Corrupt Ex-Ohio Speaker’s Appeal May Hinge on Jury Instructions

The jury instructions used in the criminal corruption trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder troubled at least one Sixth Circuit judge on Wednesday.

Judge Amul R. Thapar, who was appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 2017 by President Donald Trump, said the idea that donors expect something in return for giving money to a politician is a common one, yet the jury’s instructions seem to say that’s a crime. He repeatedly quizzed a federal prosecutor on the jury instructions for bribery under federal law, which prosecutors said was an underlying offense to ...