Ohio Republican Scandals | Updated List of GOP Scandals in OH
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Ohio Republican U.S. Congress Member & Candidate Scandals
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1/17/24
Settled 14 separate lawsuits brought by former employees who alleged he illegally withheld their overtime pay for an undisclosed amountAccording to news reports from credible media outletsWas found liable to pay $416,000 to two former employees for unpaid overtime, damages and attorney's feesAccording to news reports from credible media outlets
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9/07/23
Opened a sham investigation into Jack Smith's prosecution of Donald Trump and his co-conspirators based on ridiculous claims from a lawyer involved in the case presumably to hinder itAccording to an exclusive report by NBC News
4/17/23
Pressured a sexual abuse victim's elderly parents to convince their son to retract his accusation that he knew about rampant sexual abuse by a team doctor he worked with and turned a blind eye to it for yearsAccording to an investigative report by The New York Times7/03/18
Ignored repeated accusations of sexual molestation by a team physician for a college wrestling team he coached and even told one student athlete that he wanted "nothing to do with this" after they told him about the alleged abuseAccording to six former student-athletes he coached and first reported by NBC News -
9/28/22
Drove drunk on his military base in Okinawa, Japan after which his military rank was demoted, but publicly he blamed the demotion on a fight he had in his dormitory9/28/22
Falsely claimed he was a combat veteran who served under "tough" conditions in the Afghanistan War, but military records show he never actually deployed to Afghanistan and instead spent six months loading planes on a military base in Qatar over 1,000 miles away from the fightingAccording to military records obtained by The Associated Press
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7/28/21
Forcefully threw his girlfriend and former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham against a wall and slapped her on the face in his apartment after she accused him of being unfaithful7/28/21
Crashed head-on into a light pole in the parking lot of a campus hotel after a night of heavy drinking after which police officers responding at 8:55am observed him stumbling out of his car nearly falling down, noticed he had bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and took a statement from him that he "woke up in urine-soaked pants" after which they arrested himAccording to an exclusive report by Politico
3/30/18
Sucker-punched someone in the back of the head and attempted to run away from the police but got caughtAccording to an exclusive report by The Washington Post
Ohio Republican Judge Scandals
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Rebecca DohertyState Judge [R-OH]
4/16/20
Crashed her SUV into a ditch and then told the police who arrived and observed vomit in her car and a strong odor of alcohol on her breath that "I am absolutely out of my mind. I am so intoxicated," failed a field sobriety test and refused a breathalyzer test and tried to get out of trouble by telling the officers that she was a judge -- several times -- and demanded they call a sheriff's deputy in a not-so-veiled attempt to avoid getting arrested for drunk drivingAccording to charging documents filed by local police
Ohio Republican State Legislator Scandals
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Larry HouseholderFmr. House Speaker [R-OH]
6/29/23
Masterminded a bribery scheme that saw him illegally raking in a whopping $60 million from a state nuclear energy company that in turn was given a $1.3 billion taxpayer bailout for two struggling nuclear power plants it operatedAllegedly according to reporting from credible media outlets
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Wes GoodmanFmr. State Representative [R-OH]
11/21/17
Was caught engaging in a sex act with another man in his government office while also being married to a woman11/21/17
Unzipped a sleeping 18-year-old male college student's pants and fondled him without consent while also being married11/21/17
Sexted and had phone and cybersex with at least one congressional staffer and a number of other men while also being married11/21/17
Had multiple sexual encounters with a number of young men over a yearslong period in person, online, via text and over the phone while also having spent much of his political career catering to evangelical voters by preaching the virtues of "committed natural marriage" between one man and one womanAccording to news reports from credible media outlets
Ohio Republican Mayor Scandals
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Drew HastingsFmr. Mayor [R-OH]
7/12/16
Listed a fake address on his declaration of candidacy forms and illegally claimed a city refund of $500 on a vacant building he owned and altered official documents related to the refundAccording to charging documents filed by local police
Other Ohio Republican Scandals
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David SwartzFmr. County Commissioner [R-OH]
11/27/12
Illegally contacted an underage victim he sexual assaulted mere months after his release from prison which violated the terms of his parole resulting in him being sent back to prison for an additional three monthsAccording to charging documents filed by local police2/03/04
Repeatedly raped and sexually violated a young girl over a ten-year period beginning when she was just six years oldAccording to charging documents filed by local officials
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Walter Davis IIIFmr. Sheriff [R-OH]
4/10/12
Charged local taxpayers to reimburse him $1,331 on expenses he spent entertaining a subordinate he was having an extramarital affair with and on rental cars he used to visit the woman and his wife on different weekendsAccording to an exclusive report by The Columbus Dispatch