Scandal Alert! Akron Company FirstEnergy's Dark Money

Gotta love when a company slides some secret money over to politicians, right?! Uh, maybe on opposite day. 😑💩

In 2021, Akron-based company FirstEnergy admitted to funneling $60 million to OH House Speaker, Larry Householder. The goal was to pass energy legislation which would have put $1.3 billion in FirstEnergy's pocket. 😈 

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BTW, our pal Larry's been charged with racketeering and will head to trial in January. ⚖️

Here’s Five Fast Facts on the FirstEnergy fiasco:

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1. 💲 Sneaky Cash - The term “dark money” usually refers to when someone's putting cash into what's called a social welfare organization, or a 501(c)(4). These sneaky accounts don't have the same spending caps as other political donations. Also, the companies don't have to tell anyone who the donors are. 
2. 🕵️ Hidden Messages - As long as they don't go directly to political candidates, these "social welfare organizations" can then use the cash money to influence voters through political ads. Yep, even the dirty ones. Especially those.
3. 😏 Now, You Kids Play Nice - Back in July 2021, FirstEnergy made a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice. They promised to play nice with investigators and paid a $230 million penalty.
4. 🌚 Dark Side of The Moon - Part of the three-year deal with the Justice Department, FirstEnergy agreed to disclose all payments to dark-money groups. The bad news is that the deal's only for three years, so let's hope they don't go back to the dark side afterwards. #wishfulthinking
5. 🤔 Slim Shady - Since the scandal broke, $390,000 in contributions have returned from the company’s state and federal PACs. So far in 2022, FirstEnergy has spent over $1.3 million on congressional lobbying.

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🔥Bottom line: Dark money in politics is a pretty big deal, and not just in Ohio. Shady funding makes it tough to keep elections honest, and cracking down on any and all funny business is a major must. However, if anyone wants to funnel any dark money into our wine and candy fund, we won't rat you out!

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What do you think about dark money in politics?

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