Bad news for Dem's here in Ohio largest county...

[WCGreen]

Long time Cuyahoga County democratic party chairman Jimmy Dimora had an un-welcomed and unscheduled visit from the FBI and the IRS today. Hundreds of agents swarmed through the County Administration building and the homes of County Commissioner Dimora, County Auditor, Democrat Frank Russo, and County Administrator Kevin Kelley, also a player in County Democratic Politics.

Could the reason for the flammable expose of the Commissioner and the Auditor published a couple of months ago by the Plain Dealer have anything to do with all of this?

Seems that the person who will be hit hardest is County Commissioner, democrat Peter Lawson Jones. Jones is the only democrat who faces any kind of opposition this fall. The GOP has been relegated to the sidelines county wise since the mid 90's. They might be able to take out Jones with a local Republican Mayor. The worst part about this is Jones is probably the least political of all the county office holders.

Former County Recorder, democrat Pat O'Malley, was already chased from office this year.

I'm personally worried that this will be used to hurt Obama in the fall, tainting all democrats.

[Ikonoklast]

1. Dimora is not on the level. Russo...no comment.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=93804&catid=5

The alternative press has been nipping on these guys heels for the last couple years. Kickbacks and rigged bids always piss off the competition.

[geiger]

2. Thanks for the heads-up. If I hadn't seen this before the evening news,

I would have been totally frieked. 200 federal agents? what the heck is going on?

I am so sick of witch hunts, from any direction.

[geiger]

3. I hear that a federal grand jury has been impaneled.

Does anyone else have any information to corroborate this?

[OhioBlue]

4. Is Frank Russo related to Joseph Russo? n/t

[geiger]

6. distantly only as I understand it; there are a lot of Russos in Cleveland.

[NEOBuckeye]

5. As you stated, Cleveland-Cuyahoga is mostly Dem

Republicans for the most part abandoned Cleveland and its' inner-ring suburbs years ago, so it's not like the GOP is even remotely positioned for a takeover. It's certainly embarrassing for the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Dems, but what other alternative is there to really take their place at this point?

I don't think it can and will be used to effectively "taint" Obama in the national or even just the statewide campaign, any more than anything else the NeoCons may have up their sleeves because it's mostly a region-specific issue. Most of the country and the rest of the state couldn't give a damn at this point what kind of mess Cleveland is in.

[Kolesar]

7. An electoral gambit to get the mayor of Rocky River elected as county commissioner

I cannot recall her name, though.

[WCGreen]

11. Debbie Stabanow and she is the mayor of Bay Village...

[geiger]

12. I heard they wanted to run her for State Rep. Is that true?

[WCGreen]

14. It's too late now. She is in the running for Commish

[Ninga]

16. Stabanow is a US Senator from Michigan, Bay Village Mayor is Sutherland or something like that.

[WCGreen]

18. Your right. Isee what happens when you post before you have your morning

coffee...

[geiger]

8. discussion on WCPN Tues July 29 9 a.m.

[Ninga]

9. All of the above and more. This mess all over the front page of the PD this morning seems

mighty suspicious to me.

We are not talking about millions of dollars, we are talking about electrical hook-ups and driving way refinishing and decks.

Basically, about as criminal as a "blow job" only on a local level.

HOWEVER.....

The photos of FBI jackets carrying boxes and boxes of paper does not bode well.

People will not care if there is "no there there".... or if the "there there" is so petty that it does not amount to a hill of beans. Damage by perception has now taken place.

[geiger]

10. Interesting note on the sheer numbers of agents per the WCPN discussion this a.m.

They have to go in and get everything and anything while still unexpected; otherwise potential evidence could be destroyed. I agree with your point about perceptions, however.

[WCGreen]

13. The raids were conducted simultaneously

and so they needed that many feet on the ground in order to keep the surprise.

Some speculation is that O'Malley, the recently deposed County Recorder, sang like a canary.

But I doubt that happened as the two camps, Dimora/Russo and O'Malley, did not exactly share secrets with one another. No love lost, but there but O'Malley can't blame Dimora and or Russo for his very public and very erratic behavior.

The PD has it right. They used an official from the company caught giving a bribe to a Cleveland Housing inspector and that person was the Diva in this political opera.

Someone mention that $50,000 worth of work done for free was small stuff. Especially if there was no quid pro quo as Dimora claims. There was no official tit for tat, at least in the present.

No Dimora and Russo will likely be nabbed for income tax evasion by not reporting as income from the "free" construction. The companies will be charged with attempted bribery of a public official.

If this goes RICO, which it could, the implications for the cozy relationship between the county government and the business community could be embarrassing at the least and devastating to the county's well being at the worst.

This, by the way, stretches back to when the community bankers used their power to oust DK from the mayors office back in 1979. That brought the worst of the worst to the forefront of Ohio, George Voinovich. This guy makes Dimora look like Pollyanna. But the PD loves Saint George and Hates Dimora with a passion.

[Ninga]

15. Perception will rule the day. Will Ohio really go "red" and stay that way if Cuyahoga

is lost to the GOP?

Big, huge, stakes at play.

Russo has run a solid auditor's office and provides up-to-date services to the people.

And Dimora does what???????

[WCGreen]

17. Of course but Russo has no opposition in November.

If a trial materializes before November, the local party would pick the successor to Russo and then there would be a special election within, I believe, two years.

Another person who will be tainted by all this is Rokakis. He is the front runner to be appointed to fill out Cordray's term as state treasurer if, as appears likely, Richard wins the AG race in November. There is a chance that Strickland will want to put as much distance as he possibly can between him and the local shenanigans in Cuyahoga County and so appoint someone else as the place keeper for that seat.

A shame since Rokakis, although a bit of a smuck, is pretty clean.

[geiger]

19. am I the only one who is scandal-weary? it seems to me people may also tune out. eom.