Lawyers: Firms lost state work after refusing to donate to AG's campaign

[sabra]

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13743786.htm

Lawyers: Firms lost state work after refusing to donate to AG's campaign

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two Republican lawyers say their firms lost much of their legal work for the state because they refused to donate to Attorney General Jim Petro's campaign, a newspaper reported.

Jack Morrison of the Akron firm Amer Cunningham told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer for a story Sunday that Petro said the firm would lose state legal contracts because of donations to another candidate in the 2002 race.

Petro told Morrison at a campaign fundraiser that he would lose his state work but would have a chance to get it back if he made contributions, Morrison said.

Petro, a Republican candidate for governor, denied the allegations.
"I've never said anything like that to anybody," Petro said. He said he does not remember meeting Morrison at the event.

[gratuitous]

1. You don't pay, you don't play

Surely these knuckleheads didn't believe all that Republican palaver about merits and earning your way, and other bullshit? You pay, you play. Didn't pay? Guess you'd better work for a living, because the Republican gravy train isn't making any stops at your little shop, Mr. Morrison.

[JugDack]

2. Blackwell the magician pulls another one out of his hat.....

Montgomery dropped out, now Petro gets hit with this on the same day he announces his running mate, killing any momentum he might've gotten from that.

...and that evil slimeball Ken Blackwell sails on. 10 points up and climbing! Endorsed by the church! More conservative than all other Republicans combined!

So what if there are countless Republican graft and corruption scandals, the legislature ignores the orders of the Supreme Court, and the Governor has the lowest popularity of any of the 50 states?

Does that mean a Democrat has a chance? Bwaaaaaaaahahahahahahaaa!!

I predict a HUUUUGE landslide for Blackwell, thanks only in part to the voting machines he selected for the state.


Ohio is lost - the rest of you states save yourselves if you can.

x(

[AndyTiedye]

3. Nobody Batted An Eyelash When They Flipped 30% of the Vote Last November

The initiatives were leading by as much as 2-1 in the polls.
They "lost" by 2-1, according to the final results.
Biggest disparity in the history of polling, over 30%.

Nobody even seemed surprised.

[alfredo]

4. Will blackwell have access to the main tabulator during

the next election? If he does, there is no way he will lose.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. AARRRGGHHH....Ohio is such a stinkin' cesspool!

I only got two on-site job interviews last year, both in OH. So I ended up working here. Now counting the seconds til I can get out.

[salin]

6. THIS is the guy prosecuting the case against Noe for the state

just oozes confidence, doesn't it?

[spotbird]

7. Ohioans have the representation

they deserve.

Elections are as meaningless there as they were in the Soviet block, but the citizens must demand real elections or this will continue.

Will this be prosecuted by the DOJ?

[depakid]

8. Ohio again. LOL

There really must be something in the water there. Most corrupt state in the union. How'd it get that way?

Even the investigators investigating the corruption look to be corrupt!

[Erika]

9. W doesn't remember meeting Abramoff either

It must be something congenital.

[Algorem]

10. Ohio Supreme Court donation probe may expand

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1138700108122070.xml&coll=2

Tuesday, January 31, 2006
T.C. Brown
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus

-- Investigators who filed a complaint accusing a former top state official of illegally funneling money to three state Supreme Court justices may be looking at improper campaign donations from other people...

Charles' complaint said that a July 25, 2004, event at the Catawba Island home of Noe, a prodigious Republican fund-raiser, attracted nearly $14,000 for the three judicial candidates and that a portion of it "Noe funneled through other individuals."

Charles wouldn't elaborate, saying only that "we're dealing with Talbott," but he said the plural reference to "individuals" was not a typo...

Talbott told investigators that he knew Noe had given the maximum $2,500 to each candidate. Talbott also told federal authorities that Noe reimbursed him $2,000 for his contributions to the Bush campaign in 2003...

[Javaman]

11. Wow, ohio is just a fun place to be, isn't it?

I still maintain, Ohio is the test state for all things repuke.

[Algorem]

12. Democrats urge pay-to-play probe of Petro

http://www.cleveland.com/politics/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1138700389122070.xml&coll=2

Calls based on lawyer's claim of demand for donations

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

--Democrats called on federal and county prosecutors to investigate a lawyer's assertion that Attorney General Jim Petro personally demanded campaign contributions in exchange for state legal work.

The requests came after The Plain Dealer quoted Akron lawyer Jack Morrison, a prominent Republican, saying that Petro had warned him that his firm would lose legal business because it supported a rival candidate -- but could earn some of the business back through future donations...

A poll released this weekend shows him trailing his main primary opponent, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, by 10 percentage points; and Morrison has accused him of misconduct.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern called Morrison's comments against Petro serious. The FBI should investigate possible violations of federal law, Redfern said, and he sent a letter asking Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh -- a Democrat -- or Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien -- a Republican -- to examine possible violations of state law.