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Statement from the Ohio Democratic Party on Householder
Charges
LARRY HOUSEHOLDER’S DIRTY MONEY PROPPED UP OHIO GOP
In the summer of 2017, the
Akron Beacon Journal editorial board
questioned the legality of
Larry Householder’s “attempt at political
money-laundering”
of contributions from
Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow founder Bill Lager
through the Ohio Republican
Party -- a deal so shady that the Ohio GOP
almost immediately decided
to give back the cash.
However, that didn’t stop
the Ohio Republican Party from taking more
Householder campaign cash in
the following years -- $50,000 in September
2018, $180,000 in October
2018 and $47,000 in January 2019 into the party’s
state candidate fund, and
$5,000 in October 2019 into their state account.
“It’s as if there was an
enormous flashing warning light that Larry
Householder was back to his
old tricks of funneling cash through various
groups to evade campaign
finance laws -- and yet the Ohio Republican Party
said, sure, we’ll take your
money, but we’re not going to ask too many
questions,” said Ohio
Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. “The criminal
complaint alleges that
Householder was taking contributions and running
them through a web of
interconnected entities that he personally controlled
and from which he enriched
himself. It appears that one of the
beneficiaries of
Householder’s activities was the Ohio Republican Party.
“The Ohio GOP should not be
permitted to fund candidates and campaigns with
proceeds from a criminal
enterprise. Therefore, we are asking the courts
and law enforcement to take
appropriate action to freeze any accounts
associated with Larry
Householder and his co-conspirators and prevent
further corruption of our
political process here in Ohio. In addition, the
Ohio Republican Party should
also voluntarily freeze these tainted funds,
or give them back as they
did in 2017, pending the investigation.”
In addition to the charges
detailed in last week’s criminal complaint,
Householder
and his political action
committee, Friends of Larry Householder, have been
referred to the Ohio
Elections Commission for campaign finance violations.
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