Name: Ohio coal giant Murray Energy is $100K dark money donor ’Company B’ in federal probe
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Ohio coal giant Murray Energy is $100K dark money donor ’Company B’ in federal probe

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Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Jackie Borchardt The Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORKView CommentsNow-bankrupt Ohio coal giant and House Bill 6 supporter Murray Energy Corp. provided $100,000 in “dark money” involved in the alleged racketeering and bribery scheme that ensnared former House Speaker Larry Householder and four others.The criminal complaint states “Dark Money Group 1,” previously identified by The Dispatch and The Cincinnati Enquirer as the for-profit company Hardworking Ohioans Inc., spent nearly $1.5 million to support Householder’s Republican candidates in the 2018 general election.The complaint outlines “other corporate interests” giving $300,000 to the group atop $670,000 from the FirstEnergy-bankrolled dark money nonprofit Generation Now and $500,000 directly from FirstEnergy.A bankruptcy filing by Murray Energy Corp. shows the coal company gave $100,000 to Hardworking Ohioans on Oct. 26, 2018 amid its flurry of media buys backing Householder-blessed candidates as he angled to be elected speaker.The complaint states “Company B” wired the same amount on the same day to the group, with a footnote stating: “Company B is an energy company with interests aligned with Company A,” a reference to FirstEnergy. following an FBI investigation of what federal authorities describe as a pay-to-play scheme to pass and then defend House Bill 6 and its nuclear power plant bailout from an ultimately failed referendum repeal effort. “Company B” is not charged with a crime.The same Murray Energy bankruptcy filing also shows the company gave $30,000 on April 18, 2018 to Hardworking Americans Committee, of Fenton, Michigan. However, the amount and timing of the payment appear in dispute.Federal campaign finance reports filed by Hardworking Americans show Murray’s political action committee kicked in $50,000 on April 24. The super-PAC spent $523,000 on Householder’s $1 million GOP primary race against Kevin Black, who lost by a 2-to-1 margin to the Perry County farmer on May 8, 2018.Meanwhile, environmental groups are asking the federal bankruptcy judge handling Murray’s Chapter 11 reorganization case to . is not required to disclose its spending as a privately held corporation. FCC filings show that the treasurer of Hardworking Ohioans is Chad Hawley, co-founder of the Batchelder Group with former Republican House Speaker William G. Batchelder. Hawley has not responded to requests for comment.Officials of Murray Energy, which has only one remaining Ohio coal mine, the Century operation in Monroe County, declined comment Friday.Robert Murray, the founder of the company bearing his name and its CEO until it filed for bankruptcy last fall, began his company in 1988 with a single mine in eastern Ohio’s Belmont County. He is a long-time supporter of Republican politicians and causes in Ohio and a major contributor to President Donald Trump. Murray was paid nearly $14.1 million in the year prior to his company’s bankruptcy, according to case filings.Murray famously denounced climate change as a hoax while fighting clean-air mandates and lobbying to preserve the power plants that burn his coal. The closely held company bills itself as the largest underground coal company in the U.S. Andrew Wheeler, a former Murray lobbyist, now serves as Trump’s U.S. EPA director.Murray Energy Corp. lobbied for passage of HB 6 and its $1 billion ratepayer bailout of a pair of troubled nuclear power plants that Akron-based FirstEnergy passed on to a now-separate subsidiary, Energy Harbor, in bankruptcy reorganization.The bailout legislation, now the target of a repeal-and-replace effort in the legislature, also extended a fee paid by electricity ratepayers to subsidize two aged coal-burning power plants in Ohio and Indiana owned by a consortium of utilities, led by . A dark money nonprofit funded by AEP gave $350,000 to groups involved in the alleged criminal conspiracy surrounding the bill. AEP denies wrongdoing.According to industry publications, Murray worked with FirstEnergy for years to keep its Sammis coal-fired plant open in eastern Ohio, which his company supplied with all of its coal. Murray talked of buying the plant after the utility announced it would be closed.However, with the passage of HB 6 and the jettisoning of its nuclear power plants in bankruptcy, FirstEnergy then announced it was financially positioned to keep coal-burning units open at the Sammis plant.Murray Energy’s political action committee has been a long-time benefactor of Ohio Republicans, contributing more than $332,000 to the state party, officeholders and candidates since 2014.Householder’s campaign account received $12,700 in the last election cycle while the PAC gave $17,500 to the GOP House campaign committee.Republican Gov. Mike DeWine received $17,708 during his 2018 campaign, while the Ohio Republican Party got $68,124 from the Murray PAC, according to campaign finance records.The day after signing HB 6 into law, DeWine attended a Murray-hosted fund-raiser for Trump in Wheeling, West Virginia on July 24, 2019.The Murray Energy PAC also has contributed at least $3.3 million to federal candidates and conservative PACs in recent years, led by a $1 million contribution in 2017 to America First Action, a pro-Trump super-PAC.With its coal sales sliding due to cheaper natural gas and renewable energy, Murray Energy filed for bankruptcy Oct. 29, with Murray departing as CEO but remaining chairman of the board. His successor as CEO, long-time company executive Robert Moore, received $9.8 million in salary and a $4.2 million retention bonus in the year prior to bankruptcy.rludlow@dispatch.com@RandyLudlowjborchardt@enquirer.com@JMBorchardtView Comments

Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Jackie Borchardt The Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORKView CommentsNow-bankrupt Ohio coal giant and House Bill 6 supporter Murray Energy Corp. provided $100,000 in “dark money” involved in the alleged racketeering and bribery scheme that ensnared former House Speaker Larry Householder and four others.The criminal complaint states “Dark Money Group 1,” previously identified by The Dispatch and The Cincinnati Enquirer as the for-profit company Hardworking Ohioans Inc., spent nearly $1.5 million to support Householder’s Republican candidates in the 2018...

Ohio coal giant Murray Energy is $100K dark money donor ’Company B’ in federal probe

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