Crooked Mike’s Culture of Corruption

Attorney General Mike DeWine has spent 42 years helping his donors and special interest friends get sweetheart deals. Time and again, he’s found himself in the center of controversies where the well-connected and well-heeled have profited off his actions.

After more than four decades, 2018 is when the culture of corruption finally comes to an end.

Crooked Mike’s Culture Of Corruption Right Now

This year, two fresh new scandals have enveloped his office. The first involves the now former Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger who was forced to resign on April 11 after an FBI investigation into a suspicious overseas trip last year. DeWine made an ethically questionable call to Rosenberger prior to his resignation. These questions continue to swirl around his campaign.

Yet, this is not even the latest scandal he’s facing. In April 2018, a whistleblower told regulators that ECOT ordered staff to inflate attendance figures to the state. It was found the state of Ohio had overpaid the predatory for-profit online school by a total of $80 million over the 2015–2016 and 2016–2107 school years.

As Ohio’s top cop, DeWine enabled the corruption that is now under the spotlight in Columbus. He’s taken no direct measures to recoup the taxpayers’ money, nor has he opened a criminal probe into the company. This looks terrible already, but even worse when you account for the fact that ECOT’s founder and donors have sent more than $40,000 to DeWine and Husted over the years.

In April 2018, Ohio Speaker Cliff Rosenberger Resigned Amid FBI Probe Into His Travel and Expenses. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “Ohio Speaker Cliff Rosenberger resigned Thursday evening amid an FBI probe into his travel and expenses — forgoing another taxpayer-paid paycheck.” [Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/12/18]

• Rosenberger was Being Investigated for His “Worldwide Travel” and Use of a “Luxury Condo in Downtown Columbus Owned by a GOP Donor.” According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “The FBI is investigating the lavish lifestyle of Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, from his worldwide travel to his use of a luxury condo in downtown Columbus owned by a GOP donor, several people briefed on the investigation told The Enquirer… As the Republican leader of the Ohio House, Rosenberger is one of the most powerful figures in state government. The Clinton County native has made the most of the perks of the office, traveling from Europe to Israel to Los Angeles to Boston on other people’s money, instead of out of his $100,798 salary.” [Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/10/18]

DeWine Had Called Rosenberger After News Outlets Reported the Speaker was Being Investigated by FBI. According to the Associated Press, “A Democrat campaigning for Ohio governor said Wednesday that it was ‘highly inappropriate’ for the state’s attorney general — a Republican gubernatorial candidate — to call the GOP House Speaker amid talk of an FBI investigation into the speaker’s activities. Attorney General Mike DeWine described the call as one made merely out of concern for the probe’s impact on House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, but his Democratic gubernatorial rival, Richard Cordray, said DeWine’s motives are not clear.” [Associated Press, 4/11/18]

In April 2018, a Whistleblower Told Education Regulations that ECOT had “Intentionally Inflated Attendance Figures” Tied to State Funding. According to the Associated Press, “Education regulators are reviewing a whistleblower’s claim that Ohio’s then-largest online charter school intentionally inflated attendance figures tied to its state funding using software it purchased after previous allegations of attendance inflation, The Associated Press has learned.” [Associated Press, 4/24/18]

• Staff Members Were Ordered to “Manipulate Student Data With Software Obtained Following the State’s Demand That It Return $60 Million In Overpayments for the 2015–2016 School Year.” According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “A former technology employee of the now-shuttered Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow said he told the Ohio Department of Education last year that school officials ordered staff to manipulate student data with software obtained following the state’s demand that it return $60 million in overpayments for the 2015–2016 school year. He also took his claims to Republican Ohio Auditor Dave Yost, whose office said they were incorporated into a financial audit being prepared for release.” [Associated Press, 4/24/18]
• ECOT Owed the State of Ohio $80 Million. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “ECOT founder William Lager and two companies he owns have paid more than $5 million back toward the $80 million enrollment and state aid fight the online charter school is having with the state….The state is trying to recover $60 million of what it considers overpayments for the 2015–16 school year and another $20 million for the 2016–17 school year.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/23/18]

DeWine and Husted Had Taken More than $40,000 in Contributions Linked to ECOT — Would Not Say if They Would Return Donations. According to the Columbus Dispatch, “Attorney General Mike DeWine has received more than $12,000 and his running mate, Secretary of State Jon Husted, got $28,500. Husted was speaker of the Ohio House when key charter school legislation passed. A campaign spokesman declined to say whether any of the contributions linked to ECOT would be surrendered.” [Columbus Dispatch, 1/24/18]

