Dann case: Will she or won’t she?

Alyssa Lenhoff, wife of disgraced ex-Ohio attorney general Marc Dann, will be invited — if she hasn’t already been — to play Let’s Make a Deal by Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien. It’s standard operating procedure. Prosecutors hook the big fish by first luring the little ones.

In the Dann case, which has been in the investigative hopper for more than a year, the former attorney general is Mr. Big. The others, including his wife, are a way of getting to him.

Already, three individuals who were part of the Dann cabal in Columbus have pleaded guilty to various charges and are cooperating with the prosecutor. Of course, it comes as no surprise that Leo Jennings, Anthony Gutierrez and Edgar Simpson are reportedly singing like canaries. There is no honor among Mahoning Valley’s thieves.

Now, it’s Lenhoff’s turn. To be sure, a wife cannot be forced to testify against her husband. But she certainly can do so voluntarily.

Grief

Why should she? To save herself a whole lot of personal and professional grief. As reported in The Columbus Dispatch and The Vindicator, the Ohio Ethics Commission and the Franklin County prosecutor are now focused on her and her husband.

And even though Lenhoff told The Vindicator that she is and always has been “eager to answer any questions that investigators may have,” the prospect of felony charges, or misdemeanor ones, can’t make her feel comfortable — despite her bravado.

Why? Because of her professional ties to Youngstown State University. Lenhoff, a veteran journalist who worked for The Warren Tribune and The Vindicator, is a journalism instructor.

While it is true that a mere mention of her name with regard to the ongoing investigation into her husband’s 17-month tenure as Ohio’s attorney general does not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, there is such a thing as public spotlight anxiety — for her and her employer.

While declining to discuss specifics, David Freel, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, and Prosecutor O’Brien have acknowledged that the investigation into Dann’s actions while serving as the state’s top lawman is continuing. Thus, there will be news stories from now until the case is wrapped up. And in each story, as Lenhoff well knows, the cast of characters will be listed. Marc Dann, Alyssa Lenhoff, Leo Jennings, Anthony Gutierrez, Edgar Simpson. Over and over. Such is the nature of reporting.

Each time her name is mentioned, she will have to deal with her own demons and with the public reaction, especially on the campus of YSU.

“I am not aware of ever doing anything that violates any law and simply hope that this entire nightmare will finally be put to rest,” Lenoff said in an e-mail to The Vindicator.

That may well be, but what if she is confronted with questions not only about her actions, but those of her husband that would suggest wrongdoing?

What if she is asked whether she or the former attorney general ever used members of the security detail assigned to the family to perform tasks not considered part of their duties?

And it won’t stop there. Not if she decides to take her chances in a court of law. That’s what the prosecutor will offer Lenhoff: an end to the nightmare — perhaps in return for information about her husband’s activities.

Spending

No, O’Brien and Freel aren’t interested in the more lurid aspects of the Marc Dann’s life in Columbus. What they want to know is whether Dann’s use of money from his campaign fund and account created to pay expenses for the transition period between his surprise win in the 2006 general election and his taking the oath of office in January 2007 was lawful.

One of the rumors that has been circulating since the Dann investigation went into high gear is that money from the transition account was used to purchase furniture for the transition office — supposedly in the condominium Dann shared with Jennings and Gutierrez. Was the furniture sold after he took office, and if so, what happened to the proceeds?

It’s death by a thousand criminal justice cuts.

Alyssa Lenhoff has a lot more to lose than her husband, who will forever carry the stigma of disgrace.

Perhaps Marc Dann will do the honorable thing and say to his wife, “Do what’s in your best interest, dear.”