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KS: Journalist Gets Award For Morrison Sex Scandal Coverage
Last Updated on Thursday, 31 January 2008 10:23 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 31 January 2008 10:23
Morrison resigned from office as a result of the reports.
Wayne Stewart, managing editor of The Capital-Journal, was heavily involved in coordinating coverage as events unfolded.
“We at The Capital-Journal salute Tim and Wayne for their work on this extraordinary story,” said Capital-Journal publisher Mark Nusbaum. “It is an honor and a privilege to receive such recognition in a state blessed with many, many fine journalists. Tim and Wayne, without a doubt, are among them.”
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | No Comments
KS: Former AG Kline Hires Special Prosecutor In Morrison Sex Scandal
Last Updated on Friday, 14 December 2007 11:39 Written by rslcpol Friday, 14 December 2007 11:39
In a startling turn of events, Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline was given permission Thursday to hire a special prosecutor. It is widely believed the target of the investigation will be Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison.
Morrison, a Democrat, defeated Kline, a Republican, last year in a bruising political battle for the attorney general’s office.
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KS: Dem AG Morrison Sex Scandal… Part II
Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 02:10 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 11 December 2007 12:31
Dem leaders, including the Democrat Governor, are putting conditional pressure on Morrison to resign; Morrison was back in the office Monday, chatted with his staff and told the press he won’t be resigning…
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that Attorney General Paul Morrison should resign if allegations of illegal conduct against him were proven to be true.
Morrison denounced as false allegations by his former mistress that he engaged in sexual harassment of her and tried to covertly influence court cases involving her employer, Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline. Morrison and Kline are longstanding political rivals.
More on calls for resignation here
A Kansas newspaper asks if Morrison’s political career is over:
Even if he doesn’t resign, observers said Monday that Morrison’s troubles deal a crippling blow to his political future and potentially knock much of the wind out of a Democratic resurgence Morrison helped start.
Read the Rest…
And, as per our prediction (tough one I know), the story has made it national… First appearance in the Washington Times
As we’ve been noodling this over and over in our heads, as opposed to canoodling on the bed with ones clothes on, we couldn’t help but get the sense that there’s so much more than what’s being reported on this story.
In a situation like this, it’s the details behind the truthful statements that are going to paint the true picture of what type of guy Paul Morrison is. We imagine that the contacts between Mr. Morrison and Ms. Carter are much deeper than just what you read in the original article. If her allegations are true – then the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey has said in his lifetime, is going to be in the details. If you think it’s bad now, imagine how bad it’ll be if Ms. Carter managed to record any of their conversations (a smoking gun if you will) or has old phone bills (because we’ve already read there are no hotel bills – unless you count the taxpayers footing the bill). As the Kansas City Star said:
Paul Morrison campaigned for Kansas attorney general on the platform that he was the candidate of experience and good judgment.
Not all that good, as it turns out.
What kind of guy puts himself in the limelight, promotes himself as a bastion of integrity, and thinks he can get away with an extramarital affair with a staffer? Morrison even let us know while he was campaigning that he and his wife counseled couples at their church about forging strong marriages.
Paul Morrison should go look for some of that good judgment he claimed he had back in 2006 and choose the honorable path, the path that could be the first step in restoring his integrity,and to shut down the circus and resign – the longer he’s in office, the longer the drumbeat will go on.
However reluctant the local press are to cover this story and all of its details, they will cover it, and cover it accurately and fairly. There’s no question that this story has momentum, or legs as they say. The question now is how long does Mr. Morrison let this freight train go screaming down the tracks – he can’t stop it – though he may believe his own press, and think that stopping this mess is like pulling two fighting dogs apart – the truth is that if he doesn’t get out of the way now, soon it will be completely beyond his control. And if that happens, then Mr. Morrison, and the people of Kansas will have a real mess on their hands.
Last thought for the day – the conditional calls for Mr. Morrison’s resignation should it be proven that he tried to influence a legal investigation inappropriately are all nice and good, but completely self serving for Governor Sebelius and the rest of the Kansas Democrats. Even if Paul Morrison did nothing to obstruct a legal case in Kansas, it appears that he made inappropriate use of state and taxpayer property for his own personal uses – we’ll spare you the details, but if you want to know more – read Sunday’s Courier Journal article here.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | 1 Comment
OH: ANOTHER Dem Sex Scandal? AG Allegedly W/Staffer In PJ’s
Last Updated on Tuesday, 8 April 2008 01:00 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 8 April 2008 09:14
Just what exactly is going on w/this country’s current and former Democrat attorneys general? First there was Kansas AG (now former) Paul Morrison, then there was NY Governor (former AG, and now former Governor) Eliot Spitzer, and now this has come out about Ohio’s Democrat A.G. Marc Dann? This certainly seals the deal on Dann’s prospect for re-election in 2010. Next we’ll be looking for a Morrison/Spitzer-like resignation (which won’t happen until the rest of the story comes out).
