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One night last week, I caught a bit of "NewsNight with Aaron Brown"
which featured a story on the ongoing Coingate scandal in Ohio.
The spot featured an interview with a Political Science professor who
declared that Ohio now has the most corrupt state government in the entire U.S.
That interview was followed by an interview with another PolySci
professor who indicated that the "dubious distinction" of "most
corrupt" typically goes to New Jersey, but he also conceded that Ohio
is gaining fast on that particular title. A handful of Ohio officials
and agencies are now at the center of a host of federal and state
investigations.
Speaking of investigations...Tom Noe, the former big-time Republican contributor and organizer turned persona non grata
amongst his GOP cronies, is now starting to fight back against the Taft
Administration's efforts to leave him twisting in the wind. Late last
week, Noe's attorney indicated that Noe spoke directly with Taft
regarding his rare coin investments with BWC funds as far back as
May 2001.
On
May 13, 2001, as they changed into business suits after showering in
the locker room of Toledo's Inverness Club after a round of golf, Tom
Noe told Gov. Bob Taft about the $25 million rare-coin fund he operated
for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, according to an account
released by Mr. Noe's attorney yesterday.
And
Mr. Noe used the discussion to tell the governor "about his pending
application for the second $25 million coin fund," the statement said.
The bureau approved the second $25 million installment two months later - in July, 2001. (full article)
Avid followers
of the "Coingate" scandal will recall that Governor Taft has
consistently claimed that he had no knowledge of Noe's use of BWC funds
for rare coin investments prior to April 2005.
Add to this that Toledo Blade has published the speech made by Governor Taft at Noe's 50th birthday party "roast" in 2004.
At
one point in the roast, the governor joked about Mr. Noe's work as
chairman of the Ohio Turnpike Commission, saying that a toll booth
would be named after him.
"When
you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between Tom and the
turnpike: He's always taking our $, he's as dense as concrete, he's as
slick as asphalt, and he's adding a third lane around his middle,"
Governor Taft read from a prepared text that includes his
hand-scribbled changes in the margins. "...By the way, can't you just
imagine Tom Noe out there in that booth collecting tolls - scrutinizing
each coin to determine its actual value and cutting deals for drivers
who buy some of his rare coins." (full article)
So that "April
2005" story seems less and less plausible now, doesn't it? The
American Policy Roundtable and Ohio Citizen Action are leading the
charge for Governor Taft's impeachment through their new web site MoveOnTaft.org.
Interest is also
shifting to Noe's fundraising work from when he was chairman of the
2004 Bush-Cheney campaign in Northwestern Ohio.
Noe
is currently being investigated by the FBI and the northern Ohio
attorney general with respect to possible violations of campaign
contributions laws in the run-up to the 2004 American election. The
investigation focuses in particular on a 2003 Republican fundraising
event for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Columbus, Ohio. The fundraiser
was a big success, raising almost $1.4 million for the campaign. Noe
helped to raise at least $100,000 and sponsored a table at the event.
At issue is the possibility that Noe reimbursed attendees of the event,
who were required to contribute to the campaign. In this way, Noe may
have effectively contributed well over the $2,000 limit that
individuals are allowed to contribute by law. (full article)
So who says politics makes strange bedfellows? This group seems to fit together quite nicely, don't you think?
On
Thursday, Governor Bob Taft appeared in Franklin County Municipal Court
and tried to win back the respect of Ohioans. Mr. Taft did this not by entering a plea of guily but by pleading “no contest.” Is it the same thing? Well, not exactly...
n.
Defendant’s court plea that he/she will not dispute the charge of a
particular crime, also called nolo contendere. A no contest plea is not
an admission of guilt for the crime’s commission, but the judge will
treat the plea as such and proceed to find the defendant guilty as
charged. In cases that involve a potential lawsuit for damages by
someone who was injured by criminal conduct, a no contest plea will be
issued because it cannot be used as an admission of fault in the civil
lawsuit. (full definition)
Well, at the end of the day Governor Taft is still a convicted criminal
whether he plead guilty or otherwise. The Governor was fined $4,000 and
ordered to apologize to the people of Ohio. Now surely his
apology to the people of Ohio was straightforward and sincere,
right? Let’s see...
"I
am here today to publicly apologize to the people of the State of Ohio
for my failure to provide complete financial disclosure statements to
the Ohio Ethics Commission as mandated by law. I accept total
responsibility for my mistake, and I'm sorry.
