Report ties Arizona political operative to Ohio bribery case
An Arizona political operative is reportedly tied to a bribery case in Ohio that has led to criminal charges against that state’s House speaker, although not to her.
Meghan Cox, the co-founder and principal at the Tempe-based Lincoln Strategy Group, allegedly pressed someone involved in a signature-gathering effort to overturn an Ohio law to accept money from her organization to abandon their effort, the Daily Beast reported Friday.
That action is common among political operatives trying to scuttle campaigns. It highlighted the effort allegedly used to thwart an attempted repeal of a law that was favorable to an Ohio utility company.
Cox declined to comment and referred the matter to her attorney, Kory Langhofer.
“The issue that gave rise to criminal charges in Ohio never crossed the desk of anyone at Lincoln Strategy Group,” he said. “Blocking campaigns are a standard practice in ballot-measure politics. It’s been happening for 50 years in 26 different states. I’ve never before seen someone suggest that it’s a crime, and I don’t read the charges here as suggesting that, either.”
The Ohio case involves House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican from Glenford, Ohio, who is charged along with four others in a federal criminal complaint with participating in a $60 million racketeering scheme.
The complaint claims Householder helped pass legislation last year that offered what amounted to a $1 billion taxpayer-funded bailout of two nuclear power plants in northern Ohio owned by FirstEnergy Solutions of Akron.
When a group sought to undo the bailout, the utility and Householder’s allies turned to operatives to buy off canvassers seeking to gather the signatures needed to let voters decide the matter, according to the complaint.
The Daily Beast connected a woman identified in the complaint only as
“Meghan” to a lawsuit filed over the signature-gathering effort that included a text message thread that allegedly included Meghan Cox.
According to the complaint, Meghan reached out in a text message to an undisclosed person involved in the signature campaign to “offer a deal of $2,500 to sign on with our team today.”
The complaint alleges the offer was intended to peel off canvassers and have them provide information about the effort to get the issue on the Ohio ballot.
The Daily Beast said Cox’s efforts to recruit canvassers began on the day the Lincoln Strategy Group received $600,000 from a company identified only as “Front Company.”
The complaint notes that Front Company was incorporated in Ohio on July 30, the same day as a pro-bailout group called Ohioans for Energy Security, the Daily Beast wrote.
The complaint accuses Householder of creating an enterprise, Generation Now Ohio, to collect large sums of money for him and others involved in the conspiracy and to advocate for the bailout of the nuclear plants.
Some of the money also was spent on Householder’s political campaign, as well as on the campaigns of allies, the complaint said.
“This is likely the largest bribery, money laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of the state of Ohio,” said U.S. Attorney David DeVillers, whose Columbus office is prosecuting the case.
DeVillers said the case remains under investigation.
“We’re not done with this case,” he said. “There are a lot of federal agents knocking on a lot of doors.”
After DeVillers’ unveiled the complaint on Tuesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, called on Householder to resign immediately.
“Because of the nature of these charges, it will be impossible for Speaker Householder to effectively lead the Ohio House of Representatives,” DeWine said. “This is a sad day for Ohio.”