Noe's lawyer says Taft (R-Crook) knew about coin fund in 2001

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1124454904232970.xml&storylist=cleveland


8/19/2005, 9:38 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A prominent Republican fundraiser who invested state money in rare coins discussed the arrangement with Gov. Bob Taft in May 2001, contradicting the governor's assertion that he didn't learn of it until this year, the fundraiser's lawyer said.

Taft has claimed that until he read newspaper reports in April, he was unaware of Tom Noe's $50 million investment for the state insurance fund for injured workers.

"Tom Noe and Bob Taft had a face-to-face meeting in May 2001 in Toledo, at which time Mr. Noe described for Gov. Taft his operation of Coin Fund One for the (Ohio) Bureau of Workers' Compensation," Noe's lawyer, William Wilkinson, told The Columbus Dispatch for a story Friday...

Noe and Taft golfed together on May 13, 2001, in Toledo, records show. Noe received $25 million for the investment in 1998 and another $25 million two months after the golf outing...

[Algorem]

1. conservative Ohio Roundtable calls for Taft resignation

Web Site: http://www.ohioroundtable.org


Roundtable Calls for Governor Taft to Resign


CLEVELAND, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Ohio Roundtable called upon
Governor Bob Taft to resign from office. "As the first seated Governor since
1803 to be convicted of a crime in office, resignation is the only honorable
option left for Bob Taft," stated David Zanotti President, of the Ohio
Roundtable and the American Policy Roundtable.
The Roundtable sent the following text in a letter to Governor Taft
requesting his resignation:

August 18, 2005

Dear Governor Taft:...

[Toots]

3. I hope he doesn't resign

If he resigns now it will all be "old news" by election time in November of next year. This needs to be kept in the people's face for the next year so they won't forget just how corrupt the Republican party truly is.

[magnetism]

4. says he has more work to do....

I BET!

[Botany]

2. He is lying ......

.... no. :rofl:

he knew about the money lost in fall of 04 but withheld it until after
the election.

[napi21]

5. UH OH. Do we have one Pub flipping on the other here?

I love it when that happens! It's the old, if I'm goin' down, you're commin' with me trick!

[evermind]

6. This must be wrong.

Because as Taft said only yesterday, as he admitted state ethics violations, "There is no connection between golf or contributions and state contracts in our administration."

( http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1711228 )

Or was that some other Taft?

[mod mom]

15. Yeah, yeah...that's why 50 mill was invested in coins and beany babies and

why Taft appointed Noe to the Board of Regent (prestigious board overseeing state colleges) but Noe hadn't even finished one year on college. No Mr. Taft, there was no connection. It was all done on merit. Keep digging your hole deeper, rethug. You screwed the people of Ohio now it is our time.

[mod mom]

24. For the record it was Voinovich who appointed Noe (who dropped out of

college after only two semesters) to the Ohio Board of Regents. Sorry I got my corrupt rethugs mixed up.

BTW don't be fooled by those tears on the senate floor during Bolton hearings, Voinovich is just another corrupt thug like the rest of them. Check out the scandals that have surrounded him.

[BQueen]

28. Taft sat on stuff to help get Voinovich into Senate seat, too

remember the grand jury information he sat on when he (Taft) was running for Gov.? He knew that Voinovich had used campaign funds to pay his brother to hire some felon that Voinovich had promised a job to. Taft sat on the info (contrary to his job duties at the time) from early Sept until a couple days before the election, so that Fisher couldn't make any political hay of the scandal.

Voinovich also set the scene for the current BWC scandal by pushing for Gov's control of all matters BWC during his reign. (a friend worked for an outside agency that dealt with rehab and retraining at the time - George claimed that *they* were inefficient and the state would save money by converting it to an in-house agency -- right...)

[faithnotgreed]

7. of course - he only learned of it from the press

sound familiar
when the republicans get talking points they sure take them and pass them around

[SoCalDem]

8. Oooooh. I LOVE it when the rats turn on each other

:)

[mod mom]

9. Excellent Mr. Noe, got any scoop on Kenny Blackwell? They ARE planning to

make you and dear Bernadette as the fall guys.

[newscott]

10. If Noe ever makes it to court

a lot of Republicans are going down hard.

[Algorem]

11. Candidate says Taft should resign

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/112453041241860.xml&coll=2

Noe's attorney disputes governor's contention

Saturday, August 20, 2005
T.C. Brown and Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau

Columbus -- A would-be governor called on Friday for current Gov. Bob Taft to resign.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said the preoccupation with the growing state investment scandal and Taft's tangled legal problems will continue to cripple state government, and he must go.

Coleman accepted Taft's apology Thursday for failing to disclose thousands of dollars in free golf games and other gifts. But Coleman changed his mind upon learning that an attorney for Tom Noe disputed Taft's statements that he was unaware until this year that Noe managed the $50 million rare-coin investment for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

"One side is saying one thing and the other side saying another," Coleman said. "That was the tipping point. It's not going to go away."...

[Algorem]

12. More calls go out for governor to resign

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050820/NEWS24/50820003

By JAMES DREW and STEVE EDER
BLADE STAFF WRITERS

COLUMBUS — Calls for Gov. Bob Taft’s resignation intensified yesterday, a day after he was convicted and fined for violating the state’s ethics law.

Mr. Taft is standing firm in his pledge to finish the last 16 months of his second term, despite becoming Ohio’s first governor convicted on criminal charges.

Yesterday, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, a Democrat, joined a growing group of lawmakers and interest groups saying he should step down.

