HBO doc digs into Ohio's biggest bribery scandal
HB6 is coming to HBO Tuesday night.
The big picture:"Ohio Confidential" is part of a two-film documentary series about dark money in politics, releasing 15 years after the Citizens United Supreme Court case.
State of play: The series is directed by Alex Gibney and inspired by Jane Mayer's book "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right."
"Ohio Confidential" features the suicide of lobbyist Neil Clark to unravel the story of FirstEnergy's $60 million bribery scheme, which secured power for Speaker of the House Larry Householder and 2019 passage of the controversial energy bailout.
Householder was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2023 and is currently incarcerated at FCI Elkton in Lisbon, Ohio.
Zoom in: Featured in the film are Mayer herself, former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, Columbus Dispatch reporter Laura A. Bischoff, and a number of federal lawyers and investigators.
💭 Sam's thought bubble: I know the ins and outs of the case by now, but I'm still eager to watch this and thrilled the material is getting professional treatment and distribution on a major platform.
"Wealth of the Wicked," the second film in the series, traces the history of campaign finance in the U.S. from the creation of the Federal Election Commission in 1974.
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