The Ohio Department of Education Had to Hire an Outside Firm to Handle ECOT Case. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “The complaint and Jan. 30 findings do not include the ECOT case. But the Ohio Department of Education is officially represented by the attorney general. Though the department has hired an outside firm to handle the ECOT case, those lawyers are listed in court filings as ‘Special Counsel to Attorney General Mike DeWine.’ DeWine has not respond to emailed questions about the ECOT case.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2/11/18]

Crooked Mike’s Donations for Do-Nothing Panels

The one consistent theme across DeWine’s time in office is his repeated propensity to go out of his way to help special interests.

As Attorney General, he has made sure donors get plum placement on securities fraud panels, even skirting campaign finance laws to do it. It is clear that at every step along the way, DeWine has fought for special interests and the wealthy instead of standing for Ohioans.

Professor Adam Pritchard, Expert On Pay-To-Play, Claimed “The Reason To Have The Panel Is To Get These People In The Door So They Can Make The Campaign Contributions.” According to the Dayton Daily News, “University of Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard, considered an expert on pay-to-play in securities fraud cases, said it is common to see national law firms spreading money to allies of a key officeholder. […] Pritchard said other states have panels similar to one set up by DeWine. ‘The question is do these panels serve any useful purpose and the answer is probably no,’ Pritchard said. ‘The reason to have the panel is to get these people in the door so they can make the campaign contributions. It gives them a tangible spot that they can see what they’re getting for their campaign contributions.’” [Dayton Daily News, 1/26/14]

A New York Law Firm, Labaton Sucharow, Appeared To Violate Ohio’s Law By Giving DeWine’s Campaign $16,000 On The Same Day It Submitted A Proposal To Work On DeWine’s Panel. According to the Daily News, “The Dayton Daily News uncovered a violation to Ohio law that DeWine’s office said it would move quickly to address. On the same day the New York law firm Labaton Sucharow submitted its proposal to serve on DeWine’s [Securities Fraud] panel, four of the firm’s partners contributed $16,000 to DeWine’s campaign. That would appear to violate Ohio’s law, which caps at $1,000 donations from those seeking unbid state contracts to the officeholders who award the work.” [Dayton Daily News, 1/26/14]

Toledo Blade Opinion: Some Contracting Practices In DeWine’s Office Didn’t Pass “The Smell Test,” And DeWine’s Response Was Considered Inadequate And “Not Good Enough.” According to an opinion piece in the Blade, “Some contracting practices in the attorney general’s office don’t pass the smell test. So far, Mr. DeWine’s office has done little more than note, through his spokesman, that the bidding process will be subject to a

routine annual review in the coming months. That’s not good enough for the state’s top cop, who is charged with rigorously and impartially upholding the law.” [Toledo Blade, Opinion, 8/4/14]

Crooked Mike Helps His Donors’ Bottom Lines

Crooked Mike has taken millions over the years from corporations who needed his support to help their bottom line. It did not matter if the policy was good for Ohio’s families; it only mattered if the campaign check was big enough to register. For Corrupt Mike, pushing policies that help his donors profit is not a flaw in the system — it’s a feature!

DeWine, Who Received Over $800,000 From The Alliance For Reasonable Regulation & Project Relief PACs, Voted For Weakening Environmental Protections

1991–1996: DeWine, Who Supported S. 343, Took In Over $800,000 From The Alliance For Reasonable Regulation And Project Relief PACs. According to an Environmental Working Group and Sierra Club report entitled, Take More Money…And Run, a study discussed in the report, Mike DeWine, who supported S. 343, received $804,193 via 611 separate contributions from the Alliance for Reasonable Regulation & Project Relief PACs from ’91-’96. [Take More Money…And Run. Will money and politics in the Senate have environmental consequences? Report by the Environmental Working Group and Sierra Club, 1997]

• The Alliance For Reasonable Regulations Was A Business Coalition “Heavily Supported By The Oil Industry.” According to Platt’s Oilgram News, “The Alliance for Reasonable Regulations, an ad hoc business coalition heavily supported by the oil industry, said the alternative was a ‘sham because it would weaken existing laws and (do) nothing to reform the regulatory process.’” [Platt’s Oilgram News, 7/24/95]
• Project Relief Included The Chemical Manufacturers Association And The National Association Of Manufacturers. According to the Journal of Commerce, “Among the business groups supporting it are the National Industrial Transportation League, the American Trucking Associations, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Chemical Manufacturers Association. The coalition is calling itself ‘Project Relief.’” [Journal of Commerce, 1/11/95]

