Following the introduction of Articles of Impeachment by Democrats in the Ohio House of Representatives yesterday, and also passage of GOP-led bipartisan legislation to authorize the Ohio Inspector General to investigate the Offic of the Attorney General, signed by Gov. Ted Strickland (D) last night, disgraced Attorney General Marc Dann (D) has scheduled a press conference for noon.
Based on information that Dann has been meeting with former Attorney General and current Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) this morning, I expect that Dann will announce his immediate resignation and Fisher will be designated as his replacement.
[UPDATE:] Some background [and more UPDATES] after the flip.
Dann is a relatively junior (age 46) politician who now says he really didn't expect to defeat political veteran and former AG Betty Montgomery (R) in the 2006 Blue Wave election. He also comes from Youngstown, with its storied history of cronyism and corruption in office, although he ran on his record during two years in the Ohio Senate as a dogged pursuer of GOP corruption in the Coingate/BWC scandal.
Once in office, Dann brought aboard two long-time pals from Youngstown, Tony Gutierrez and Leo Jennings, who have screwed up royally, especially the former, who apparently has been harassing female employees right and left, drinking heavily, wrecking state vehicles, and running a private contruction business on state-owned computers and phones. Sexual harassment complaints against Guteirrez led to Dann's admission that he had a month's long affair with his scheduler, who was reassigned (with a raise) in the office after Dann's wife found out. Dann admits that his affair contributed to an atmosphere in which the sexual harassment flourished.
Dann made misleading statements in a deposition taken in an internal investigation within the past few weeks, although it is not totally clear (yet) that he committed outright perjury or obstruction of justice. All of the Democratic leaders in the state called for Dann's resignation the Monday before last, amid rumors that there was much more dirt on Dann out there, but Dann has so far refused to step down.
I should mention that Treasurer Rich Cordray (D) has been discussed as a replacment, and he would be fabulous, and that could happen. However, Cordray is known to be interested in running for U.S. Senate or perhaps Governor after Strickland, and it would be a huge sacrifice for him to step into a temporary post that he must defend against long odds in a special election in six months.
A few county prosecutors around the state, including Bill Mason (D) in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) and Julia Bates (D) of Lucas County (Toledo) of Coingate, have also bee touted.
More background on my blog, and there is a useful backgrounder at TPM.
[2nd UPDATE (12:27 p.m.):] Press conference is to be live-streamed at ONNTv.com, but it has been put on hold. We are told only that we can expect an announcement from Dann sometime today. He is reportedly on the telephone to various state officials, and Lt. Gov. Fisher, Inspector General Thomas Charles, and Special Assistant Attorney General Ben Espy (a former state senator and respected personage who handled the internal investigation of sexual harassmant claims in the AG's office) have been seen going in and out of Dann's office.
[3rd UPDATE (12:35 p.m.):] No presser yet. Meanwhile, state troopers have locked down the AG's office, checking ID and searching purses to keep documents from sensitive documents from leaving the area.
[4th UPDATE (1:19 p.m.):] Wild and conflicting rumors. Dann is not in the office -- did he skip his own press conference to go out to lunch, or was he caught by state troopers shredding documents, placed under arrest, and marched out of the building? Confusion and chaos reigns at the AG's office.
[5th UPDATE (6:39 p.m.):] The deed is done -- Dann appeared at a breif press conference with Gov. Ted Strickland at 4:45 p.m. and announced that in order to protect the ability of his office to continue their important work he was removing the distraction of his political situation by resigning. He then stormed out the back way without so much as looking at the governor, who stared at the departing AG's back, then read a short statement and took some questions. Strickland said it was a sad day and that it is appropriate to acknowledge the suffering of the AG and his family. He also tried to emphasize that the Democratic party acted swiftly and persistently to clean their own house. He doesn't have a replacement in mind yet. (Strickland gets to appoint someone to serve until the special election is decided in November. There will be no primaries -- each party will designate a single candidate for the special election.)