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BREAKING NEWSProsecutor Says Taft Will Be Charged with Four Misdemeanors
WTOL ^ | August 18, 2005 | AP

Posted on 08/17/2005 1:07:05 PM PDT by wildwood

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Gov. Bob Taft, under investigation for not reporting numerous golf outings as required by law, will be charged with four criminal misdemeanors, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Taft, a Republican and member of a distinguished U.S. political family, would be the first Ohio governor to be charged with a crime.

If convicted, he could be fined $1,000 and sentenced to six months in jail on each count, though time behind bars was considered unlikely. Taft will be charged later Wednesday, said City Prosecutor Stephen McIntosh, who declined further comment pending an afternoon news conference.

Investigators have looked for weeks at Taft's alleged violation of a law requiring officeholders to report all gifts worth more than $75. Though long anticipated, news of the charges were still a stunning conclusion to a process Taft began in June when he announced the lapse.

The charges would come three months after Taft stressed at an ethics conference the importance of ethical behavior for public employees. "Public employees can enjoy entertainment, such as golf or dining out, with persons working for a regulated company, or one doing business with the state, ONLY if they fully pay their own way," he said in the May 11 speech at Xavier University.

Taft, 63 and nearing the end of his second term, would be the highest-ranking official to be charged in a ballooning state investment scandal. His former chief of staff was convicted of an ethics violation in July.

Other Ohio governors have come under investigation, including Republican George Voinovich, investigated for unproven allegations he laundered campaign money, and Democrat Richard Celeste, whose connections to a contributor who owned the failed Home State Savings Bank were examined.....

(Excerpt) Read more at wtol.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: bobtaft
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This is bad news for Ohio, although expected. Taft is an unpopular governor; just three months ago he demanded that all golf outings be disclosed. This is also part of a wider scandal enveloping the Ohio Republican Party, involving coin dealer Tom Noe.
1 posted on 08/17/2005 1:07:05 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: wildwood

What is it about RINO's and corruption? I hope Ohio doesn't go the way of Illinois.


2 posted on 08/17/2005 1:09:07 PM PDT by NeoCaveman (The constitution is not in exile, it's in a nice safe deposit box in the Cayman Islands - Lileks)
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To: wildwood
more can be found at the columbus dispatch http://www.columbusdispatch.com/

and the toledo (cough cough) blade.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050817/BREAKINGNEWS/50817018

the blade's server is crap, though, and very slow, just like the paper.

3 posted on 08/17/2005 1:09:47 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: wildwood
He seems like Traffy w/o the sense of humor. Taft has been a liability to the GOP.
4 posted on 08/17/2005 1:10:46 PM PDT by .cnI redruM (The 9-11 Commission is an act of Errorism.)
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To: dubyaismypresident

i dunno. he has already said he is NOT resigning, which he needs to do. he holds everyone else to such a high standard, but not himself.


5 posted on 08/17/2005 1:11:07 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: wildwood

YAWWWWWWNNNN

Oh, sorry, did you say something?


6 posted on 08/17/2005 1:11:33 PM PDT by Mikey_1962
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To: .cnI redruM

traficant was right, every now and then. i don't think taft has ever been right. he's a weasel. he needs to just GET OUT.


7 posted on 08/17/2005 1:11:58 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: Mikey_1962

sorry if breaking news of politics from OHIO, a swing state of significance in presidential elections, bores you.


8 posted on 08/17/2005 1:13:30 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: dubyaismypresident

We have a similar problem here in Tennessee. Our ex RINO governor Sundquist hasn't been indicted, but a number of his closest cronies have. It basically involves the state hiring a PR firm for a lot of money that did little or no work. Here's the link to the FR post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1350371/posts


9 posted on 08/17/2005 1:16:55 PM PDT by libstripper
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To: wildwood

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1465249/posts


10 posted on 08/17/2005 1:19:20 PM PDT by Eagle of Liberty (All your Diebold are belong to us!)
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To: wildwood

"Investigators have looked for weeks at Taft's alleged violation of a law requiring officeholders to report all gifts worth more than $75"

What happened to all the furniture Hillary?


11 posted on 08/17/2005 1:21:15 PM PDT by jbwbubba
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To: wildwood
I Live in Ohio (Saybrook Township) and yes it bores me.

Four misdemeanors mean nothing.
12 posted on 08/17/2005 1:24:40 PM PDT by Mikey_1962
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To: Mikey_1962
I Live in Ohio (Saybrook Township) and yes it bores me.

Yes, Ahia seems to rapidly be becoming the Floriduh of the North...

Four misdemeanors mean nothing.

At least, not until he's convicted. Or does corruption among elected officials not bother you?

SW

13 posted on 08/17/2005 1:31:17 PM PDT by Snidely Whiplash
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To: Mikey_1962
Four misdemeanors mean nothing

Taken alone it might not mean much. But considered within the context of this entire Noe debacle, it certainly means something & will reverberate in Ohio politics for years to come.

14 posted on 08/17/2005 1:33:55 PM PDT by gdani
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To: Mikey_1962

At what point does the criminal behavior of our elected officials begin to "mean" something?


15 posted on 08/17/2005 1:45:11 PM PDT by dmz
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To: Mikey_1962
Four misdemeanors mean nothing.

glad to see your standards are so high.

the republican party in ohio is in trouble; these problems only reflect a part of the problem.

taft requires all public employees to disclose every stinkin' little thing they do; he just lectured employees three months ago on disclosing ALL gifts, yet he does something like this over the course of many years. apparently there were over 50 occasions on which he violated the law.

a bit breathtaking that you find it to be "nothing."

the man is a liar and a cheat. he needs to resign for the survival of the party in ohio.

this WILL affect the next presidential race. he needs to resign.

16 posted on 08/17/2005 2:07:59 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: wildwood

I'm actually cherring them on. The Ohio GOP is doing its best to sabotage the President and any conservative pro-American agendas from being implemented at the national level with the trio of Voinovich, DeWine and Taft (affects presidential & Senatorial elections).

My attitude is convict all their corrupted butts and put some real principled conservatives in there to clean up the mess (if any but Blackwell remain). Speaking of which, heard deWine may finally have a challenger in the primary the other day with an exploratory committee being formed. I'll be donating to DeWine's challenger should he make it official.


17 posted on 08/17/2005 2:14:06 PM PDT by Soul Seeker
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To: wildwood
I agree it isn't good for the Republican Party but it is not as bad as it would seem. Republicans will not vote for a Democrat just to spite Taft. If his elect numbers look bad then he must not run again and because Ohio is a Republican Sate, the voters will vote Republican given a viable choice..
18 posted on 08/17/2005 2:19:51 PM PDT by Eagles Talon IV
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To: wildwood
I have to give the AP credit for extraordinary restraint --- they waited until the SECOND sentence to gloat over Taft's party affiliation.

Now, had he been a (D), you would still be waiting for that info.

19 posted on 08/17/2005 2:23:48 PM PDT by ZOOKER ( <== I'm with Stupid...)
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To: wildwood

What a noble name - Robert Taft - to be sullied this way. Is this guy the son or grandson or Robert Taft, "Mr. Republican" of the US Senate and an implacable foe of FDR's tax-spend follies? Even if there are no charges, or they aren't true, Gov. Taft has sullied a great name by being a big taxer-spending. His ancestor Wm Howard Taft (is he the grandfather or great-grandfather? )is probably rolling in the grave, too.


20 posted on 08/17/2005 2:28:52 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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