Prosecution rests in ex-Ohio House speaker’s bribery trial

CINCINNATI (AP) — The federal government has rested its case in former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s racketeering trial. Over the past five weeks, prosecutors presented jurors with reams of financial documents, emails, texts, wire-tap audio and firsthand accounts of what they allege was a $60 million bribery scheme to pass a $1 billion ratepayer-funded nuclear bailout. Lawyers for 63-year-old Householder and co-defendant Matt Borges, a 50-year-old lobbyist and former state chair of the Ohio Republican Party, went immediately to work Monday to begin their defense. Householder and Borges have pleaded not guilty to their roles in the scheme they are accused of.