The Columbus Post Dispatch picked up the story on Sunday – this is a story that is far from over. There appear to elements of a fumbled attempt of a cover up, and some other classic and sophomoric political spin strategies. The image this article conjures up of life in the Ohio A.G.’s office is flat out disturbing: Long time buddies of Democrat A.G. Marc Dann, who failed to pass the most basic of integrity and background checks, hired for high paying senior positions in the Office of Attorney General. Buddies who appear to be behaving like boorish, drunken college boys – beer, pizza, bringing home girls to the flop pad.
The details in this article are beyond shocking – they’re flat out offensive. A senior staffer telling his subordinates that they “owe” him for their jobs. The same senior staffers plying twenty-something year old young ladies with alcohol, the appearance of non-consensual activity between the senior staffer and subordinates after a night of drinking. Is this the Ohio Office of Attorney General, or is it the Delta House?
The kicker, for today at least, is the AGs office desire to make the whole matter go away privately, “without making it public”. Apparently, according to the article, Mr. Dann’s buddy was recognized as a problem by the agency. You have to wonder how much more of this type of stuff went on under the A.G.’s nose – and he would know because you see Attorney General Marc Dann was roommates with the senior staffer/harasser in question – and in fact himself was present during at least one of the episodes. Apparently, he was having a pajama scheduling meeting with his 28 year old scheduler.
We’ve left out a bunch of details – so read the Dispatch’s article here for more detail, get the quick over view from the Hamilton News-Journal here.
The blogs in Ohio are on fire with this story. Check out Politics Ohio Dot Com for the commentary there. The comments on the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s blog is enfuego. Political Science 216 has started the Marc Dann Resignation Watch. Even this leftist/progressive Ohio blog is having a hard time spinning this favorably for their man Dann.
Dann, Gutierrez, and Communications Director Leo Jennings III also shared an apartment in suburban Columbus, where some of the harassment allegedly occurred.The Dispatch, quoting from the complaints, said one of the women, Cindy Stankoski, accompanied Gutierrez to the apartment on Sept. 10 after they had been to a couple of bars. She said she woke up after a nap and three buttons on her pants were undone while Gutierrez was beside her wearing only underwear.
The same night, according to the complaint, another staffer — Jessica Utovich, 28 — was at the apartment in her pajamas with Dann. Utovich had been Dann’s scheduler until she got a 26 percent pay raise and new duties in September.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | 5 Comments
KS: GOP Official Says Disgraced AG Morrison’s Lingering Hurts Office
Last Updated on Friday, 21 December 2007 09:43 Written by rslcpol Friday, 21 December 2007 09:43
TOPEKA – It’s improper for Attorney General Paul Morrison to remain on the job until Jan. 31 because the Democrat, embroiled in a sex scandal, is damaging the office every day he stays, a top Republican Party official said Thursday.
But a Morrison spokeswoman said the comments from state GOP executive director Christian Morgan showed that he doesn’t understand the office or its work.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, will name a new attorney general to serve the remaining three years of Morrison’s four-year term.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | No Comments
KS: Sex Scandal Threatens Dem AG’s Job
Last Updated on Monday, 10 December 2007 03:47 Written by rslcpol Monday, 10 December 2007 11:33
Um, wow. When this story went public we figured it would entail one little dalliance on Kansas Democrat A.G. Paul Morrison’s part. After reading the exhaustive article written by the Topeka Capital Journal, we find that Paul Morrison’s personal, political, and professional world is about to come crashing down in a very public manner. A married politician can recover from a one night stand made public – but a married politician can’t recover from a 2 year affair that was the equivalent of a shadow life – including liaisons in public buildings, liaisons on taxpayer funded trips to places like New York city, pledges to leave and divorce his wife, engagement rings, tattoos, talk of having children and setting up housekeeping in a new apartment. Forget anything you ever read about any Democrat or Republican candidate for President in the last 15 years – this stuff ALONE trumps all of that.
Sadly for Mr. Morrison, it gets worse – much worse. It is alleged that Attorney General Paul Morrison attempted to leverage his relationship with his former employee to extract information about an ongoing investigation – that is it is claimed that the attorney general tried to interfere, potentially, with an ongoing criminal investigation – not just once, but numerous times. Further, it appears he tried to use his personal influence over this woman to exact some additional political payback on Johnson County Republican D.A. Phill Kline.
Morrison’s indignant denials claiming that political opponents and Phill Kline himself are somewhere behind the curtain making all of this up could not ring any more hollow. You really have to feel for the folks who work for him at the Office of Attorney General – they’re forced to play the “my political enemies are out to destroy me” card – even though it’s been Morrison’s own behavior that has done him in. You’ve got to remember – it was Paul Morrison who adamantly denied during the 2006 campaign having sexually harassed another employee of his – and now the details as presented here show Morrison actively pursuing, he wouldn’t take no for an answer, another employee of his – except this time the target of his attention and advances gave in.
If you take just the relationship between Paul Morrision and this woman, and all of the details that have been made public, his career is over. And it should be – this guy needs to get some treatment and counseling to attempt to repair the damage that’s he done to his family, friends, and colleagues.
The next card for Morrison to play is the “I have a problem” card – he can pick whichever one he wants to cover his exit from public life as artfully as possible. Because the truth is, America (and this is going to be a national story – TV, newspapers, news magazines) has never seen something like this in a long, long time – if ever.
