Ohio's Republican governor calls for repeal of nuclear subsidies law plagued by bribery scandal

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, called Thursday for repealing a law providing subsidies to coal and nuclear plants because of a bribery scandal involving state House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican and a chief backer of the legislation. DeWine reversed himself from a day prior when he said the law should stay in place because he was concerned about potential job losses if the two nuclear plants aided by the law were to close. “While the policy, in my opinion, is good, the process by which it was created stinks. It’s terrible, it’s not acceptable,” DeWine said Thursday during his coronavirus briefing, calling the law "forever tainted," according to local media reports.

Federal officers arrested Householder and his associates on Tuesday after an FBI investigation alleged that they received $60 million in bribes to champion the legislation from the utility that owns the nuclear and coal plants subsidized by the bill, FirstEnergy Solutions. Funds from FirstEnergy allegedly also helped defeat an attempt by opponents to garner enough signatures for a proposed ballot referendum to repeal the law. Some legislators in the state House and Senate are also calling for the law’s repeal after the bribery scandal, but that’s complicated by the fact the law passed by comfortable, bipartisan margins. The legislature is controlled entirely by Republicans.

Ohio’s controversial law, known as HB 6, passed in July 2019, was criticized by clean energy advocates and government watchdogs. The bill provided funding to several struggling coal and nuclear plants while rolling back the state’s renewable electricity mandate program and energy efficiency laws. Other states such as Illinois, New York, and New Jersey have implemented programs to compensate nuclear plants, which emit no carbon, to keep them running, but those Democratic-leaning states have done so for climate change reasons. Those states have not aided coal plants and targeted renewables at the same time, like in Ohio.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/ohios-republican-governor-calls-for-repeal-of-nuclear-subsidies-law-plagued-by-bribery-scandal

Daily on Energy: New scrutiny for Ohio nuclear subsidies law after bribery charges for House Speaker

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/daily-on-energy-new-scrutiny-for-ohio-nuclear-subsidies-law-after-bribery-charges-for-house-speaker?utm_source=Daily%20on%20Energy%20072320_07/23/2020&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WEX_Daily%20on%20Energy&rid=74

Ohio governor supports nuclear bailout law despite scandal

https://apnews.com/6429d6672bced4f5205367f1e72edf3d

Washington Post settles lawsuit with Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann

The Washington Post settled a defamation lawsuit with a Covington Catholic High School student who was the subject of controversial media coverage in 2019 because of a misleading video clip. Nicholas Sandmann, 18, who was the subject of a viral altercation between his classmates and a Native American man, announced the resolution to his lawsuit against the news outlet on Friday. Sandmann’s family sought at least $250 million in damages for the paper's reporting that portrayed the MAGA hat-wearing teenager as a racist for smiling in the face of Native American activist Nathan Phillips. "On 2/19/19, I filed $250M defamation lawsuit against Washington Post. Today, I turned 18 & WaPo settled my lawsuit. Thanks to [Todd McMurtry] & [Lin Wood] for their advocacy. Thanks to my family & millions of you who have stood your ground by supporting me. I still have more to do," he shared on Twitter. "We have settled with WAPO and CNN. The fight isn’t over. 2 down. 6 to go. Don’t hold your breath [Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey]."

"We are pleased that we have been able to reach a mutually agreeable resolution of the remaining claims in this lawsuit," Kris Coratti, a spokeswoman for the Washington Post, told the Washington Examiner. Judge William Bertelsman of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky and who initially dismissed the case in late July 2019 on the grounds that the paper’s reporting was protected by the First Amendment, reinstated the case in October. But the judge narrowed the number of allegedly defamatory statements from 33 to three. Shortly after Sandmann filed his lawsuit, the Washington Post issued a lengthy editor's note that said that "subsequent reporting" allowed for "a more complete assessment of what occurred" that "contradict[ed] or fail[ed]" to confirm what the paper had previously reported about the incident. Sandmann has already settled a defamation lawsuit against CNN.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-post-settles-lawsuit-with-covington-catholic-student-nicholas-sandmann

Judge tosses Covington Catholic student’s defamation lawsuit against Washington Post

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/judge-tosses-covington-catholic-students-defamation-lawsuit-against-washington-post

Judge revives Covington Catholic student's libel suit against Washington Post

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/judge-revives-covington-catholic-students-libel-suit-against-washington-post

Editor’s note related to Lincoln Memorial incident

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/01/editors-note-related-lincoln-memorial-incident/