COLUMBUS –The man behind the scenes of Ohio's largest bribery scheme might be the state's most powerful political operative you've never heard of.
Jeff Longstreth, 44, iscalled former Speaker Larry Householder's "implementer" and "political guy" by federal investigators laying out detailed allegations of a nearly $61 million pay-to-play plan.
But for many Republican lawmakers and operatives,Longstrethwas just another mid-level political strategist.
His firm's websitetouts Householder and House Republicans as clientsbut has no picture of Longstreth. Biographies of JPL andAssociates' top advisors are left blank with space for"Name, title, short bio here."
Over his two decades in Ohio politics, Longstreth led a presidential campaign, ran a U.S. Senate race, orchestrated a successful amendment to the state constitution andworked on two bids for Ohio speaker.
However, that work was overshadowed by the state's rising and brighter stars. Longstreth wasn't a key player in Ohio politicsuntil Householder needed someone to help himstage a political comeback.
Together, Longstreth and Householder took control of the Ohio House of Representatives, passed a $1.3 billion bailout for nuclear plants in northern Ohio and defended that law against a ballot initiative to block it, according to an 81-page complaint used to arrest the duo and three others.
If convicted, Householder, Longstreth and their alleged co-conspirators each face up to 20 years in prison. Longstreth, who could not be reached for comment,has pleaded not guilty to the offenses. Longstreth's attorney said he didn't know how his client met Householder and declined to comment on the case.
An ambitious aide
Although separated by 17years, Longstreth and Householderboth grew up as sons of Appalachia. Their high school alma maters – Longstreth's Tri-Valley High School and Householder's New Lexington High School – were close enough to play each other in football.
While attending Ohio State University, Longstreth worked on the campaigns of state Sen. JamesCarnes andU.S. Rep. Bob Ney. (Ney would later plead guilty to accepting bribes, including overseas trips, in exchange for official actions forlobbyist Jack Abramoffand his clients.)
Longstreth graduated in 1999 and went to work at the Ohio Statehouse, serving as a legislative aide to then-Rep. Don Mottley, R-West Carrollton.
"He wanted to be the best legislative aide that I ever had," Mottley recalled of Longstreth's work ethic in 1999 and 2000. "He tried pretty hard to do a good job."
As an aide in the Ohio House of Representatives, Longstreth would have had a front-row seat to Householder's first campaign to gain control of the speaker's gavel.
After Mottley left the House,Longstreth led the Ohio Housing Council, an association of affordable housing professionals. He startedapolitical firmusing his initials: JPL and Associates.
Longstreth thenledOhio Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, anonprofit that sought to curb what injured Ohioans – and their attorneys – could collect from lawsuits. The group didn't need to disclose its donors, but it was part of a network in several states backed by large corporations worried about the cost of litigation.
Another advocate for tort reform in 2004: then-Speaker Householder.
Courting conservatives
After years of lobbying, Longstreth landed a prominent political job: running Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign in Ohio.
Huckabee ran as the socially conservative alternative to Arizona Sen. John McCain and finished a distant second in the state's GOP primary;McCain won every county.
In 2009, Longstreth managed the short-lived U.S. Senate campaign of Tom Ganley, a Cleveland car dealer who challenged party favorite Rob Portman in the GOP primary.
Two years later, Longstreth workedon another conservativecause: challenging U.S. President Barack Obama's new health care law. He served as the campaign manager ofOhioans for Healthcare Freedom, which backed a constitutional amendment exempting Ohioans from national health care mandates.
“Anytime you put freedom on the ballot,it’s popular with Ohioans," Longstreth said in a rare 2013interview. "So as they see a chance to see more freedom, more rights, more money in their pocket, they’re for it.”
Longstreth worked in Tea Party politics, but the GOP operativewasn't a true believer himself, saidChris Littleton, a Tea Party advocate who worked on the constitutional amendment. "He was a hired campaign manager."
Shortly after, Longstreth and Littleton worked on ways to put right-to-work and other union limits on the ballot. None succeeded. Years later, Longstreth would find himself on the other side of the debate, championing Householder's pro-union stance.
