Strickland, Democratic Leaders, Lawmakers Ask Ohio Attorney General Dann to Resign or Face Impeachment

[UPDATED]

COLUMBUS, OHIO: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was joined by Democratic officeholders and legislative leaders in calling for Marc Dann, Ohio’s bombastic Attorney General who last Friday confessed to having an extramarital affair with a subordinate female in his office, to resign by the end of Monday or face impeachment proceedings initiated by his own party.

DIN OVER DANN

The din over Dann has been heating up for months and finally came to a roiling boil last Friday, when Dann, responding to an internal investigation conducted by his office that showed high-ranking officials who were his long-time friends and confidants had engaged in sexual harassment of subordinates, misuse of state property and coaxing one witness to lie to investigators, said he was guilty of intrinsically wrong behavior but vowed to continue his work to take on big corporations and practices he has said are harmful to the Ohioans who elected him in 2006, when Republican scandals caused voters to toss them out of office and elect Democrats in their place.

On the same day last week when Dann made his mia culpas to the media, three of his long-time friends and confidents, who he had hired into high-level positions in the Office of Attorney General, were either fired or forced to resign. Within seconds after he walked out of the media room in the Rhodes Office building in Columbus, where reporters used questions like kids use sticks to bash and break a piñata for its contents, the death watch on when Dann would resign started.

Strickland, Ohio’s first Democratic governor in 16 years, spoke with Dann Friday morning, before he had his statement on the events and circumstances that led to his contrite confession about his moral misdeeds and his plans to reorganize the agency in what he called would be a “second transition” that would give him the chance to re-earn the respect and confidence of Ohio voters.

It was expected that the Ohio GOP would call for him to resign in the wake of the report and its findings. Strickland did not join Republicans, other Democrats and upset former supporters who were calling for his head on a silver platter. But over the weekend, the tide of anti-Dann editorials spewing forth from a host of major newspapers in the state rose as quickly and with the same ferocity as a tsunami that washes away all that stands in its path.

"We'll be linking this corrupt individual to each and every (Democratic) officeholder that will be on the ballot this fall, all the way from the president's office down to the county coroner." [Kevin DeWine, Chairman, Ohio GOP on Ohio News Network Sunday program, Capitol Square]

So today’s declaration in a letter by Strickland and other Democratic statewide officeholders who swept into office with Dann, calling for him to resign by the end of Monday or face impeachment at the hands of his own party was anticipated, as Democrats acted swiftly to out maneuver and outflank Republicans, who signaled they would tie Dann to everything from now through the November elections and beyond.

The letter delivered to Dann this morning was signed by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who has created her own stack of negative, hostile headlines that takes her to task for being coercive and heavy-handed in how she has run her office, Treasurer Rich Cordray, a Golden Boy mentioned as a possible replacement for Dann, US Sen. Sherrod Brown, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who was Ohio AG before, two Democratic legislative leaders, Joyce Beatty of the House and Ray Miller of the Senate, and the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern.

"The work of the Office of the Attorney General matters more, and is far more important, than any one person. In many, many cases it is all that stands between the people and the powerful. Sadly, we no longer have even the most remote hope that you can continue to effectively serve as attorney general and that is why we are asking for your resignation” [Letter from Democratic leaders to Dann]

If the message to resign wasn’t clear enough, the coalition of his former friends and supporters also said that the House of Representatives, still controlled by Republicans but by only four seats, would begin impeachment proceedings he didn’t resign.

But in a clear act of defiance, the kind of behavior some say are par for the course for politicians from the rough and tumble political landscape of Youngstown, Ohio, known for its bare knuckles, take-no-prisoners style, Dann sent an email to his agency employees, and forwarded to ePluribus Media OhioNews Bureau, telling them he and they should continue to do the good work he says has been the hallmark of his 15 months in office.

“All --

Last night, I received a call from Governor Strickland advising me that he and the other statewide Democratic office holders along with the minority leaders of the House and Senate were planning to ask me to resign today.

That letter has been sent.

I wanted to share with you what I told the Governor.

I told him that he and the other officeholders, as well as the members of the legislature, should continue to expect that we will continue to provide high-quality legal services to all of them. I told the Governor that we will continue to make our law enforcement partnerships work to protect the people of the State of Ohio.

I told him that our consumer protection and environmental protection and civil rights work will continue on behalf of the State of Oho

That is exactly what I am doing today. I am in the office, have rolled up my sleeves and am working on behalf of the people of State of Ohio.

I hope all of you will do the same.

I think that there is a great chance that we can continue to do great work for the people of the State.

I know that this is difficult, and I am truly sorry to have put all of you in this position.

But our work is too important to do anything but our jobs today.

Marc Dann” [Marc Dann email to agency staffers]

Strickland canceled his public schedule today, which ironically included an appearance in Youngstown to, according to a spokesman, “attend to matters in Columbus.” Keith Dailey, Strickland’s director of communications, said, “It's hard to imagine any distraction other than Attorney General Marc Dann.”

CHESS MOVE BY DEMOCRATS NEUTER REPUBLICAN PLANS TO USE DANN AS PARTISAN TOOL

The move by Strickland and other Democrats to excommunicate Dann from them and the Ohio Democratic Party was considered a savvy political stroke that effectively neutered the plans of Republicans to hold Danns head on a stick while using it to their partisan political advantage. By telling him to get out of Dodge by sundown, Strickland and his crew signaled that they would not let the sad tragedy linger a moment longer. By stating that Democrats in the legislature would initiate impeachment proceedings on their own, Republicans would be left unable to criticize Democrats for dragging their feet and would be forced to either get on the impeach-Dann bandwagon or find themselves in the embarrassing situation of opposing the removal of a man who they have just called on to resign.

In the afternoon, Redfern said that when the party’s executive committee meet Saturday, he expects it will rescind its 2006 endorsement of Dann, turning Dann into a man without a political party -- and Independent.

“Pending Saturday’s events, he’ll be holding office as an independent who was elected as a Democrat. We will distance ourselves both figuratively and literally from Marc Dann until he makes the right decision, which is to step down.” [Chris Redfern, ODP Chairman]

As the controversy over when, how or if Dann resigns heats up again today, thought is being given to the pragmatics of replacing him, as is explained in this published article.

As for who would replace him, there is no want for candidates. The Dailey Bellwether had this review of Dann replacements.

To review last Friday’s developments, here’s the OhioNews Bureau article.

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