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New plan evolves for probe of Dann
Lawmakers plan to approve legislation to have the inspector general do the investigation.
YOUNGSTOWN — Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, who signed a letter urging Attorney General Marc Dann to resign or face impeachment, stands by its content.
Cordray was among eight top Democratic leaders who sent to the letter Sunday to Dann that read, in part: “We also want to make you aware that if you do not choose to resign, Democratic members of the Ohio House of Representatives will immediately introduce a resolution seeking your impeachments.”
“I support everything in the letter,” Cordray said in a Friday interview with The Vindicator.
Cordray was in Youngstown on Friday to discuss the importance of financial education for women and his office’s personal finance initiatives.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who also signed the letter, express concern Thursday about moving ahead with an impeachment, telling The Vindicator that “there’s nothing in there that says I think he should be impeached.”
She added: “Clearly the things that occurred were serious, but do we get to the level of it being an impeachable offense when that process hasn’t been used since the 1800s? I’m just not sure.”
Democratic insiders say Cordray would be interested in running for attorney general if Dann is gone.
Unlike Brunner on Thursday, Cordray wasn’t nearly as talkative about Dann a day later.
“I signed the letter and I agree with the letter and I stand by the letter,” Cordray said.
The Legislature is moving slowly and with caution on a possible impeachment of Dann, a Liberty Democrat.
Ohio Senate President Bill Harris and Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, both Republicans, announced Friday their intent to pass legislation next week to allow Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles to begin an investigation into allegations surrounding Dann and his office.
“It has become clear to us over the course of the last week that a comprehensive, independent investigation is necessary,” the two said in a prepared statement.
Dann has also urged an independent investigation into his office, described in an internal report as one filled with cronyism and without proper oversight. The investigation led to the firing of two managers as well as the resignation of a top official and Dann’s scheduler, with whom he had an extramarital affair.
Gov. Ted Strickland, Brunner, Cordray and other top Democrats called for Dann’s resignation Sunday. Ohio Republicans asked for it Friday, the day the report was released.
Dann refuses to resign and said he’s done nothing that merits being impeached.
Harris and Husted say Charles has the ability and infrastructure to conduct the investigation. State law only permits the inspector general to conduct investigations relating to the governor and state agencies.
The leaders say they plan to amend the authority to investigate the attorney general into a bill pending before the House State and Local Government Committee.
The committee will take action on the matter Tuesday and the full House will vote on it later that day. The Senate will vote on the proposal Wednesday.
Charles is willing to investigate, Harris and Husted said.
Also, the two leaders sent a letter Friday to Robert A. Fiatal, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, indicating their “extreme concern” that the agency erased information from the state-owned computer of Kathleen Walley, who worked in the attorney general’s Youngstown office.
Walley was suspended April 21 after accusations arose that she had information related to a construction company run by her boss erased from the computer.
Her boss was Anthony Gutierrez, fired last week as Dann’s general services director over sexual-harassment complaints.
skolnick@vindy.com