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Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is expected to take the stand as his defense prepares to rest

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CINCINNATI (Statehouse News Bureau) — Defense attorneys in the federal racketeering trial of Republican former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder and ex-Ohio GOP chair Matt Borges started their case on Monday after the prosecution rested.

Larry Householder, former Ohio House speaker, walks into the Potter Stewart U.S. Court House in Cincinnati on Jan. 23, 2023.
Larry Householder, former Ohio House speaker, walks into the Potter Stewart U.S. Court House in Cincinnati on Jan. 23, 2023. [Andy Chow | Statehouse News Bureau]
And already, defense lawyers are signaling that they may rest before the end of the week, and will call a big witness Wednesday.

He and Borges have maintained their innocence against charges they were part of a $61 million bribery scheme to pass the 2019 nuclear power plant bailout for FirstEnergy.

While it’s unclear if Borges will testify, Householder is expected to take the stand Wednesday, and is likely to talk about pushing the bailout because it was good policy, which is what his team’s first witness, Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), said on the stand Monday.

But Tuesday morning Judge Timothy Black repeated a statement he’d made before the trial started, that the merits of the law aren’t relevant – though prosecutors asked the lawmakers they called as witnesses why they voted against it.

Republican former lawmaker Jim Trakas testified for Householder. Trakas was hoping to return to the House as part of a slate of lawmakers supported by Householder in 2018, but said he wasn’t pressured to support Householder for speaker if he were to be elected. Trakas was defeated by Phil Robinson (D-Solon).

Republican former lawmaker Nino Vitale, now a Champaign County commissioner, also testified. He told jurors he supported Householder as speaker after interviewing both him and Ryan Smith, who was elected speaker in June 2018 after the resignation of speaker Cliff Rosenberger. Householder was not among the Republicans nominated in that floor vote, but he beat Smith when they ran against each other for speaker the following January.