Banking Law

Ohio's Attorney General, Marc "Grandstand" Dann, has done everything possible to insert himself, publicly of course, between borrowers and lenders and otherwise to do whatever it takes to follow in the footsteps of his role model, the late Eliot Spitzer (may the Great Gaia have mercy on his Earth Spirit).  As an editorial in today's Dayton Daily News points out:

In 2006, when he ran for Ohio attorney general, Marc Dann pointed to New York's Eliot Spitzer as a role model, what with Mr. Spitzer having created a reputation for aggressively prosecuting evil-doers involved in street as well as white-collar crime.

That was before the Mayflower and Mr. Spitzer's resignation as New York's governor, after he was accused of hiring high-priced prostitutes.

It seems that Dapper Dann has his own sex scandal brewing in Ohio. According to press reports, two female employees of the AG's office have filed sexual harassment complaints against one of Dann's top assistants, Anthony Gutierrez, 50. They allege that he made unwanted sexual advances to them while at work, while at bars, and while at a bachelor pad that Mr. Gutierrez shared with Mr. Dann and a third male pal. One of the complainants, Cindy Stankoski, 26, made specific allegations that Dann was hanging around when some of her clothing mysteriously became rearranged and Mr. Gutierrez misplaced much of his.

Stankoski reported one incident from September in which Gutierrez persuaded her to visit several bars with him after work. Then, after she had had too much to drink, he talked her into coming back to the condo in Dublin he was sharing with Dann and Jennings, she said. After several hours of lying unconscious on Gutierrez's bed, she awoke to find her pants partially unbuttoned and her boss beside her wearing only his underwear, she said.

Stankoski said Dann was in the condo at the time.

I expect that Dann may pull the famed "Sergeant Schultz Defense" as to that claim, and shout that he knew "nothing, nothing at all." Perhaps he'll opt for the Teddy Kennedy corollary, and claim that everyone "drops trou" when company comes calling, especially when company is young, female, nubile, and plastered. As long as you're not behind the wheel, and a bridge is nowhere in sight, what's the problem?

Although he's not been charged with sexual harassment himself, Dann has been accused of being in the apartment with a young female aid who was, at the time, wearing her pajamas. Dann's response was curious.

Attorney General Marc Dann denied reports that his 28-year-old former scheduler was ever wearing pajamas at his apartment ? an allegation made in a sexual harassment complaint filed by two other female employees against Dann's friend and neighbor, Anthony Gutierrez.

"She's never been in my house wearing pajamas, so she certainly wasn't there that night in pajamas," Dann told reporters Wednesday, April 9. "That's just the strangest thing that I could ever imagine anyone saying. And it's hurtful because I have children who are embarrassed by the fact that that's been repeated over and over again in the newspaper."

An online commenter to that story named Dave stole my lines with this response to Dann's duck, bob and weave job:

"She?s never been in my house wearing pajamas, so she certainly wasn?t there that night in pajamas," That?s a very lawyer-like answer. Dann doesn?t say that she?s never been in my condo "at night." Dann doesn?t say that she?s never been in my condo "at night in her nightie." Dann doesn?t say that she?s never been in my condo "at night wearing nothing at all." He simply declares that she hasn?t been there at night wearing pajamas. That?s reassuring. For a minute I thought he had a problem!

Dave gets the Bank Lawyer's Blog's High Five of Snark for that bitchslap across the brow.

Of course, every busy lawyer has to have a pied a terre in town when late nights keep him from his suburban hearth, home, wife and kids. Moreover, discussions with young unmarried female staffers concerning one's schedule can't be conducted at the office or over the telephone. Not secure. No, they simply must be conducted at night, in person, and away from the prying eyes of spouses, reporters, and any other person not willing to give the appearance of impropriety a wink-wink, nudge-nudge, any person other than, oh, Tony ("Where'd I Put My Pants?") Gutierrez. As to clothing: Hey, it's night! What's more appropriate at night than PJs? I know the last time I simply had to speak to my executive assistant, she and I held the meeting in the hot tub, and clothing was optional.

Being a stickler for probity, Dann's recused himself from looking into the allegations against Gutierrez and has appointed two members of the AG's staff to investigate. People whose paychecks he signs. He's refused to appoint an independent prosecutor or investigator, thereby sticking his finger in the eyes of the editorial boards of the Ohio newspapers who are calling for independent investigators to look this over.

The Dayton Daily News notes that this ethical lapse is not Dirty Dann's first.

Mr. Dann has a tin ear and a lazy eye when assessing his behavior and others'. Since taking office, he has had to fire a deputy security director who had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in another state. He let another aide go after it was found that the man was drawing a salary from the Youngstown Police Department, while on Mr. Dann's payroll.

He has jetted off on government airplanes at a time when state officials are supposed to be pinching pennies, and he once yelled profanities at a reporter, which was caught on a television camera.

In short, Mr. Dann has been attorney general for fewer than 18 months, and he's brought more embarrassment upon himself than even his enemies could have manufactured.

His past judgment has not been inspiring. The future is not looking good, either.

The least he can do is respond to serious charges by calling in an independent investigator.

This story is worth following, if only to see if another ardent foe of bankers, and one who loves to publicly bully others for political gain by using the powers of the state, becomes a victim of his own imperial hubris and is publicly immolated by the flames of his arrogance. A spokesman for Dann recently said about Dann's decision not to prosecute Rush Limbaugh for "Operation Chaos," "We have no intention of prosecuting Rush Limbaugh because lying through your teeth and being stupid isn't a crime." Those are words that Dann and his buddies have taken to heart.

I don't know if will have any influence in the court of public opinion, but I hope that voters in Ohio recall this campaign video made by Dann and realize that Dann's always been a bit of a horndog.