High-ranking officials marred by scandal don’t always resign

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COLUMBUS (AP) — A Democratic political consultant questions why two former U.S. House members who voted against impeaching President Clinton 10 years ago are now jumping on a bandwagon to force Ohio’s attorney general to resign or be forced from office.

Clinton’s case rings similar to that of Attorney General Marc Dann, a fellow Democrat from Youngstown who has admitted to an extramarital affair with a subordinate and is being challenged for inconsistent statements made under oath.

Congress impeached Clinton, as Democrats are now threatening to do to Dann. Yet Clinton, who was subsequently acquitted in the Senate, never resigned.

“Every case is different,” said consultant Jerry Austin of Cleveland. “Now you have the Akron Beacon Journal and The Youngstown Vindicator saying, ’Wait a second, not so fast. What has he done that’s impeachable?”’

Austin said Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, both Democrats, voted against impeaching Clinton after he was charged with perjury.

“Maybe the question to them is ’What’s the difference?”’ Austin said.

Strickland and Brown are joined by nearly every Ohio political leader — both Democrats and Republicans — in wanting Dann to resign.

Dann’s situation comes not long after that Ohioans watched as their then-governor, Republican Bob Taft, was convicted on ethics law violations, yet never resigned.

Political strategists say the fate of a politician sullied by scandal often has to do with how directly the wrongdoing is tied to his personal acts and whether his conduct ever affected the performance of his job.

The divide between Dann and his critics on both counts is wide.

Strickland says Dann has clearly met the threshold for removal, in part due to his statements to investigators looking into complaints that an aide in his office sexually harassed subordinates.

“There were what I perceived to be some inconsistencies in the testimony, a failure to recognize the seriousness of some of the things that apparently had happened, failure to exercise proper oversight and management of the office,” the governor said after leading a Democratic charge Monday to get Dann out of office.

Dann, 46, has not been convicted of a crime and he doesn’t believe he has committed any act that warrants either resignation or impeachment, according to public statements both Dann and his father-in-law, Bentley Lenhoff, have made in recent days.

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