HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Marc Dann (born March 12, 1962) is an American former politician of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
, who served as the
Attorney General of Ohio The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Republican Dave Yost. History The office of the atto ...
from 2007 until his resignation on May 14, 2008.


Law career and state Senate

Dann earned a B.A. in 1984 from the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
and a
J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...
degree in 1987 from
Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Res ...
. He practiced law in
Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...
, and became active in Democratic Party politics. Dann ran for the
Ohio state Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...
in the district then comprising Trumbull and Geauga counties. He finished third in the party primary behind eventual winner Tim Ryan and a local township trustee. From 2001 to 2002, Dann served as a member of the
Liberty Local School District Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...
board of education. After Ryan won election to the Ohio State Senate in 2002, Dann convinced the state Senate's Democratic caucus to appoint him to fill the balance of Ryan's term. He easily won election to a full term in 2004. He was reprimanded in 2004 by the
Ohio Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...
for handling a 2002
alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial su ...
case without proper preparation. Dann was a leading figure in the exposure of a variety of ethics and criminal scandals in the administration of Republican Governor
Bob Taft Robert Alphonso Taft III (born January 8, 1942) is an American politician and attorney, who served as the 67th governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007 as a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Taft political dynasty, Taft served first in ...
, who became the first sitting governor in Ohio history to plead guilty to a crime. Dann was a leading critic of "
Coingate Coingate is a nickname for the Tom Noe investment scandal in Ohio revealed in early 2005 in part by Toledo, Ohio newspaper '' The Blade''. The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) invested hundreds of millions of dollars in high risk or unc ...
," an investment plan in which $50 million of the state's
workers compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
reserve fund was given to Republican
Tom Noe Thomas W. Noe (born July 1954) is a former Ohio Republican party fundraiser and activist, guilty of money laundering for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign and of theft and corruption in the " Coingate scandal". A longtime resident of Toledo, Ohio, Noe ...
, a politically connected coin dealer. When the Coingate scandal broke, Taft, who was a regular golf partner of Noe's, denied having knowledge of the Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) decision to invest money in Noe's coin funds. Dann demanded, then sued to see memos, e-mails, and other communications transmitted between Gov. Taft's office and the BWC. Dann was a vociferous critic of then-
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Jim Petro James M. Petro (born October 25, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician of the Republican Party who served as the Attorney General of Ohio. Previously, Petro also served as Ohio State Auditor and he was a candidate for the Republican nomina ...
, a Republican, who had been notified by the
Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against mark ...
more than two years earlier that the SEC had serious reservations about investment practices at the BWC. Dann charged that Petro ignored those warnings and the misuse of funds at the agency continued unabated until the ''
Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issue o ...
'' and Dann began to expose the corruption.


Attorney General

Dann announced his candidacy for Attorney General of Ohio on November 14, 2005, saying he would use the office to both help local police and prosecutors deal with street crime and to actively and aggressively pursue white collar criminals. Dann won 71% of the vote in the Democratic primary against former
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...
Law Director Subodh Chandra. He won the general election in November 2006 by upsetting
Ohio State Auditor The Ohio State Auditor (formally known as the Auditor of State) is responsible for auditing all the public offices of the state of Ohio. The auditor is elected to a four-year term. The current Auditor is Keith Faber. References External lin ...
Betty Montgomery, a former attorney general. In the general-election campaign, Montgomery tried to distance herself from the scandals of the Taft administration, while criticizing Dann for wanting to use the attorney general's office as a platform for activism. In a television advertisement, the Montgomery campaign attacked Dann for the above-mentioned 2004 reprimand and for defending a man convicted of showing nude pictures to children. Dann responded to the latter attack by saying he was simply doing his job as an attorney. Dann received 2.04 million votes to 1.83 million for Montgomery, a margin of 52% to 48%. He ran up huge margins in traditionally Republican areas and also won bellwether counties such as
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral di ...
and Stark. Before her defeat by Dann, Montgomery had never lost a statewide election and had been the top Republican vote-getter in the previous two non-presidential statewide contests. He was sworn in as the 47th Ohio Attorney General on January 8, 2007.


Controversies

Dann had been questioned by some for supporting
Capri Cafaro Capri Silvestri Cafaro (born November 21, 1977) is a former Democratic member of the Ohio Senate, representing the 32nd District from 2007 to 2016. From the Mahoning Valley, Cafaro served three terms as an Ohio State Senator (2007-2016), includ ...
's successful bid to fill Dann's unexpired term in the state Senate. Cafaro, heiress to part of the Cafaro shopping-mall empire, had never won election to office. In addition, Cafaro's father, J. J. Cafaro, had pleaded guilty in 2001 to bribing then-Congressman Jim Traficant to push legislation that would benefit his aviation-equipment company. Capri, then in her early 20s, was president of the aviation company but was not charged with any wrongdoing. In a related trial, Capri testified she had never conspired with Traficant. As of October 18, 2006, the Cafaro family had contributed $30,500 to Dann's campaign for attorney general, in addition to the $26,000 they had donated to his state Senate campaigns. Of that money, $10,000 came from J. J. Cafaro. Dann defended his recommendation of Capri Cafaro by saying he believed she was the only qualified candidate to replace him. Dann faced criticism from the
Mansfield News Journal The ''Mansfield News Journal'' is a daily newspaper based in Mansfield, Ohio, that serves Richland, Ashland and Crawford counties, as well as parts of Morrow, Knox Knox may refer to: Places United States * Fort Knox, a United States Army p ...
and others for telling (
Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The h ...
) ''
Tribune Chronicle The ''Tribune Chronicle'' is a daily morning newspaper serving Warren, Ohio and the Mahoning Valley area of the United States. The newspaper claims to be the second oldest in the U.S. state of Ohio.
'' reporter Steve Oravecz to "go ... fuck yourself" at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
. Dann was upset about an article Oravecz had written entitled "Locals with ties to Dann get jobs". The article described how two people with ties to Dann's election campaign, including a woman who he raised as a daughter, were given state jobs. The incident was caught on tape. According to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...
, the Attorney General's office missed a legal deadline to join an appeal of a
Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and ...
-related court decision the state government opposes. The deadline for filing the documents was Dann's inauguration day. The failure to join the appeal does not prevent the state from filing briefs in the case.


