Lawyer says fund-raiser touted jobs from Petro

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/113507156687690.xml&coll=2

Columbus - ...

O'Brien said that, last summer at Spice, a Columbus hangout for young professionals, he approached an attractive young woman, Amy Gravengaard, who introduced herself as Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's fund-raiser.

"Within 60 seconds into the conversation, she focused on whether I was interested in becoming special counsel," O'Brien told The Plain Dealer. "She said, 'If you want to do it, here's what you have to do.' There were suggested levels of donations and fund raising."...

O'Brien detailed the conversation in an affidavit filed Monday in a Democrat-financed lawsuit that accuses Petro, Gov. Bob Taft and other top-ranking Republicans of selling state business for campaign cash. Republicans argue that the suit is politically motivated.

The new filing also includes comments from another Columbus lawyer who described how he gave to county Republican Party accounts, donations that enabled him to get around the $1,000 limit on direct donations from lawyers who do special-counsel work...

[cmd]

1. This is a must, must, must read story

Here's another little teaser:


The new filing also includes comments from another Columbus lawyer who described how he gave to county Republican Party accounts, donations that enabled him to get around the $1,000 limit on direct donations from lawyers who do special-counsel work.

Petro, one of three statewide elected Republicans who wants to become Ohio's next governor, has faced a series of questions about the ethics of his fund-raising, particularly the money he gets from lawyers who receive lucrative special-counsel work through his office.

[Algorem]

2. Attorney says Petro fundraiser solicited $25,000 donation for state work

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1135115660202790.xml&storylist=cleveland

12/20/2005, 6:07 p.m. ET
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Attorney General Jim Petro's chief fundraiser told a lawyer that legal work for the state was available for a $25,000 donation, the lawyer said in a statement for a lawsuit charging corruption in the way Ohio awards contracts to private companies...

"I asked her what the going contribution was and she said $25,000.00; in addition to that she said that most contributors agree to host several fund raisers for the candidate and there would be some expense involved in hosting the fund raisers," said the affidavit, first reported on Tuesday by The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer...

The affidavit is part of Democrat Tim Hagan's lawsuit alleging corruption in the Ohio Republican Party.

Hagan, a Cuyahoga County commissioner and 2002 candidate for governor, alleges in his lawsuit that Gov. Bob Taft, other elected Republicans and the Ohio GOP awarded unbid state contracts in exchange for millions of dollars in campaign contributions...


Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court: http://www.cuyahogacounty.us/coc/com_plea.htm

[OzarkDem]

3. Ohio Dems aren't clean on this issue

The voting for ODP chair the other night was a classic example - executive committee members were threatened with losing their jobs if they didn't vote for a particular candidate.

Until we clean up some of the dishonest and unethical practices in ODP, we should be very careful about throwing stones.