Dann Pledges Cooperation with Federal Investigation; Will Release Emails

Yesterday I went to a lecture by Attorney General Marc Dann at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at which he urged law students to pursue public service careers and explained how the philosophy of attorney generals across the country has changed due to the federal government's deliberate abandonment of its responsibility to regulate businesses under existing law, and aggressive attempts to stymie state regulation through federal preemption doctrine. In particular, Dann said that the subprime mortgage meltdown, which he characterized as the worst financial collapse in the history of this country, would not have happened if federal regulators had simply done their jobs. He described his office's ongoing effort to develop a basis to go after not only mortage lenders but the Wall Street players who propelled the explosion in subprime lending -- bond raters, investment banks, and other market intermediaries.

In his public remarks Dann did not mention the pending investigation of sexual harassment claims against his friend and subordinate Anthony Gutierrez, and no questions were asked about it during the question and answer period that followed the lecture. Instead, Dann met briefly with reporters before and after the event to address the matter. I stood nearby as Dann spoke on camera to a reporter for WKYC-TV (video clip here).

Dann declined to discuss the substance of the allegations, noting that there is an ongoing investigation from which he has recused himself, and it is being handled by Ben Espy of his office. However, Dann also said that "more importantly, there is a separate, independent federal investigation going on" because "the young women who have made allegations against my friend have filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission," and "you can't get any more independent than that."

Dann also said that he wants to give the people of Ohio an Attorney General's office they can be proud of, and that he "is as anxious as anyone to get to the bottom of this." He pledged full cooperation with the federal investigation.

In comments Dann made before the event (I was not present), he told Regina Fields of The Plain Dealer that the report in the Distpatch on Sunday that he has refused to turn over emails between himself and former scheduler Jessica Utovich was incorrect:

He blamed it on confusion about trying to figure out a cost-efficient way to provide the information to the newspaper. He said the records will be provided after they have been reviewed by two law enforcement bodies.

This is inconsistent with the story in the Dispatch today, which states that Dann agreed "yesterday" to "conditionally provide" the emails, suggesting that he had first refused and then changed his mind.

Also, Dann confirmed to Fields that his placing Communications Director Leo Jennings on paid leave based on "new information" is related to the investigation, although he would not say specifically what it is about. A letter to Jennings from Dann's human resources director reportedly says that Jennings could be fired if the undisclosed allegation against him is true.