Scandal and resignation

A sexual harassment scandal arose during Dann's tenure as attorney general, eventually leading to his resignation. In April 2008, Dann placed Communications Director Leo Jennings on leave, pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation in his office. The investigation focused on allegations of sexual harassment, filed by two wome
Cindy Stankoski and Vanessa Stout
who worked in Dann’s office under the supervision of Anthony Gutierrez. Jennings and Gutierrez were non-attorney friends of Dann from Youngstown; the three shared a condominium in Columbus. Jennings joined Gutierrez, Dann’s director of general services, on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The female employees alleged Gutierrez, who was paid $87,500 a year, repeatedly sexually harassed them. A statement from Dann released to reporters gave no details on what led to Jennings being included in the investigation. It said only: "This action comes as a result of new information received over the weekend related to the ongoing investigation into charges of sexual harassment." Dann agreed to conditionally release emails between himself and his former scheduler, Jessica Utovich. Utovich, 28, began as Dann's scheduler, but was transferred to the position of director of travel in late 2007. Upon being transferred, Utovich received a 27% pay raise.


Extramarital affair

On May 2, 2008, following the firing and resignation of a number of his aides in a sexual harassment scandal, Dann admitted he had an extramarital affair with an unidentified subordinate in his office. However, he initially refused to resign saying his admission and punishment were enough. In the wake of these admissions a number of Ohio papers called for Dann to resign and the ''
Tribune Chronicle The ''Tribune Chronicle'' is a daily morning newspaper serving Warren, Ohio and the Mahoning Valley area of the United States. The newspaper claims to be the second oldest in the U.S. state of Ohio.
'' even apologized to its readers for their endorsement of Dann during the 2006 election. On May 4, 2008, the three largest Ohio newspapers ran editorials condemning Dann. ''
The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...
'' (
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
) opined "Dann has turned the attorney general's office into a laughingstock" and "it's impossible to see how he can recover" The ''
Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since '' The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 1 ...
'' said Dann was "not fit to serve", and the ''
Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, al ...
'' called for Dann's resignation. The ''Plain Dealer'' had previously reported that Republicans said that if Dann doesn't step down, they could try to
impeach Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
him. On the evening of May 5, Democratic Governor Strickland issued a statement which appeared to support Dann's impeachment should he decide not to resign. Dann showed no interest in departure, even after Strickland's statement. On May 5, 2008, the ''Columbus Dispatch'' reported that seven separate investigations were either underway or being considered responsive to misconduct at the Attorney General's office. On May 10, 2008, the Ohio Democratic Party voted to remove their endorsement of Dann, remove him of his membership in the Ohio Democratic Party Executive Committee, and called for his immediate resignation as attorney general. On May 12, 2008, articles of impeachment were filed with 42 of the 45 Democrats in the state house supporting the nine counts. At a May 14, 2008, press conference in
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
, Dann resigned the Office of
Attorney General of Ohio The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Republican Dave Yost. History The office of the atto ...
. In March 2009, Dann and his campaign were each fined $1000 by the Ohio Elections Commission for violating campaign-finance laws by using his political account for personal cell phones for his family and for security renovations to his Youngstown-area home. In June 2009, Dann reached a plea agreement with the inspector general of the Elections Commission, Thomas P. Charles, to plead guilty to a single violation of misuse of campaign funds, which he used for travel expenses for family members to San Francisco for a vacation that was to be packaged with a political fundraiser, and pay another fine of $1000 which the Commission agreed to accept in a 5 to 1 vote. Charles filed complaints against Dann with the Elections Commission on accusations of illegally using his political account to pay Leo Jennings who used the money to pay for rent and utilities for the condominium they shared with Anthony Gutierrez. Gutierrez is scheduled to go on trial in August regarding different allegations relating to his tenure in Dann's office.


Personal

Dann's former spouse, Alyssa Lenhoff, is director of the journalism program at
Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges ...
. Lenhoff won several awards for investigative reporting at the ''
Tribune Chronicle The ''Tribune Chronicle'' is a daily morning newspaper serving Warren, Ohio and the Mahoning Valley area of the United States. The newspaper claims to be the second oldest in the U.S. state of Ohio.
'' in
Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The h ...
. Lenhoff's former partner at the ''Tribune'', Ed Simpson, was Dann's chief of staff until he resigned under fire on May 2, 2008. Dann was a Sigma Chi at the University of Michigan. Dann and Lenhoff have three children. Lenhoff filed for divorce from Dann on April 15, 2010, after Dann was caught having an extramarital affair. Their divorce was finalized in July 2010. Dann was suspended from the practice of law by the Ohio Supreme Court effective November 20, 2012, and was reinstated effective June 11, 2013. Dann now has a private legal practice in Cleveland, Ohio, reportedly specializing in combating home foreclosures.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dann, Marc 1962 births 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American politicians Jewish American state legislators in Ohio Lawyers from Youngstown, Ohio Living people Ohio Attorneys General Democratic Party Ohio state senators Politicians from Shaker Heights, Ohio Politicians from Youngstown, Ohio School board members in Ohio University of Michigan alumni