The House GOP caucus issued the following statement: “The Ohio House of Representatives today received and fully cooperated with a federal search warrant for personal items at the Riffe Center belonging to Larry Householder. The House will continue cooperating with federal investigators as part of our effort to restore integrity and trust to the House.”
On July 21, Householder, his political strategist Jeff Longstreth, former Ohio Republican Party chairman Matt Borges and lobbyists Neil Clark and Juan Cespedes were charged by criminal complaint with racketeering. Federal grand jury indictments against the five men, plus Generation Now, were unsealed Thursday morning.
They are accused of conspiring to run what federal prosecutors called the biggest bribery scheme in Ohio history. Generation Now is a 501(c)(4) organization, which does not have to disclose its donors, that federal prosecutors say was controlled by Householder and funded by an energy corporation and its affiliates.
An FBI receipt for property obtained by the Dayton Daily News says investigators took several things from the Ohio House, including a Team Household cap, framed nuclear plant photo, calendar and an iPhone, thank you notes and an envelope marked “Jeff personal with profile information.”
The search warrant, approved 7:21 p.m. Thursday, was for six boxes and four envelopes. The FBI wanted records, calendars, call lists, photographs and other communications; computers and storage devices, and evidence of who used the computers and how, according to the warrant. The warrant authorized agents to use the finger or thumbprints of people on the premises to unlock Apple devices.
A spokeswoman for the Ohio House GOP caucus said agents took a small box of items.
In 2018, when then Speaker Cliff Rosenberger cleared out his office, the inventory of items he removed ran 53 pages.
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