COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Forensic experts have been working to recover text messages deleted by former FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Chuck Jones in October 2020, shortly after the utility fired him for violating company ethics policies amid the House Bill 6 scandal, according to a recent civil lawsuit filing.
The filing was part of a submission made Thursday by attorneys representing FirstEnergy shareholders suing company officials for not stopping a massive bribery scheme to pass HB6. In addition, the filing says the content of the deleted messages remains unknown, and it did not disclose any recipients.
On Thursday, Jones wrote the plaintiffs that a company hired by his attorney, Interhack, was only able to extract “fragmentary” message data from two iPhones and an iPad used by Jones and couldn’t retrieve “substantive text messages.”
However, Interhack is currently checking five desktop computers used in Jones’ homes for any relevant backup data, and Jones’ lawyer is in the process of turning over additional devices -- including an Apple Watch, a Garmin golf watch, an iPhone 11, and an iPad Mini -- to Interhack for review, the filing stated.
A federal complaint against ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and several allies accuses them of using $60 million in FirstEnergy bribe money to secure the passage of HB6. The complaint says that Jones and Householder emailed and texted each other several times a week about the issues with the legislation, which offered a $1 billion-plus bailout to two Northern Ohio nuclear power plants owned by a then-subsidiary of FirstEnergy.
Several Jones’ texts also appear in a deferred prosecution arrangement signed by FirstEnergy Corp. last year. The company admitted to bribing Householder and former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo.
“We made a bbiiiiiiiig bet and it paid off,” Jones texted another (now former) FirstEnergy executive after Gov. Mike DeWine signed HB6 into law, according to the agreement.
The same day, Jones texted Randazzo, “HB6 F--- ANYBODY WHO AIN’T US,” along with a photoshopped image of Mount Rushmore featuring the faces of Randazzo, two FirstEnergy executives and another utility company executive, the agreement stated.
Other text messages from Jones obtained by a watchdog group say that Randazzo had been “overruling” PUCO staff and other commissioners on several issues to the benefit of FirstEnergy, including “burning” the final draft of an audit that called for limits on how FirstEnergy used millions collected via a customer fee that the Ohio Supreme Court struck down.
Jones has so far not been accused of any crime, and he denies any wrongdoing. However, a civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Dave Yost accuses him and two other former FirstEnergy executives of engaging in extortion, money laundering, coercion, intimidation and an attempted coverup.
Cleveland.com has reached out to a spokesman for Jones for comment.
Thursday’s court filing states that plaintiffs in the civil suit have reviewed more than 400,000 pages of documents so far and are preparing to start depositions on Feb. 10. The filing states that plaintiffs will be ready to go to trial by this August.
Read the full filing here:
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