did recently indicted Michael Dowling have an “inquiry on Kenn Dowell”?
Why does Joel D. Bailey, a former FirstEnergy lobbyist, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over 100 times, have “a lot of concerns about [Dowell’s] involvement”?
What happened between June 2017, when Turner and Dowell first met, and May 2018, when CADF’s bank account was opened?
We may never really know, though it certainly strains Dowell’s credulity when he claimed last week that he didn’t know FirstEnergy funded CADF.
But revisiting the central theme of the latest indictment—a strategy to increase FirstEnergy’s profitability through payments to 501(c)4(s)’s whom they associated with public officials in return for specific official action benefitting FirstEnergy—one can see why Cleveland City Council sought to look into CADFs role in Cuyahoga.
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