Will Trump be charged? FBI investigations of Ohio pols shows they can take time, sometimes with inconclusive results

Will Trump be charged? FBI investigations of Ohio pols shows they can take time, sometimes with inconclusive results

Searches by federal agents, such as Monday night's unprecedented incident at former President Donald Trump's Florida home in Columbus, Ohio, often lead to criminal investigations involving political figures that lead to an explosion of public knowledge.

   But beyond the initial headlines, when details are scant, these cases can often take months or years to turn into anything conclusive, if at all, as recent cases in Ohio show.

   Meanwhile, the political fallout can be immediate, as Ohio Republicans' sharp protest on Tuesday showed the discovery, which has ties to Trump's handling of classified records.

   In interviews on Tuesday, the former prosecutor said any searches involving political figures would involve Washington, D.C.  A higher bar should be cleared than the normal case with the US case in .  Minimal heads-up phone calls to the Attorney General's office are involved.

   “Every prosecutor either works for or is an elected official.  And so, when they target politicians, politics is rarely far from their minds,” said Mark Weaver, Republican political director and former Justice Department spokesman.

   But a search warrant, which documents what crime investigators think and whether they've made a seizure, can come at the beginning, middle or end of an investigation.

   Meanwhile, detailed, sworn prosecutors must first appear before a federal magistrate judge to approve searches that are usually sealed from public view and kept closed until criminal charges are filed.  If they don't exist.

   "Sometimes you can read all the tea leaves and predict what might happen," said David Axelrod, a former federal prosecutor who is now a defense attorney specializing in white-collar cases.  "But a search warrant requires probable cause, which is a very low standard. And getting a search warrant can mean you're charged at any time.

   Axelrod represents former Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, who, under pressure from fellow state Republicans, announced his sudden resignation in April 2018 after news broke that the FBI was investigating him.  It wasn't entirely clear what prosecutors were investigating until the warrant was issued the following August in response to a public records request.

   Rosenberger's state office is seeking records related to Rosenberger's meetings with lobbyists for the payday industry.

   But more than four years later, Rosenberger has yet to be charged.  Axelrod says he doubts he won't.

   Then there is the Ohio House Bill 6 case.  What eventually developed into an HB6 investigation dates back to at least January 2019, when undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen began making visits in Columbus, conducting interviews and showing court records.  Records show the FBI later began talking quietly with state lawmakers as the debate over HB6 continued.

   But the case didn't become public until July 2020, when the FBI arrested Larry Householder, a Republican who was then the powerful speaker of the Ohio House.  Prosecutors accused him of playing a central role in a bribery scheme in which FirstEnergy spent millions to help select a householder in exchange for helping the former FirstEnergy subsidiary save HB6, two nuclear plants owned by the company.

   The landlord denied wrongdoing and was re-elected in November.  But state lawmakers ousted him the following year.  He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to stand trial in 2023.

   As part of a related investigation, the FBI in November 2020 searched the Columbus home of Sam Randazzo, the state's top utility regulator appointed by Republican Gov.  Randazzo soon resigned from his job.

   In July 2021, FirstEnergy admitted to paying Randazzo $4 million in bribes in exchange for help with regulatory issues.  But Randazzo has not been charged.  Denying wrongdoing, he said the payment ended a legal consultancy contract with the company and was not in exchange for any specific action.  It's unclear when Randazzo could be charged.