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Judge Rules Against Preliminary Injunction In Yost's HB6 Civil Case

Attorney General Dave Yost
Andy Chow
Attorney General Dave Yost

A Franklin County judge has ruled against Attorney General Dave Yost's (R-Ohio) request to stop FirstEnergy, former House Speaker Larry Householder, and others defendants accused in a bribery scheme from donating money to political campaigns.  

The preliminary injunction asked that FirstEnergy, Energy Harbor, Householder and others be banned from donating money to campaigns or lobbying for HB6, the nuclear bailout law at the heart of the racketeering case.

Franklin County Judge Christopher Brown ruled against the injunction. Yost says there's still a possibility of filing another injunction to stop the new charges set to appear on electric bills in January if HB6 is not repealed. 

"We still have that billion dollar money hose out there and we didn't file a preliminary injunction on that because the money isn't being collected yet and isn't being dispersed," says Yost.

Federal investigators say a $60 million bribery scheme helped HB6 become law.  

FirstEnergy has said Yost's civil case is without "legal merit."

Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.