The General Counsel of the Republican Party of Kentucky and the Republican leadership of the Kentucky House has been linked to the political scandal in the Ohio House of Representatives.
Eric Lycan, a Kentucky attorney, served as Treasurer for Generation Now 501 (c) (4) in 2018. This company was founded by US Attorney David on July 21, along with five people (but not Lycan). charged with extortion by M. DeVillers, who described it as “possibly the largest bribery and money laundering program ever perpetrated against the people of Ohio State”. Among the accused and arrested was Larry Householder, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.
The Ohio scandal
The outline of the alleged act is as follows:
- Five people (Larry Householder, Jeffrey Longstreth, Neil Clark, Matthew Borges and Juan Cespedes) and Generation Now formed a “company” within the meaning of Title 18 of the US Code. The affidavit accompanying the complaint names this group “Householder’s Enterprise” and says that “the named defendants conspired to guide and participate in the affairs of Householder’s Enterprise through a pattern of extortion activities.” (Page 3 of the affidavit)
- From March 2017 to March 2020, Householder’s Enterprise received approximately $ 60 million from companies from Company A. (p. 4)
- Subsequent investigation, including matching statements in the affidavit with SEC filings, has shown Company to be A First Energy, a utility company headquartered in Akron.
- Company A owned two nuclear power plants in Ohio. The company announced to shareholders that its “future of nuclear power looked bleak”. She then looked for a “legal solution” to keep her nuclear power plants solvent. Such a law was not passed in 2017 (p. 4)
- Householder had been Ohio House spokesman from 2001 to 2004 when he was on a temporary basis. In 2016 he was re-elected to the Ohio House. His goal was to become a speaker again.
- “After traveling on Company A’s private jet in January 2017, Householder received quarterly payments of $ 250,000 from Company A in March 2017 to a bank account on behalf of a 501 (c) (4) entity secretly from Householder named Generation Now is controlled. ” (Page 5)
- “In the spring and fall of 2018, the company spent millions from Company A to support the House of Representatives who participated in the primaries and general elections that the company believed would both vote for the Householder as spokesman and ultimately his Follow the example as a speaker and would vote for the rescue legislation for company A. “(page 5)
- After Householder was elected spokesman, he began pushing House Bill 6, which increased electricity tariffs, and used that money as a rescue grant for First Energy’s two nuclear power plants. The law was passed and signed by the governor of Ohio on July 23, 2019.
- A referendum was planned to overturn HB6 but was rejected by Generation Now after a massive negative campaign.
- Company A’s companies paid Householder’s Enterprise $ 60,886,835.86 in clandestine payments over approximately three years in exchange for the billion dollar bailout. The company hid the payments by using a 501 (c) (4) to collect the bribe and then remitting the payments internally to a network of affiliates and accounts. The millions paid at the company are cash – unlike campaign or PAC contributions, they were not regulated, not reported, not subject to public scrutiny – and the company freely spent the bribes to promote the company’s political interests to promote and enrich oneself. “(p. 6)
This is just an outline. For more information, see the resources at the end of this article.
The CREW allegations
As a 501 (c) 4, Generation Now is not required to disclose its donors. However, it is required to file an annual statement with the Internal Revenue Service showing the financial basis. These filings are available on the IRS website.
On July 24th, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) published an article outlining the many attempts to get Generation Now’s tax return for 2018.
The CREW article states:
Beginning in late 2019, CREW repeatedly attempted to obtain Generation Now’s 2018 tax return directly from the organization’s treasurer, an attorney named Eric Lycan. On several occasions, Lycan informed CREW that the tax return known as Form 990 would be available soon. But more than nine months after the due date, CREW has still not received a copy.
As of August 3, 2020, Generation Now’s 2018 return will still not be posted on the IRS website.
Reactions
Spokesperson for Osborne and RPK
Forward Kentucky made four calls to Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne (two by email, two by phone). At the same time, we similarly contacted the Kentucky Republican Party by email and phone.
Our written questions to Osborne and the RPK were the same:
- Did you know the CREW story was going to be published?
- Do you have a comment on the story?
- As I understand it, Mr. Lycan is General Counsel to both the Republican Caucus of the Kentucky House and the Republican Party of Kentucky. Is that correct?
- If right, do you expect a change in his relationship with your organizations?
- Do you have any other comments?
We have received no response from either Spokesman Osborne or the RPK.
Eric Lycan
We also contacted Eric Lycan, twice by email and twice by phone. We sent him these questions:
- Did you know the CREW story was going to be published?
- Is there anything in history that you deny or think is misrepresented or misrepresented?
- Do you have any other comments about the story?
- Are you still the Treasurer of Generation Now? If not, when did you leave this position?
- What other non-profit or political organizations have you been and are you still treasurer of?
- Are you still the General Counsel of the Kentucky House Republican Caucus and the Kentucky Republican Party?
- Have you been contacted by the Ohio authorities in connection with the Householder case?
We have not received a response from Lycan.
FBI from Ohio
We contacted the FBI agent who filed the complaint against Generation Now and the four people. In return, we were contacted by the Public Affairs Officer of the Cincinnati office, with whom we had a brief conversation.
He told us that he could not comment specifically on Mr. Lycan as it was an ongoing investigation. We asked him if it was unusual for a company like a PAC to be billed without charging any of the organization’s directors. He said again that he could not address the particular situation, but could say that the investigation was ongoing and that further charges or charges could be brought.
resources
Judicial complaint and affidavit (PDF)
CREW article – The defendant Ohio spokesman’s dark money group dodged IRS coverage for months
Intercept Article – The Ohio Republicans were reluctant to come up with a nuclear bailout, so the industry voted for new Republicans – and walked away with $ 1.1 billion
Washington Post article – Ohio House spokesman arrested in connection with a $ 60 million bribery program
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