The irony is, this guy ran for governor on a platform that emphasized ethical behavior in government and implored state employees to steer clear of receiving unethical gifts.
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft (R), a member of one of the most distinguished families in American politics, was indicted yesterday on four criminal misdemeanor counts for failing to report a series of golf outings, dinners and other gifts in a scandal that has rocked the powerful state Republican Party.
The violations carry maximum penalties of a $1,000 fine and six months in prison, although it is doubtful the governor will face prison time for the ethical lapses. But the damage to Taft’s reputation and to the party’s fortunes could be far more severe, political analysts said.
Mark Rickel, the governor’s spokesman, said Taft will appear in court today and make a statement, but he rejected suggestions that Taft resign over the indictments. “The governor will fill out the remainder of his term,” Rickel said.
One of the arguments from the GOP today — offered by the Wall Street Journal editorial page, among others — is that Taft’s wrongdoings are relatively trivial. At first blush, there’s some merit to this idea. Taft received 52 improper gifts, over a three-year period, which totaled less than $6,000 and which Taft himself later disclosed. The indictment covers misdemeanors and Taft will almost certainly not face jail time.
But it’s important to keep in mind that Taft’s troubles are part of a more sweeping scandal in Ohio involving most of the state’s Republican establishment.
The investigation into unreported gifts to Mr. Taft was an offshoot of a much broader inquiry into [Republican fundraiser Tom Noe’s] handling of $50 million in unorthodox investments in rare coins and memorabilia for the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Bureau.
The investments were first reported in April by The Toledo Blade, and Mr. Noe’s lawyers have since said that as much as $13 million of the $50 million cannot be accounted for. State Attorney General Jim Petro, himself a Republican, has filed a suit against Mr. Noe asserting that he may have diverted nearly $4 million of the investments for personal use. In addition, federal investigators are looking into whether Mr. Noe may have funneled illegal contributions to President Bush’s campaign last year.
Currently, a task force involving the Justice Department, the F.B.I., the state police, the State Ethics Commission and prosecutors from two counties are combing state documents and Mr. Noe’s records for evidence of criminal malfeasance. As a part of that inquiry, investigators have been checking whether Mr. Noe tried to buy influence or win state contracts using campaign contributions or gifts. One former official, Brian Hicks, pleaded no contest last month to a single charge of failing to disclose that when he was the governor’s chief of staff, he and his family twice stayed at Mr. Noe’s home in Florida.
In the course of checking his own records, Mr. Taft publicly acknowledged in June that he had failed to report dozens of free golf outings and additional gifts from Mr. Noe and others. That acknowledgment brought on the investigation that resulted in the ethics charges filed yesterday.
Can there be any doubt that the Republicans’ culture of corruption has to be one of the principal issues for Dems nationwide in 2006?