The judge in the bribery trial of two former FirstEnergy executives said the state’s former lieutenant governor is likely to testify the morning of March 11 — putting a sitting U.S. senator on track to become the highest-profile witness to take the stand so far.
Outside of the presence of the jury on March 6, Judge Susan Baker Ross notified the media and trial spectators that U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, will likely testify virtually from 8:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. on March 11.
Husted will testify for the defense team of Chuck Jones, former FirstEnergy CEO, and Michael Dowling, ex-FirstEnergy senior vice president of external affairs. Ross has agreed to allow Husted to testify via video link from Washington, where attorneys said Husted needs to stay to fulfill his legislative responsibilities while the United States carries out combat operations against Iran.
The defendants are accused of paying a more than $4.3 million bribe to Sam Randazzo, who was a prominent energy attorney, before Randazzo became chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Randazzo died in 2024.
Defense attorneys say the payment was intended as a settlement to the Industrial Energy Users of Ohio trade group that Randazzo represented at an attorney. But they contend Randazzo stole the money.
Through witness testimony so far, jurors have learned that Randazzo stole from a settlement between IEU-Ohio and American Electric Power, a Columbus-based electric utility company, and IEU-Ohio.
Husted was elected lieutenant governor in 2018 as the running mate of Mike DeWine, who in 2019 appointed Sam Randazzo to PUCO chair.
On Dec. 18, 2018, the defendants had dinner with DeWine and Husted in Columbus, then visited Randazzo’s condominium in the city’s German Village neighborhood, according to trial testimony from approximately the past month.
That meet-up and conversations the next day are central to the state’s case, with evidence showing that the defendants were communicating with Randazzo about a roughly $4.3 million payment that FirstEnergy paid about two weeks later. Prosecutors say that transaction was a bribe in exchange for Randazzo to push for energy policy that financially benefited FirstEnergy.
Jurors have also seen logs of phone calls between Dowling and Husted, as well as texts referencing Husted.
In one text message, Dowling said DeWine and Husted performed “battlefield triage” to get Randazzo elected as PUCO chair.
Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal’s business and consumer newsletter, “What’s The Deal?”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sen. Jon Husted’s FirstEnergy trial testimony scheduled for March 11
Reporting by Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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