AKRON — When U.S. Sen. Jon Husted testified Wednesday in the corruption trial of two former FirstEnergy executives, he told the court he had no knowledge that Sam Randazzo had financial ties to FirstEnergy before Randazzo was appointed chair of Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission. He said he couldn’t recall how Randazzo’s name came up for the job. He said he didn’t know that Randazzo had helped write portions of House Bill 6.

Public records contradict each of those claims — including a document that was addressed to Husted himself.

Before Randazzo’s 2019 PUCO appointment, a former colleague then working for rival utility American Electric Power sent Husted and Gov. Mike DeWine a nearly 200-page dossier. Its finding was explicit: “PUCO applicant Sam Randazzo has opaque, undisclosed financial ties to FirstEnergy and they should be fully examined and made public.” The document included financial records, legal filings, and business documents as supporting evidence, according to News 5 Cleveland.

Husted acknowledged the document’s existence while on the stand, but framed it as a minor communication. “I recall that one of the other utilities had sent maybe a letter or something to the governor criticizing Sam Randazzo as a potential appointment,” he said. Case Western Reserve University business law professor Eric Chaffee told News 5 Cleveland the discrepancy was significant. “If you find a document that provides pretty direct evidence to the contrary of what somebody testified, there is reason to consider the accuracy of the testimony offered by the witness,” Chaffee said.

Husted was called as a defense witness — not as a defendant. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the case.

A pattern the record doesn’t support

Wednesday’s testimony marked the third time in as many weeks that Husted’s public statements have been undercut by documentary evidence.

On March 9, News 5 Cleveland reported that defense attorneys had told Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross that Husted could not leave Washington to testify in person due to the military campaign against Iran. Video obtained by the station showed Husted entering security at Reagan National Airport that same day, then arriving at John Glenn Columbus International Airport that evening. He was scheduled the following day as keynote speaker at a Greene County Republican Party fundraiser where tickets reached $1,000.

On Feb. 19, TiffinOhio.net reported that Husted’s official calendar showed a scheduled meeting with Randazzo two days before H.B. 6 was introduced in April 2019 — a meeting Husted did not acknowledge in earlier public statements about his role in the legislation.

Now, on the stand, Husted’s stated ignorance of Randazzo’s background conflicts not only with the 200-page dossier addressed to him, but with Randazzo’s own sworn testimony. Ohio Capital Journal reported that Randazzo stated at his 2019 Ohio Senate confirmation hearing that Husted and Laurel Dawson, DeWine’s chief of staff, were among those who recruited him for the PUCO position. The connection predates 2019: when Husted was Ohio House Speaker in 2007, he appointed Randazzo to the PUCO Nominating Council, according to AP News.

When asked Wednesday how Randazzo’s name entered consideration for the chairmanship, Husted said: “I do not” recall.

What the documents say

The contradictions extend to H.B. 6 itself. Husted testified that he did not know Randazzo had written portions of the legislation. Ohio Capital Journal reported in 2021 that FirstEnergy admitted Randazzo drafted the bill’s decoupling section. When state Assistant Attorney General Matt Meyer pressed Husted on the point in cross-examination, Husted said he accepted the evidence: “I don’t dispute it.”

Text messages and internal FirstEnergy communications released in 2024 paint a more detailed picture of Husted’s role in the legislation than his testimony suggested. In a July 2019 text to CEO Chuck Jones, then-FirstEnergy lobbyist Michael Dowling wrote that he had just spoken at length with Husted and that Husted was “working on the 10 years” — a reference to FirstEnergy’s preferred 10-year duration for the nuclear subsidy, which ultimately passed as a seven-year provision. In a separate message to a FirstEnergy subsidiary executive, Jones wrote that Husted and others were “fighting to the end” as the bill neared passage, according to the Statehouse News Bureau.

A separate Dowling message to Jones, included in records reviewed by Cleveland.com, described Husted as “highly engaged on HB6” and referred to Randazzo as one of Husted’s “resources at disposal.” A Dowling email to Jones before the bill passed stated that Gov. DeWine “left the details of H.B. 6 to others — John [sic] Husted and Danny,” referring to Husted and Dan McCarthy, DeWine’s legislative director and a former FirstEnergy lobbyist, per Ohio Capital Journal.

Cleveland.com reporting also found that records from the various investigations show DeWine and Husted performed what internal documents described as “battlefield triage” to preserve Randazzo’s nomination after an advocacy researcher surfaced financial records linking FirstEnergy to Randazzo’s companies.

Husted has consistently denied meaningful involvement in the legislation and in Randazzo’s appointment. When confronted with the text messages after they became public in 2024, he told reporters: “I don’t know what you’re talking about, we weren’t involved.” A statement from his spokesperson issued after Wednesday’s testimony said: “While serious policymakers were working to provide affordable, reliable energy, others were trying to corrupt the process for their own self interests. Fortunately, prosecutors and the courts have spent years pursuing accountability. Senator Husted has confidence in our justice system, and has always said that if he can play a role in bringing this case to a close, he is glad to do his part, which he did today.”

Background: The trial and the stakes

The trial in Akron’s Summit County Court of Common Pleas centers on former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former Senior Vice President Michael Dowling, who are accused of orchestrating a $4.3 million bribe to Randazzo. Prosecutors allege that bribe was part of a broader $61 million scheme to pass H.B. 6, a law that provided a $1.3 billion ratepayer-funded bailout to two struggling nuclear plants formerly owned by a FirstEnergy subsidiary.

Randazzo, who was charged alongside Jones and Dowling, died by suicide in April 2024 after pleading not guilty. Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, convicted by a federal jury in 2023 for his role in the racketeering scheme, is nearly three years into a 20-year prison sentence. Former GOP leader Matt Borges, also convicted, was released after serving half of his five-year sentence.

Husted, appointed to Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat in 2025, faces a high-stakes 2026 special election against former Sen. Sherrod Brown. A poll released this week by GOP-aligned firm OnMessage Public Strategies found Brown leading among likely voters, 47 percent to 45 percent. Ohio Democrats have made the HB 6 scandal a central line of attack against Husted’s candidacy. “Jon Husted’s testimony today confirmed what Ohioans already knew: he was at the center of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history and it’s costing families hundreds of dollars more a year,” Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen said in a statement Wednesday.

As a result of H.B. 6 and its associated surcharges, the average Ohio residential electric bill has risen by $663 per year since the law took effect, according to prior TiffinOhio.net reporting.

Summit County Judge Susan Baker Ross, who earlier this week dismissed money laundering charges against Jones and Dowling for insufficient evidence, rebuked the prosecution’s final question to Husted — which asked whether he would want anyone who compromised PUCO’s integrity held accountable — for crossing a line. The defense rested its case Thursday without either Jones or Dowling taking the stand. A verdict could come in the coming days.