Gov. Mike DeWine's chief of staff knew about $4.3 million payment to top utility regulator weeks before FBI raid
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday he only learned about a $4.3 million payment from FirstEnergy Corp. to the state's top utility regulator, which the company said last week was a bribe, after DeWine appointed him to the post.
DeWine's then-Chief of Staff Laurel Dawson told DeWine about the payment on Nov. 16 – the day the FBI searched former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio chairman Sam Randazzo's Columbus condo, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said. But Dawson had learned about the payment 17 days earlier.
On Oct. 30, Randazzo called Dawson to inform her that FirstEnergy had paid him $4.3 million shortly before he was appointed to the PUCO, Tierney said. The call came one day after FirstEnergy fired three executives, including CEO Chuck Jones, for violating company policies.
The public wouldn't learn about the $4.3 million payment until FirstEnergy disclosed it on a Nov. 17 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Randazzo resigned from the PUCO on Nov. 20, citing the SEC disclosure and FBI raid as two factors.
Last week, Akron-based FirstEnergy admitted that it paid Randazzo and his companies $22 million between 2010 and 2019, including a $4.3 million payment on Jan. 2, 2019. Shortly after, Randazzo applied for a seat on the PUCO, an enormously powerful board that regulates public utilities, including FirstEnergy.
DeWine, who appointed Randazzo to lead the PUCO on Feb. 4, 2019, said Monday afternoon that he knew Randazzo had worked for FirstEnergy but he was unaware of the $4.3 million payment until fall 2020. DeWine initially said he learned about the payment in October 2020, then said he didn't know the exact date, leaving his press team to clarify the timeline.
"My understanding is that relationship had been terminated ... Look, Mr. Randazzo was asked by people on my team: do you have any conflict?" DeWine said, answering questions from reporters. "And the answer he gave was 'No.'"
No one in the governor's office or administration has been interviewed by the FBI regarding House Bill 6 or Randazzo, Tierney said Tuesday. Dawson declined to comment.
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Randazzo has not been charged with any crime and issued a statement last week saying he did nothing wrong.
DeWine also said Monday he doesn't think anyone in his administration is named by pseudonyms in the deferred prosecution document in which FirstEnergy admitted to bribing Randazzo and former House Speaker Larry Householder. Householder has pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges.
"I read it quickly. I'm not going to tell you I studied it," the governor said of the 49-page document. He noted that he looked at the sections that referenced State Official 1 and State Official 2 but said he doesn't believe those pseudonyms describe him or Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.
"I would not recognize me from that," he said. Husted said the same.
Prosecutors used three dozen pseudonyms to describe elected officials, company executives and other individuals involved in the case.
DeWine said FirstEnergy executives did not push him to put Randazzo on the PUCO. He said he doesn't recall what topics were discussed when DeWine and Husted dined with then FirstEnergy Chief Executive Chuck Jones and Senior Vice President Michael Dowling on Dec. 18, 2018.
At the time, DeWine and Husted had won the election and were preparing to take office.
The statement of facts signed by FirstEnergy said the company lobbied for Randazzo's appointment.
On Jan. 28, 2019, then FirstEnergy Chief Executive Chuck Jones texted another executive about the status of Randazzo's PUCO appointment. "Executive 2's reply indicated he spoke with State Official 2 and 'no decision but that he had a great conversation with the Gov this morning,'" the statement of facts says.
The DeWine campaign this week donated $130,473 it had received in contributions from FirstEnergy sources to the Ohio Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs.
Other contributions that FirstEnergy and FirstEnergy Solutions made to independent groups, such as the Republican Governors Association or Securing Ohio's Future, are not controlled by DeWine. Securing Ohio's Future and Protecting Ohio are two 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that advocated for DeWine's election as well as his daughter's run for Greene County prosecutor. Both entities, which have since dissolved, received contributions from FirstEnergy sources.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.