On Thursday, a judge found Mr. Taft guilty of four misdemeanors. Governor Taft was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and apologize to all Ohioans for breaking the state’s ethics laws by failing to report the sources of dozens of golf outings, sports tickets, and meals on his financial disclosure statement.

[tanyev]

13. Oh, let him stay until the Coingate indictments start pouring down.

[Algorem]

16. That sounds better to me too.

[Algorem]

14. Taft decision helps both parties,a top Democratic consultant says.

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-19/112448280540840.xml&storylist=cleveland

8/19/2005, 5:24 p.m. ET
By JOHN McCARTHY
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Bob Taft's decision to stay in office after his convictions on four misdemeanor ethics charges gives Democrats running statewide next year a chance to tie him to other Republicans, but it's a mistake to make him the focus of campaigns, a top Democratic consultant says.

The tactic could backfire if it becomes too personal, consultant James Ruvolo said Thursday after Taft pleaded no contest and was found guilty of failing to report 52 gifts worth nearly $6,000 that he received over four years.

Franklin County Municipal Judge Mark Froehlich fined Taft $4,000 and ordered him to apologize to Ohioans and, separately, to all state employees.

Taft says he won't resign because of the violations and leaders in the GOP-controlled Legislature say they will not initiate impeachment proceedings based on the ethics convictions...

[sunnystarr]

21. Moral of the story ...

Voters need to make sure that the legislative branch is controlled by the opposing party of the head of state. At least if a Republican is heading their state or country.

[cmd]

29. Actually it is better for us if he stays in office

He has been neutered. Its like having no republican governor at all. The pubbies want him gone. They want to replace him with another of their own that could come in and do damage. I never thought I would say that I wanted Taft for governor, but right now I do.

[cmd]

17. and the other candidate disagrees

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050820/NEWS24/50820003

U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, a Democrat from southeast Ohio who also is seeking the party’s nomination for governor, said he is not calling for Mr. Taft’s resignation. Mr. Taft cannot run for re-election because of term limits.

“I believe if the governor steps aside, it would not solve the problem.
If we convey to the general public that the governor’s stepping aside solves the problem of a corrupt political system, we will have accomplished little,” Mr. Strickland said.

Asked for his reaction to Mr. Coleman’s call for Mr. Taft to resign, Mr. Strickland replied: “That is his opinion and his conclusion. “Based on what has already surfaced, I did not feel it is appropriate for the governor to step down. If additional damaging information were to surface, I would reserve the right to revisit that decision,” Mr. Strickland said.

[Algorem]

18. Taft's offenses reach impeachment level, Redfern believes

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050819/NEWS24/508190372/-1/ARCHIVES30

Article published Friday, August 19, 2005

BLADE STAFF


Gov. Bob Taft's convictions on ethics charges are a matter for impeachment and could make his hold on power extremely fragile, state Rep. Chris Redfern (D., Catawba Island) said during a taping of The Editors television program yesterday.


"I think it does rise to the level of impeachment because the governor and those in elected office must be beyond reproach," said Mr. Redfern, the House Democratic leader.

The governor's tough stance on ethics violations by his staff in the past, and the fact he knowingly failed to fill out financial disclosure forms correctly, made his situation particularly untenable, even with members of his own party, Mr. Redfern said. "More than a dozen members of the Republican caucus have indicated to me over the last six months their disgust with the one-party rule and culture of corruption that exists in Columbus,'' he said.

Mr. Redfern stopped short of demanding Mr. Taft's resignation, but said, "I believe he has been mortally wounded and that his political leadership is at risk."...

[sunnystarr]

22. Another pussy

"Mr. Redfern stopped short of demanding Mr. Taft's resignation, but said, "I believe he has been mortally wounded and that his political leadership is at risk."..."

[mod mom]

23. Beware of Redfern though, I read he is related to Brnadette Noe. nt

[Algorem]

19. Firm with links to scandal fires attorney,hires Bush lawyer

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050820/NEWS24/508200430/-1/ARCHIVES30

Article published Saturday, August 20, 2005

Firm with links to scandal fires attorney

BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU


COLUMBUS - MDL Capital Management has fired celebrated New York City attorney Barry Slotnick, who was defending the Pittsburgh-based investment adviser in Ohio's lawsuit to recover $215 million lost in a Bermuda hedge fund.


Eric Kuwana, a partner at the Washington firm of Patton Boggs, confirmed that he replaced Mr. Slotnick, who attracted national attention for his defense of subway vigilante Bernie Goetz during the 1980s.

Although Mr. Kuwana lacks his predecessor's celebrity, he is well connected politically, having served as deputy general counsel of the 2001 Presidential Inaugural Committee for President Bush and as a White House attorney during the George H.W. Bush administration.

Mr. Kuwana distanced himself from politics yesterday, emphasizing that MDL was unfairly lumped with the $50 million rare-coin funds managed by Tom Noe, a former friend of recently convicted Gov. Bob Taft, simply because both investments were for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation...

[Roland99]

20. Spill the beans! Set some precedent! Maybe Abramoff will follow suit!

[newscott]

25. Holy Crap! This means the White House is terrified!

They want in on the discovery of this deal or they are trying to kill any prosecution of this case.

Wowie, wow, wow!!!!!

This is getting good!

[bnr65432]

26. the republicans get what they deserve

this scanal just keeps growing
might even reach the federal level

[roguevalley]

27. May I say: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHAHAAHA!