Ohio Attorney General Facing Impeachment

The Buckeye State has been busy of late (yes, that rhymed and I apologize). The offices of Attorney General Marc Dann were raided this morning by investigators from the Ohio Inspector General’s office. The investigators seized electronics including video equipment and computers from the building.

What brought all of this on?

He has been under pressure to resign since a May 2 report by two of his office’s attorneys found widespread mismanagement, cronyism and tolerance for sexual harassment in his office. The report was triggered by sexual-harassment complaints filed by two junior employees who worked for a Dann friend, former condo-mate and section chief, Anthony Gutierrez.

Ohio House Democrats yesterday filed articles of impeachment against Dann.

Whether Dann will resign (which would at least stop the impeachment process) is being debated but it seems like the smoothest course of action:

While speculation remains rampant that Dann will resign, some of those close to the attorney general predicted he would not quit, and instead may launch a legal battle to halt an independent investigation of his office by Charles.

Some Dann advisers have raised the possibility of Dann raising a constitutional separate of powers challenge, since the inspector general normally does not have the authority to investigate the attorney general’s office.

Dann spent much of Tuesday attempting to broker a deal to leave office in exchange for calling off the inspector general’s investigation. However, his attempts failed; legislation expanding the inspector general’s authority passed both branches of the legislature and was signed by Gov. Ted Strickland last night.

Yesterday, several close to Dann said his resignation was “imminent” and he was looking for a graceful way to depart.

Dann, a Democrat, was elected in 2006 on a platform of cleaning out the “culture of corruption” in state government.

Yeah, elected politicians need to be careful about making the eradication of corruption their main selling point if they’re going to be throwing boulders in the glass house.

Update: Unsurprisingly, Dann has resigned.

Tags: Attorney General, Marc Dann, Ohio