Scott Pullins, a Mount Vernon, Ohio, attorney, plans to file an Ohio Elections Commission complaint against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Ted Strickland, charging that Strickland has attempted to cover up a scandal involving his 1998 campaign manager whose 1994 convictions for sexual improprieties with minors have remained hidden until recently.
The charges were first raised by Strickland's challenger in the Ohio Democratic gubernatorial primary. The Columbus Dispatch reported April 13, 2006, that during a 90-minute meeting with the candidates in the newspaper's offices, Democratic challenger Brian Flannery charged that Strickland hired a man on his congressional and campaign staffs in the early 1990s who was convicted of exposing himself to minors.
As reported by the newspaper, Strickland "said he didn't know that when the man was hired, and when he was anonymously told about the allegations and asked the employee about them, the man denied them."
The Dispatch further reported that Jesse Lipcius, a lawyer representing the former Strickland staffer at the time, said that the staffer's conviction in Athens and a separate case in Washington County were expunged.
I have previously reported that an anonymous e-mailer using the name "Ohio Concerned Citizen" last week circulated the Strickland campaign manager's 1994 misdemeanor arrest and conviction records from the police department in Athens, Ohio, fully documenting the veracity of the charges Flannery made in the Ohio Democratic gubernatorial primary.
In the fourth and last debate this past Monday night between Ken Blackwell, the Republican Party gubernatorial challenger, and Strickland, Blackwell once again brought up the charges against Strickland's 1998 campaign manager.
Strickland responded in an offended manner, retorting, "Mr. Blackwell, you should be ashamed of yourself." Strickland then proceeded to repeat his earlier denial, claiming that he did not knowingly hire someone who had a criminal record of sexual misconduct with minors.
"The question is more than 'what did he know and when did he know it,'" attorney Pullins told me:
The question goes to the heart of Strickland's credibility. Has Strickland been attempting to cover up this incident? He must know that at a minimum his judgment is called into question by the incident. If Strickland had a police report, even obtained from an anonymous provider, why didn't he call the Athens Police Department or the Washington County Sheriff's office? These records were still there then. Nothing was expunged until 2002.
Pullins noted that Strickland's answers have a rehearsed or prepared quality to them. "The emphasis is on 'knowingly,'" Pullins points out. "Strickland is only denying that he knew his campaign manager had committed sexual improprieties with minors, not that the campaign manager actually committed the offenses."
Pullins argued that in a post-Foley environment, the Democratic Party in Ohio and Ohio election officials should not give Strickland a pass on the issue:
Nobody denies the facts in the case, not Strickland and not the former campaign manager. Strickland's 1998 campaign manager was indisputably guilty of criminal sexual misconduct with minors. Why didn't Strickland investigate at the time? Is he still trying to cover up his own negligence even today?
I have independently confirmed that Strickland was presented with at least the Washington County arrest records in the final phase of the 1998 campaign. We understand that the Washington County incident resulted in a dismissal and that those records were sealed in 2002 at the request of the former campaign manager.
Marc Mezibov, the 1998 campaign manager's current attorney, in an interview with this writer admitted that his client lied to Strickland:
When he was hired, my client did not disclose to Mr. Strickland his prior criminal sexual misconduct record. When Strickland confronted him with the charges, my client lied outright. He was embarrassed and afraid, so he told Strickland that the charges were not true. Mr. Strickland apparently accepted my client's word for it.
Strickland has yet to explain to Ohio voters why he was so ready to give his campaign manager a pass, especially in the face of being presented with official criminal records that suggested the staffer was lying. Mezibov maintains that his client and Strickland never again discussed the charges after his client's initial lying denial.
The attorney says his client signed on with Strickland in 1997 and stayed on Strickland's congressional staff until August 1999, when he left of his own accord. Mezibov further confirmed that his client did travel on a celebratory campaign trip to Italy alone with Strickland following the 1998 electoral victory.
Regarding who paid for the Italy vacation, Mezibov maintained that his client paid his own way. A 1999 report the Strickland campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission documents that the congressman was reimbursed over $9,000 in 1999 for unspecified travel expenses. I have been unable to determine if these funds were related to expenses incurred in the Italy jaunt.
Mezibov maintains that his client has led an exemplary life since the sexual offenses committed in the early 1990s, when he was in his early 20s.
"The question here," Pullins maintains, "involves Mr. Strickland, not the campaign manager. Mr. Strickland has dodged the issue, suggesting that the person involved was not a major campaign figure. We know that is not the case; the person was Strickland's campaign manager."
So, what does Pullins hope to accomplish by filing a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission? "We may never determine for sure what their personal relationship was, but that isn't the question." Continued Pullins:
Why didn't Strickland just admit he made an error in judgment by not believing the police report instead of his lying employee? Or is the real issue that Strickland never considered the sexual charges to be serious or important enough to demand his full attention. Why didn't Strickland investigate at the time? Why is he still covering for sexual improprieties within his own campaign office, offenses he should be leading the charge to condemn, even if the person involved has subsequently reformed?
Attorney Pullins runs an Ohio blog, the Pullins Report, which has been highly critical of the Strickland campaign.
Once again, the Strickland campaign did not return phone calls asking for a comment for this column.