"As
a public official, I am required to submit financial disclosure
statements on a yearly basis listing the sources of gifts in excess of
$75.00. My office had a system in place to ascertain the value of
tangible gifts in order to report them as required. Regrettably, I did
not establish an adequate system to monitor the value of golf outings
and other social events.
"As
recreation, I have played many rounds of golf with friends and
acquaintances. I paid for some of these outings, while others I did
not. I have now confirmed that forty-five golf outings over a period of
seven years exceeded $75.00 in value and therefore should have been
reported on my financial disclosure statements. In addition, over the
same period of time, six other social events and one gift were not
disclosed.
[...]
"As
Governor, I have made it clear that I expect all public employees to
follow both the letter and the spirit of the ethics laws, and have
demanded no less of myself. I have personally failed to live up to
those expectations, as well as the expectations of the public, and I am
disappointed in myself. I have a renewed commitment to correct the
problems that contributed to this situation and have already taken
steps to do so.
"Words
are not adequate to express the remorse that I feel personally for the
embarrassment that I have caused to my administration and to this great
state. I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology to my family,
friends, staff members, and all those who have supported me. Most
importantly, I want to apologize to the citizens of Ohio. I hope you
will understand that my mistake, though serious, was not a purposeful
one and hope and pray that you will accept my heartfelt apology and
allow me the opportunity to restore your trust." (full article)
So Ohioans are left with no admission of guilt and the continued
assertion that the whole affair was nothing more than a series of
innocent, well-intentioned mistakes. Is this how plain folks
“take full responsibility” or is this particular method reserved for
fancy elected-types?
We'd certainly like to say this is the end of the whole sordid tale,
but there's still the matter of the missing $12 million of Ohio
taxpayer money that has yet to be resolved. Afterall, it is
"Coingate" we're talking about here, not "Golfgate."
Franklin
County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien is finally putting the screws to Governor
Bob Taft (a.k.a. the great-grandson of former President William Howard
Taft).
Prosecutor: Ohio governor to be charged with 4 misdemeanors
Taft won't resign, spokesman says
COLUMBUS,
Ohio (AP) -- Gov. Bob Taft will face misdemeanor charges for not
reporting golf outings paid for by others, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Taft,
a second-term Republican and member of a distinguished U.S. political
family, would be the first Ohio governor to be charged with a crime. If
convicted of the four misdemeanors, he could be fined $1,000 and
sentenced to six months in jail on each count, though time behind bars
was considered unlikely.
Taft
will be charged later Wednesday, said City Prosecutor Stephen McIntosh,
who declined to comment further pending an afternoon news conference.
The governor will respond publicly on Thursday and is not planning to resign, spokesman Mark Rickel said. (full story)
Now, who would have thought such a thing could happen? I mean, if the television show "Bonanza” taught us anything, it’s that the good guys are the handsome fellows in the white cowboy hats, right?
Um...Come to think of it, Little Joe’s hat was black, wasn't it? Onward...
The
charges are the result of a two-month investigation by the Ohio Ethics
Commission into the governor’s alleged infractions. Although time
behind bars in considered unlikely, the charges could lead to Mr.
Taft’s impeachment under the Ohio Constitution. (full story)
The
House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment, but
a majority of the members elected must concur therein. Impeachments
shall be tried by the senate; and the senators, when sitting for that
purpose, shall be upon oath or affirmation to do justice according to
law and evidence. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence
of two-thirds of the senators.
There’s more in there, but that’s
really the gist of it. As my European friends might say..."Not
bloody likely.” In Ohio's House of Representatives, the
Republicans hold 60 seats to the Democrats' 39 seats. In the Ohio
Senate, the Republicans hold 22 seats and the Democrats hold 11.
Taft can (and probably will) keep his position as Governor regardless
as to whether he is convicted or he pleads out.
Tomorrow morning, Governor Taft
will appear in Frankin County Municipal Court to answer the charges
against him. Let’s try to remain optimistic about all this...This
could be the start of a whole new era for Ohio. Once we have a
convicted criminal as our Chief Executive, we can start to make all
kinds of changes. How about changing our state song to a gangsta
rap song? And maybe our new state flower could be the Opium
Poppy. As for our state motto...instead of “With God all things
are possible,” we could change it to “With BLING BLING all things are possible.” It could happen, you know. And then everyone in America would wish they had Bob Taft as their governor. Even Californians would be jealous.
