Cleveland Plain Dealer - Lawyer says fundraiser touted jobs from Petro

(Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Lawyer says fund-raiser touted jobs from Petro

Columbus - Lawyer Kevin O'Brien didn't know the rules of political fund-raising, but he knew something didn't smell right.

O'Brien said that, last summer at Spice, a Columbus hangout for young professionals, he approached an attractive young woman, Amy Gravengaard, who introduced herself as Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's fund-raiser.

"Within 60 seconds into the conversation, she focused on whether I was interested in becoming special counsel," O'Brien told The Plain Dealer. "She said, 'If you want to do it, here's what you have to do.' There were suggested levels of donations and fund raising."

The encounter, O'Brien said, "flunked the smell test" - and troubled him for another reason: "I wasn't interested in talking shop with her. She's a good-looking blonde. I was going to hit on her."

O'Brien detailed the conversation in an affidavit filed Monday in a Democrat-financed lawsuit that accuses Petro, Gov. Bob Taft and other top-ranking Republicans of selling state business for campaign cash. Republicans argue that the suit is politically motivated.

The new filing also includes comments from another Columbus lawyer who described how he gave to county Republican Party accounts, donations that enabled him to get around the $1,000 limit on direct donations from lawyers who do special-counsel work.

Petro, one of three statewide elected Republicans who wants to become Ohio's next governor, has faced a series of questions about the ethics of his fund-raising, particularly the money he gets from lawyers who receive lucrative special-counsel work through his office.

O'Brien, however, is the first lawyer to publicly complain about the campaign's tactics.

A Plain Dealer analysis shows that lawyers who specialize in the collection of money owed to the state have given $189,997 to Petro's campaigns since 2000. The total includes money from lawyers and their family members and law partners.

The same donors gave an additional $110,964 to county GOP accounts, which can accept up to $5,000 from individuals each election cycle. Much of the money found its way back to Petro a practice that state regulators have said is legal.

Petro insisted that his campaign has never linked donations to state business and said, "I apply no credibility to this guy who asserts a conversation in a bar."

Law professor Kathleen Clark, however, said O'Brien's affidavit deserves a closer look.

"I would think that local and federal investigatory authorities would want to pursue this to determine whether this is criminal activity," said Clark, a Washington University professor specializing in legal and government ethics.

She also found it noteworthy that O'Brien signed an affidavit.

"A lawyer has an additional incentive to tell the truth," she said, "because if a lawyer is found to intentionally mislead the court, his license is at stake."

Gravengaard stopped short of flatly denying O'Brien's version of events.

She did remember a "short" conversation at Spice last summer but does not remember whether she and O'Brien discussed fund raising - or special-counsel work.

"I really do not recall," she said in a recent interview. "I apologize."

Gravengaard replaced Petro fund-raiser Kyle Sisk, who was accused by Auditor Betty Montgomery of strong-arming donors in 2003. Montgomery, who preceded Petro as attorney general, said special counsel had complained to her that Sisk threatened them with the loss of state business unless they raised or donated acceptable amounts to Petro's campaign for governor. She would not identify any of the lawyers.

At the time, Petro denied the charge. He also let Sisk go but said that Montgomery's allegations played no role in the staff change and emphasized that he and Sisk parted on good terms. Gravengaard formerly worked for Sisk.

Monday's filing also includes a memo from Columbus attorney Lee Smith, a special counsel who was subpoenaed by the Democrats.

In 2001, when Petro and then-state Treasurer Joe Deters were both seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general, Smith said he voluntarily called the two rivals and asked which county parties they favored. Petro's campaign sent him to Licking County; Deters' directed him to Hamilton County.

Smith gave $5,000 to each county. Licking shipped $5,000 to Petro soon after, and Hamilton gave $5,000 to Deters, who later dropped out of the race.

Smith wrote to Ken Seminatore, the Cleveland lawyer handling the Democrats' lawsuit claim.

"I specifically asked the fund-raiser which counties they were attempting to help in their quest to receive endorsements in the race for attorney general. I must presume that each of these fund-raisers let me know the counties to which I could make a donation."