A new HBO documentary on Ohio’s notorious House Bill 6 scandal has put the state’s political corruption in the national spotlight, with Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney delivering a scathing assessment that the hosts of Today in Ohio podcast say confirms what they’ve been discussing for years. “We know how corrupt our state legislature is. And because of a documentary on HBO about the corrupt HB6, many people outside Ohio now know how completely corrupt our legislature is,” said Chris Quinn, introducing the topic on the podcast.
The documentary, directed by Gibney, examines the $61 million bribery scandal involving former House Speaker Larry Householder and FirstEnergy. According to Laura Johnston, who discussed the film on the podcast, Gibney chose the story “to illustrate corruption because it was so bold. He called it jaw dropping.” What makes the director’s perspective particularly valuable is his outsider view, bringing fresh eyes to a political system that many Ohioans have perhaps grown accustomed to.
His verdict was unsparing: “He said the system now in Ohio seems so rigged against the popular will, against democracy. It is a problem, but the people don’t seem to be upset enough about it,” Johnston said. The documentary highlights how the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has legalized practices that were once clearly considered corrupt.
Johnston said that the current system “basically, it’s a wink and a nod. It does effectively legalize bribery because everybody has to get elected… therefore they need money to get reelected because money is power and money is speech and money is advertising.” The HB6 scandal involved FirstEnergy admitting to bribing public officials to secure a $1.3 billion bailout for its nuclear plants. But the Today in Ohio”hosts emphasized that this was just one example of how special interests dominate Ohio policy-making – pointing to current battles over sports betting taxes, public record laws, and renewable energy policies as further evidence of industry influence.
Gibney expressed surprise that Ohioans aren’t more outraged by the level of corruption. He noted that the abortion rights referendum was one of the few instances where citizens effectively pushed back against the legislature – perhaps a sign that voters can overcome the money-driven system when sufficiently motivated. The podcast discussion revealed how money from various industries – from sports betting companies to gas and oil to tobacco – flows to lawmakers in exchange for favorable policies.
The campaign finance system, Johnston argued, is the root of the problem: “If we want to get rid of the corruption in government, we need to publicly fund our elections. That’s the only way around it.” The podcast urges listeners to seek out the documentary to better understand the mechanisms of corruption in Ohio politics, and perhaps to consider what level of outrage is appropriate when confronting a system that an Oscar-winning director found shocking enough to feature in a national documentary. Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from Today in Ohio, a news podcast discussion by cleveland.com editors.
Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions. Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.
