FirstEnergy calls the millions of dollars spent on House Bill 6 ‘contributions’ that were legal, protected

Chuck Jones, former CEO of FirstEnergy Corp., in an undated photo when he was still running the firm.

Charles Jones, the former chief executive officer of FirstEnergy.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Attorneys for FirstEnergy Corp. and its top executives say the millions of dollars used to pass House Bill 6 were political contributions channeled legally through a nonprofit.

In hundreds of pages of documents filed Tuesday, the attorneys urged a federal judge to throw out a civil lawsuit alleging securities fraud against the Akron utility. They called the money spent on the legislation “issue-advocacy” donations.

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