1989–2006: Throughout His Congressional Career, DeWine’s Campaign Received Over $490,000 From Pharmaceuticals/Health Products Industry. According to Open Secrets, DeWine’s campaign received a total of $492,213 from the pharmaceuticals/health products industry, his 12th highest contributor. [Center for Responsive Politics, Open Secrets, Sen. Mike DeWine, Top Industries, 1989–2006, accessed 4/11/18]

November 25, 2003: DeWine Voted For A $139 Billion Giveaway To Drug

Companies. On November 25, 2003, DeWine voted for the H.R. 1 Conference Report, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which passed by a vote of 54–44, with 42 Republicans, 11 Democrats and one Independent voting in favor and nine Republicans and 35 Democrats voting against the bill. According to a study by Alan Sanger of the Boston

University School of Health, this legislation would result in $139 billion in new profits for drug makers. [H.R. 1, Vote #459, 11/25/03; Alan Sanger, Boston University School of Public Health, 10/31/03]

• Critics Of The Bill Said It Was A Handout To Drug Makers And Insurance Companies. CNN reported, “Backers say the $400 billion Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act will provide much-needed help for the nation’s 40 million senior citizens to buy medications; critics say it is a giveaway to drug makers and insurance companies and a prelude to the dismantling of the program.” [CNN, 12/8/03]
• A Boston University Researcher Estimated The Bill Would Bring $139 Billion In New Profits To The Drug Industry; The Bill Would Increase Payments To Medicare HMOs By $46 Billion. The Boston Globe reported, “To date, most attention has focused on increased payments to Medicare HMOs worth up to $46 billion and new profits that pharmaceutical companies will get after the full drug benefit begins in 2006. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the bill would increase drug industry revenues by 9 percent, or $13 billion in the first full year, or more than $100 billion over eight years. A Boston University researcher who is a critic of the drug industry estimated new profits at $139 billion over eight years.” [Boston Globe, 10/5/04]

Crooked Mike Helps….Crooked Mike

In the vast culture of corruption surrounding Mike DeWine, it’s easy to lose track of all the special interests, rich friends and donors, and big corporations he has helped over the years. But his number one special interest was himself. Crooked Mike made thousands on paid speeches for special interest groups while he was a sitting member of Congress. He went to lobbyist-paid luxury junkets. And he traveled around the country and the world on private planes funded by special interests. After all the perks they gave him, DeWine made sure he was paying them back in office.

In The House, DeWine Accepted $28,000 In “Honorariums For Speeches And Appearances Before Interest Groups Over Eight Years.” According to the Columbus Dispatch, “While in the House, DeWine took part in several activities that while neither illegal nor an ethics violation, had raised the ire of voters. They included: Accepting $28,000 in honorariums for speeches and appearances before interest groups over eight years. …Taking lobbyist-paid trips to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Taiwan and the Middle East, an activity that is still permitted, and he and his family also paid lower rates for use of national park facilities, a perk reserved for members of Congress.” [Columbus Dispatch, 10/17/94]

At Least Seven Times During The 1994 Race, DeWine’s Campaign Used A Plane Provided By PIE Mutual Insurance Co., A Former Medical Malpractice Insurer That Was Taken Over By State Regulators In 1997 And Later Shut Down. The Columbus Dispatch reported, “At least seven times during the final five months of the 1994 race — including the Saturday before the election — DeWine’s campaign used a plane provided by PIE Mutual Insurance Co. The former medical malpractice insurer was taken over by state regulators in 1997 and subsequently shut down.” [Columbus Dispatch, 2/22/99]

• DeWine, Who Was Lieutenant Governor At The Time, Paid PIE Amounts Ranging From $240 To $845, But The Documents Didn’t Indicate The Origin Or Destination Of The Trips. The Columbus Dispatch reported, “Such trips are legal provided the campaign paid PIE an amount equal to first-class air fare between cities with regular commercial service, said Ian Stirton, spokesman for the Federal Elections Commission. For trips between cities without such service, the campaign is to pay ‘usual charter rates,’ Stirton said. DeWine — lieutenant governor at the time — paid PIE amounts ranging from $ 240 to $ 845, campaign finance records show. The documents do not indicate the origin or destination of the trips.” [Columbus Dispatch, 2/22/99]