Text messages reveal GOP governor 'personally solicited' dark money payment: report

16 June 2024

An analysis by OpenSecrets revealed in March that "dark money groups are spending at record levels in their efforts to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. elections."

Ohio Republican Governor Mike Dewine, however, was ahead of the times.

According to Cleveland.com, "newly revealed text messages and other documents suggest" the GOP leader "personally solicited" a portion of dark money he received to boost his gubernatorial campaign in 2018 from FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, who has since been indicted on bribery charges.

"Chuck. Can u call me?" DeWine wrote Jones on Oct. 13, 2018, according to the report, noting "that a teachers’ union gave a million dollars the day before to a group backing his Democratic rival."

After Jones forwarded the message to Mike Dowling, a FirstEnergy senior vice president, Dowling wrote, "Chuck – go ahead and call Mike DeWine on the $500k. It’s going to RGA’s C(4) called State Solutions. All set."

RGA refers the "pro-DeWine Republican Governor’s Association," according to Cleveland.com.

The news outlet reports, "Records show FirstEnergy had already spent millions backing DeWine, including its subsidiary giving $500,000 to" RGA "just two days prior. By Oct. 16, 2018, the FirstEnergy men agreed to a 'dark money' contribution, which are unlimited in size and not publicly disclosed.'"

Cleveland.com reports:

When DeWine came looking for a boost with his October 2018 text message to Jones, FirstEnergy’s top executives wondered if they had already done enough. The company had done 'more than anyone,' Dowling told Jones in a text message. Dowling, FirstEnergy’s top lobbying agent, texted Jones that DeWine 'already knows about' the $500,000 contribution that FirstEnergy’s subsidiary provided to the RGA that week. The two mulled how to respond but made up their mind to provide another donation by Oct. 16. Jones told Dowling he’d call DeWine that evening to tell him.

Per the report, the governor's spokesperson Dan Tierney "denied that DeWine solicited a contribution to a supportive dark-money group, which Tierney said would be illegal. He said DeWine has followed all campaign finance laws and didn’t coordinate with any independent expenditure group. Tierney called it 'sick and disgusting' and 'highly offensive and irresponsible' to suggest otherwise, despite Dowling’s text to Jones instructing the CEO to inform DeWine."

Cleveland.com's full report is available here.

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