Dann defends his questioned costs

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Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann

Dann offered to reimburse the campaign fund for a spa treatment.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Former Attorney General Marc Dann says he still needs a $33,524 security system that was installed in his home while he was in office and shouldn’t be required to reimburse his election campaign for the expense.

The argument by Dann, who resigned last month amid scandal, came in a letter Friday in which he seeks to prove to state elections officials that he didn’t run roughshod over his campaign bank account.

He offered to refund the campaign any increase in the value of his home attributed to the security system at the time he sells it.

In his eight-page letter to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s office, Dann detailed how he spent thousands of dollars in questioned expenses on hotels, vehicles, parties, football and concert tickets, gifts and travel.

The Youngstown Democrat conceded to several errors in his reporting. As a result, he offered to reimburse the campaign fund for a spa treatment and bicycle rental in California, flights for three family members to an event they missed, and about $1,800 in campaign expenses for which he said he couldn’t find receipts.

In most cases, however, Dann defended his spending decisions — including controversial ones such as the security system, his campaign car, preparations for a “Turkish party,” and $5,187 spent on a downtown Columbus hotel while Dann was renting an apartment in neighboring Dublin.

The expenditures were identified in an audit Brunner’s office released May 30.

Dann argued that the reasons he needed the security system still exist.

“The potential of physical harm to Dann and the members of his family based on actions he took in his official capacity remains the same given those past official actions,” he wrote.

He said it was cheaper for him to purchase a car for campaign use than to rent one, proceeding to lay out the math for Brunner’s auditors.

Regarding the hotel, Dann said the rooms were used by Dann for Ohio staff members and others engaged in campaign-related activities. But he stopped short of explaining why his then-communications chief, Leo Jennings III, needed a hotel room 40 times between December 2006 and July 2007, when Jennings and Dann were sharing the Dublin apartment during much of that time.

Jennings was among employees of Dann who were fired or resigned after an internal investigation into sexual harassment allegations in the office was released. A third man who shared the Dublin apartment, then-general services chief Anthony Gutierrez, was the central figure in the harassment probe.

As for the Turkish party that appeared in his campaign finance reports, Dann explained that the event was actually a reception for about 100 members and guests of the Turkish National Police who were studying in or visiting the country.

He said he hosted the event at his home, thus justifying the $1,170 the campaign had spent for “Lawn Work Repair, Cleaning, Pool Work for Turkish Party.” Dann further argued that, as Ohio’s top law enforcer, the event was a legitimate function of his office and could have been billed to the state’s taxpayers. He said he chose instead to bill his campaign.