How to elect a speaker
After a foray into federal campaigns and ballot efforts, Longstreth returned to his Statehouse roots.
In 2014, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder couldn't run again because of term limits. The fight to replace him involved several candidates.
Longstreth's JPL and Associates worked with speaker hopefulsKristina Roegner, R-Hudson, and laterJim Butler, R-Oakwood. His firm receivedmore than$315,000 from GOP lawmakersfor yard signs, mailers and canvassing data.
Ultimately, Clinton County Republican Cliff Rosenberger won the gavel.
That same year, JPLand Associates spent at least $284,000 on Republican legislative races in West Virginia. Longstreth's firm was paid bya political action committee called Moving West Virginia Forward, which wasfunded largelyby coal giant Murray Energy.
Longstreth's ties to coal don't end there.Longstreth spoke at theWest Virginia Coal Association's annual meeting in 2014 along with then-FirstEnergyCEO Anthony Alexander. Murray Energy lobbyist Mike Carey was named to the board of directors, according to a recap of the event on the websiteFriends of Coal.
Longstreth and Kentucky attorney Eric Lycan attended a Republican Governors Association conferenceas guests of Murray Energy in 2015, watchdog group Documented first reported. Shortly after, Lycan set up dark money groups used to funnel energy companies' money to Householder and his allies, according to the federal complaint.
Around that time, Ohio Republican strategist Mike Hartley learned what happens when someone runs afoul of Longstreth and his energy clients.
Hartley had founded theOhio Conservative Energy Forum, which advocated for renewable energy, such as wind and solar, in addition to coal and natural gas.
In retaliation, Longstrethwent after the clients of Hartley's political firm in West Virginia, urging politicians in the state to blockHartley's associate, Hartley told The Enquirer.
That wasn't Hartley's last run-in with Longstreth. In 2019, Hartley planned to run Sen. John Eklund's campaign in a GOP primary bid against Householder's appointee Rep. Diane Grendell.
Hartley said he received a message from Longstreth: Drop Eklund's campaign or risk his political firm and its clients being blacklisted. Hartley backed out of the race.
"(Longstreth)relayed his appreciation for me standing down, which is – looking back on it – humiliating," Hartley said. "He’s just a jackbooted thug who was empowered.”
'The influencer'
Around 2016, Longstreth told West Virginia politicos that he had a new role in Ohio – one that would give him more power and influence than ever before.
Longstreth ran Householder’s political campaign, helping select candidates who would support the GOP lawmaker's bid for speaker in 2019, according to the federal complaint.
The FBI says Longstreth controlled money flowing from Householder-aligned dark money group, Generation Now.The nonprofit did not need to disclose its donors, but a federal investigation found millions came from Company A, believed to be FirstEnergy Corp. and its subsidiaries.
Some of that money was funneled through JPL and Associates, including $100,000 used to repair Householder's Florida home and $300,000 Householder used to settle a defamation lawsuit, according to the complaint.
Longstreth led messagingin the campaign to pass a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear plants in northern Ohio owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, now called Energy Harbor. Householder-aligned groups spent millions on advertisem*nts encouraging lawmakers to pass House Bill 6.
“It’s funny through – in district the number one question is – just what the hell is this House Bill 6?” Householder texted Longstreth in June 2019. “Nobody knows what it is or what it does including the Senate.”
“Polling shows the more we explain it, the worse it does,” Longstreth replied.
Longstreth also oversaw an effort to block a ballot initiative to stopHouse Bill 6. He texted with FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Juan Cespedes about hiring signature collection firms so that House Bill 6's opponents would be left with few quality options.
“We can hire the good ones. We can’t hire them all," Longstreth textedCespedes.
By mid-2020, it appeared Householder andLongstreth had won a hard-fought political battle. The effort to block the nuclear plant subsidies had failed. Householder-backed candidates fared well in the GOP primary. Both had the power and influence they long sought.
Then came the FBI.
