More questions arose Tuesday about whether former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann used his office for personal gain and whether any of his friends, who were also state employees, benefitted.
When Dann was in office, he handed some of his closest friends jobs; he also paid them tens of thousands in campaign cash, according to state records obtained by 10 Investigates.
Some of his friends lived at the Dublin-area condominium with campaign money. Before he resigned, Dann claimed the condo was a legitimate expense.
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"Originally we rented the condo for both for us to stay when we were here on campaign business," Dann said in April.
The public later learned that Dann used the condo for other reasons. It is the place where he held drinking parties, women from the office visited and he spent time with his personal scheduler, 10 Investigates' Paul Aker reported.
Last week Dann's credibility about campaign fund issues took another hit when 10 Investigates reported how Dann paid more than $15,000 in campaign cash to eat hundreds of meals.
New questions turned up Tuesday when 10 Investigates analyzed returned checks from the Dann campaign account and uncovered a pattern of payments to some state employees who were also Dann's friends, Aker reported.
A couple of the checks have Leo Jennings III's name on them. He was a Dann's communications director. Other checks went to the Progressive Solutions Group. A review of Jennings' state ethics report showed Progressive as a Jennings business. Jennings helped Dann campaign in the 2006 race.
10 Investigates' calculations showed Jennings took more than $24,000 last year. The money rolled in after Dann was elected, much of which came after Jennings was getting paid more than $100,000 a year for his state work in Dann's office.
Jennings did not return 10 Investigates' calls on Tuesday.
Phil Richter, an attorney for the Ohio Elections Commission, said that if Jennings did campaign work on state time, he might have broken the law. At the very least, Richter said that the arrangement raises flags.
"Anytime you get into a situation like that, you're always going to raise questions and there will always be concerns about whether public employees are being used properly or not," Richter said.
Dann hired Mary Beth Snyder to work in the attorney general's Youngstown office. Snyder wrote herself about $33,000 worth of checks for bookkeeping. Her computer was one of several that were seized by state investigators. Snyder said that there was no conflict because campaign work was done on nights and weekends.
"It's hard to determine whether something is proper or not," Richter said.
10 Investigates confirmed state investigators sent Snyder a subpoena requesting documents related to campaign expenses.
Snyder declined comment when we asked her about the subpoena.
Dann was e-mailed for comment, but he did not respond.
Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for continuing coverage.
Previous Stories:
May 22, 2008:
Ex-AG
Spent Campaign Cash In Surprising Places
May 21, 2008:
Missing
BlackBerry Surfaces
May 20, 2008:
Police Join AG BlackBerry Investigation
May 19, 2008:
Device Important To Dann Investigation Reported Missing
May 19, 2008:
Political Effect Of AG Investigation Unknown
May 16, 2008:
Dann's
Scheduler Wanted Job Back
May 15, 2008:
New
Dann Investigation Begins
May 14, 2008:
Dann
Resigns As Attorney General
May 13, 2008:
AG
Office: Dann Has Not Resigned
May 9, 2008:
Democrats Rescind Endorsement Of Dann
May 8, 2008:
Dann Cancels Appearances; Hires Consultant
May 7, 2008:
Employee: Dann Should Resign
May 6, 2008:
Calls For Dann's Impeachment Soften
May 5, 2008:
Dann
Working Despite Calls To Resign
May 3, 2008:
Democrats Call For Dann To Leave Office
May 2, 2008:
3 Aides Ousted; AG Admits Affair
April 30, 2008:
Dan Staffer Claims Someone Ransacked Her Office
April 29, 2008:
Suspended AG Administrator Tied Into Other Crash
April 23, 2008:
Gutierrez To Face Second Investigation
April 22, 2008:
Police:
No Criminal Charges Filed In Sexual Harassment Case
April 18, 2008:
Man
In Sexual Harassment Investigation Had Previous Legal Problems
April 17, 2008:
Technical
Glitches Arise In Sexual Harassment Case
April 16, 2008:
New Details Emerge In Sexual Harassment Case
April 14, 2008:
Attorney
General Puts Director On Leave
April 9, 2008:
Attorney
General Addresses Claims Against Services Director
April 8, 2008:
Attorney
General Staffers File Federal Complaint
April 7, 2008:
Attorney
General Suspends Director Amid Sexual Harassment Claims
