FirstEnergy fired its CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones and two other executives Thursday. The company cited an internal review of the utility’s role in the alleged $60 million corruption scandal surrounding the now-indicted former Ohio House Speaker and dark money from FirstEnergy and related entities used to fund campaigns to pass and defend a controversial nuclear bailout law known as HB6. The firings came just hours after two political operatives charged with racketeering entered guilty pleas, freeing them to testify against other defendants. In July, Speaker Larry Householder and four associates were arrested on federal corruption charges in an investigation into an alleged bribery scheme to ensure passage of a $1.5 billion ratepayer-funded bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants and a coal plant owned by a subsidiary of First Energy Corp. (Firing: Wall Street Journal $, Akron Beacon Journal, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, FOX 8; Guilty pleas: AP, Columbus Dispatch, WCMH, FOX 19)
