Thread by @bstorrow

What did FirstEnergy Corp know about Larry Householder's illegal campaign operation and when did it know it? My story:

eenews.net/stories/106360…

There is a lot we are still learning about this, but here is some of what we know

- Householder took FirstEnergy's corporate jet to Donald Trump's inauguration
- Juan Cespedes, an FE lobbyist arrested yesterday, is described as a "conduit" between FE & Householder by the feds

And it seems highly likely that FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones was in direct contact with Householder.

Why do we know this when neither FE or Jones is named?

The complaint say CEO of Corp A gives the following quote in the Q4 earnings call.

This is what Jones said during FirstEnergy's 2016 4Q earning call , according to the transcript.

Later in the complaint, the feds say Householder spoke on the phone with the CEO of Company A Corp. 30 times between Jan. and July of 2019.

There is also reference of a meeting between Householder's dark money group, Generation Now, and "the CEO of the company" on efforts to defeat the ballot measure.

I asked FirstEnergy for comment about this, but they responded with a generic statement saying simply that they have received a subpoena and are cooperating.

As @leahstokes told me, the most incredible part of this affair is "We actually kind of knew this was happening anyway. It didn't matter, and it didn't stop the vote at the end of the day."

My colleague @jefftomich has further information in this very good rundown of yesterday's events eenews.net/stories/106360…