The secret recording that caught President Donald Trump calling for the ouster of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine also rolled out connections to Ohio.

A Republican power couple from Mount Vernon and the namesake grandson of Upper Arlington golf legend Jack Nicklaus were among those captured in a secret recording of an exclusive dinner with President Donald Trump.

Jack Nicklaus III and Trump donors Karen Buchwald Wright, president and chief executive officer of Ariel Corp., and her husband Thomas Rastin, an executive vice president with the company, were on hand for the April 30, 2018, private event.

Amid the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of Trump, the recording released by the lawyer for Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump lawyer Rudy Guiliani indicted on campaign finance charges, made headlines for disclosing Trump’s declaration to “take out” Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

The recording also shows interactions between the golf-loving president and Nicklaus, with The New York Times reporting Rastin was on the invitation list and accompanied by a “woman resembling his wife” to the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C.

People who know Buchwald Wright confirmed to The Dispatch that she appears in a portion of the video made by another indicted Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, before Trump entered the room, after which it only captures audio.

Male and female voices near the start of the video, apparently Rastin and Buchwald Wright, identify themselves as living in Mount Vernon, home to Ariel Corp., a major manufacturer of gas compressors.

The dinner was for donors to America First Action, a major Trump super PAC. Rastin and Buchwald Wright contributed a total of $1 million to the PAC between 2018 and 2019, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The couple has contributed $9.7 million to mostly Republican federal candidates and conservative causes since 2004, with Rastin alone giving $6 million since 2008, according to federal records. Rastin also has given $805,452 to state candidates and causes, including $613,720 to the Ohio Republican Party, since 2016, state records show. They did not respond Monday to a request for comment relayed through Ariel Corp.

At one point in the recording, a male voice, apparently Rastin based on a mention of gas compressor manufacturing, promotes increased use of natural gas to Trump, telling him manufacturers should make more compressed natural gas-powered vehicles.

A few months after the event, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, introduced the Light-Duty Natural Gas Vehicle Parity Act to require the U.S. EPA to regulate natural-gas vehicles the same as electric vehicles. The bill supported by Ariel could boost sales of light-duty trucks powered by natural gas and, potentially, Ariel compressors. U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, introduced a companion bill in the House. Neither have moved beyond committees.

Trump and Nicklaus III bantered about golf and his grandfather. The golf superstar’s Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, home to the Memorial Tournament, was mentioned a couple of times, including as host of the Presidents Cup in 2013.

The president said the older Nicklaus “made one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard ... (at) the congressional whatever it is, the freedom medal.” Nicklaus received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015 for his golf achievements and public service.

Trump also talked of telling the Golden Bear that it “was more incredible ... harder and more improbable to win 18 majors” (golf tournaments) than it was for him to win election as president in 2016. Jack Nicklaus disagreed with the assertion, Trump said.

One man at the dinner told Trump, ahead of his then-upcoming summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, to stage the event at Songdo, a South Korea “smart city” development featuring a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

Gale International, a real estate company operated by Stanley Gale, is a partner in the project and had representatives at the dinner, according to the Times. Nicklaus III is listed as an acquisitions and development executive with Gale. He did not respond Monday to a request for comment relayed through the company.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow