At last we know for certain that former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones approved all that

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Attorneys for FirstEnergy shareholders have named two former executives, Michael Dowling and Chuck Jones, as the orchestrators of House Bill 6 bribes.

We’re asking why they have not been charged on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here. See the automated transcript at the bottom of the post.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editor Leila Atassi, editorial board member Lisa Garvin and content director Laura Johnston.

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Here are the questions we’re answering today:

We finally have the answer that we have long suspected. Who were the honchos at FirstEnergy who signed off on the bribes that created the biggest scandal in Ohio Statehouse history and completely corrupted the government at the expense of the people?

Cleveland has seen an outsize share of fatal accidents resulting from drivers getting on highways in the wrong direction, and now we have a new tool to battle such crashes. What is it, and where will it be used?

What were the highlights of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s State of the State Address Wednesday?

Marcia Fudge, head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is on the warpath about how appraisals for homes owned by Black people are lower than for similar homes owned by white people. What does she mean to do about it?

Perhaps the best known example of the damage caused by the May 30, 2020 riot in downtown Cleveland was the wrecking of Colossal Cupcakes. On Wednesday, the bill came due for the man who did the wrecking. What was it?

What’s an orphan gas or oil well, and how many do we have in Cuyahoga County that might be problematic?

Have the Cleveland Browns responded to the harsh criticism they received this week over the trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson, who faces 22 lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault and misconduct?

What killed 15 Canada geese around Lower Lake in Shaker Heights, and should we be worried?

What were the questions people had to answer in the 1950 Census, for which all records are being released on April 1. Every 10 years, we get a batch of data, which genealogists treasure. What will we learn this time?

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Read the automated transcript below:

Chris: [00:00:00] Well, the legislative races have been pulled off the may primary, even though the may primary is still on why won’t the Ohio legislature do the smart thing and postpone the election until we understand where all the lines will be. It’s today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the plain dealer.

I’m Chris Quinn with the cast to regulars, Lisa Garvin and Layla Tassie, Laura Johnston it’s Thursday, one more day of the workweek for you.

Lisa: Yeah. Chris is always working

Laura: even when he’s on vacation.

Chris: Yeah, just the podcast because people like the podcast let’s get started. We got a good one to begin. We finally have the answer that we have launched. Good. Who were the honchos at first energy who signed off on the bribes that created the biggest scandal in Ohio state house history and completely corrupted the government at the expense of [00:01:00] the people, Layla, their names are now public.

Yeah, I think

Leila: we need like a drum roll coming through attorneys, reversed energy corporation shareholders on Wednesday. Identified former first energy CEO, Charles Jones, and Michael Dowling, who had led the company’s lobbying efforts as the two who had come up with the scheme to pay off public officials in exchange for the favorable legislation and the regulatory action.

These disclosures happened in filings related to the lawsuit that was filed by investors on behalf of the company. Against the utilities, directors and officers that alleging a lack of oversight that led to the bribery scandal, the attorneys for the investors named Jones and Dowling after us district, judge John Adams had given them a noon, Wednesday deadline to cough up the names of the people who paid the bribes in the tainted legislation.

Adams issued the order because the attorneys had attempted to sidestep his questions by claiming the [00:02:00] confidentiality of the mediation. So basically the attorneys are saying Jones and Dowling are executives one and two in the deferred prosecution agreement that was filed against first energy last July, in which the company copped to doing the bad thing and said to bad guys of the company pushed the payment.

Chris: So it gets the question one, cheers to judge Adams for insisting this be done. He represented the public, the taxpayers pay a salary. Finally, almost two years in these, these guys have been identified. It’s fascinating to me that the rich guys are the ones that have evaded all the notice and the charging the politicians had been charged, but the filthy rich guys who sat at the top of the utility.

Remain free and clear justice is not being served. I don’t know why the federal prosecutors are sitting on this, but that’s the question. Why, if everybody now knows they were the guys and they have the company admitting it was bribery aren’t they [00:03:00] indicted Layla, you covered courts for some years. You saw a lot of charges filed against people on much more flimsy evidence than this.

Leila: Yeah, I don’t understand it either. I mean, they’re just kind of like, yeah, we didn’t know wrongdoing there. Their attorneys are saying no nothing to see here, but I mean the prosecution agreement lays it out. It’s kind of gift wrapped here. It, it, it suggested that the two former officials who we now know who they are worked for months to get householders help from his push to speakership, to the hundreds of thousands of dollars in regulatory payments, they called and texted numerous times.

About the legislation, according to this agreement, and then, you know, the Ohio house selected householders speaker, and then the prosecution agreement shows a householder texted Jones and said, thanks for everything. It was historic. I mean the same day, you know, another person texted Jones and Dowling big win in the Ohio speaker vote.

I mean, this, there it’s gift wrapped. I just don’t [00:04:00] understand, uh, what is the, you know what, what’s, what’s holding it up. It’s

Chris: just it’s breeding sentences because I am hearing from people in the public that now believe they won’t be charged that their money talks and that they, that justice is not blind to the cash and the riches.

Um, and they’re they sending notes saying we don’t get it. I mean, you got a bunch of politicians who are charged and good, they should be, but what kind of justice system do you have in this country when somebody. Filthy rich just gets out of it. So, I mean, it, it, it, I, in the beginning, when people said, do you expect their recharges?

It was like, of course we expect we’ll be charges. The company’s pleaded guilty. And now I’m saying, I don’t know, the federal, the new federal prosecutor just doesn’t seem like he’s that interested in this case or bringing people to justice, the trial.

Leila: I do feel like you see that. At court, like how much justice can you afford?

You know, can you, I mean, you can often buy your way [00:05:00] out of a lot of things, but with such a high profile case, you would think that it would be so obvious that you’re letting these guys skate. Yeah. And it’s 20 months

Chris: later, it’s 20 months since this dented the public consciousness with the rate of Larry householders home, which means the investigation is more than two years old.

And yet the, the, the, I don’t know, I don’t even know who the prosecutor is down there since Dave left. And they’re probably glad I can’t think of their name because they’re doing a terrible job and this something should change. They are breeding. A cynicism about the justice system in Ohio, because they’re not bringing these people to account.

They claim they’re innocent. The only way they’re going to be able to prove this, go to court, you know, you want to go in and get a jury to buy that you didn’t bride people, even though your company says you did go ahead. Good luck to you, but let’s get it before a jury. Before time expires on this thing.

I mean, there’s a statute of [00:06:00] limitations isn’t there. So I guess the prosecutors may look to let that expire and go oopsy. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Cleveland has seen an outside share of fatal accidents, resulting from drivers, getting on highways in…