Anybody think this will make a good Lifetime made for TV movie?
From The Capital-Journal:
Attorney General Paul Morrison faces a sexual harassment claim tied to an extramarital affair he had with a subordinate in the Johnson County district attorney’s office that continued after he became the state’s top prosecutor this year.
…
Carter said in a signed statement that Morrison pressured her to make use of her position in the D.A.’s office to influence pending litigation involving Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline.
Morrison confirmed Saturday that he engaged in a romantic relationship with Carter.
Posted under Attorney General News, Blog, Dems Behaving Badly | 2 Comments
KS: State Senate Majority Leader Running for Attorney General
Last Updated on Friday, 18 September 2009 10:27 Written by rslcpol Friday, 18 September 2009 10:19
From cjonline.com:
Independence Republican Sen. Derek Schmidt said Wednesday he had abandoned consideration of a bid for secretary of state to launch a campaign for attorney general in 2010.
Schmidt, who has served as the Senate’s majority leader since 2005, said he filed paperwork in Topeka to begin raising money and organizing the run for GOP nomination as attorney general. The only other declared Republican candidate is Ralph DeZago, the Junction City prosecutor.
Attorney General Steve Six, a former Douglas County judge, is seeking the Democratic nomination. He was appointed to the job by then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius following the resignation of Paul Morrison, who stepped down amid a sex scandal.
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Disgraced Former Democrat AG Marc Dann: He’s Sticking Around
Last Updated on Friday, 1 August 2008 11:24 Written by rslcpol Friday, 1 August 2008 09:51
For Ohio Democrats, Marc Dann is like chewing gum, or worse, that gets stuck on the bottom of your shoe. With over $300k still in the bank, ol’ “Sticky” Dann won’t be going away anytime soon. As far the race to fill out the balance of Dann’s term, who do you think is grumpier over Sticky’s latest move – the Jeopardy champ Rich Cordray (that’s him in the middle), or the corruption busting former Federal prosecutor Mike Crites?
And for Sticky D – it’s not like his credibility is at stake in all of this – that’s already shot. We say keep the accounts open, raise money, and run for office in 2010 – you can rehab your image. Clearly Eliot Spitzer’s and Paul Morrison’s rehab strategies aren’t working for them yet – you’re smarter – you can make a comeback baby!
From the Columbus Dispatch:
Former Attorney General Marc Dann spent nearly the equivalent of a year’s salary in his unsuccessful bid to weather a sexual-harassment scandal, but don’t count him out of political life just yet.
The 46-year-old Democrat has filed paperwork with the secretary of state’s office to run again in 2010. While that doesn’t commit Dann to seeking a new term, it does allow him to continue raising and spending money from his campaign fund.
Campaign-finance reports filed yesterday show that Dann billed his campaign fund for trips even after stepping down May 14 when sexual-harassment allegations involving an aide mushroomed into a scandal and an impeachment threat.
After leaving office, Dann billed his campaign for a drive to Cincinnati, a meal in Chicago, a cab ride in New York and a meal in Philadelphia. In addition, he billed the campaign to attend a conference of state attorneys general in Rhode Island in June.
While the sexual-harassment scandal mostly dried up Dann’s fundraising, a few dollars trickled in during his final weeks in office. State Rep. Armond D. Budish, D-Beachwood, gave $5,000 on May 7, five days after Dann admitted an affair with his 28-year-old scheduler. Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, a former state legislator, chipped in $100 on June 7.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly, Secretaries of State | 2 Comments
MO: Dem. Koster Releases First (TV) Ad of AG Primary Campaign
Last Updated on Monday, 7 July 2008 09:28 Written by rslcpol Monday, 7 July 2008 09:28
From the Politics Blog:
Sen. Chris Koster has released what is sure to be the first of many advertisements in the race to succeed Attorney General Jay Nixon.
Koster, D-Harrisonville, stresses his position as Cass County prosecutor in a television advertisement that is supposed to go statewide tomorrow. Even before Koster switched political parties, the first-term senator seemed to be prepared to stress his former job during his statewide bid.
Critics – such as state Rep. Jeff Harris, D-Columbia – have said that the attorney general’s office is far different from that of a county prosecutor. The attorney general himself rarely gets involved personally in cases, instead outsourcing that responsibility to assistant attorney generals.
Koster told the Tribune last year that he planned to take a page from former Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison and personally prosecute cases if he’s elected. Morrison, of course, was forced to resign after being embroiled in a sex scandal.
“In terms of keeping my own skill set sharp and providing leadership over the office… my belief is that I worked in the office so I have a sense to what is possible there. My hope would be to participate several times in a year in the courtrooms,” Koster said at the time. “Certainly the appellate courts, but also the trial courtrooms. I think it’s important to keep your skill set sharp.”
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OH: Will Dem AG Marc Dann Follow Role Models Example and Resign?
Last Updated on Friday, 2 May 2008 02:31 Written by rslcpol Friday, 2 May 2008 12:18
What a year for Statewide elected Democrats and Sex Scandals. We’ve been in Kansas, New York, and now Ohio.
Democrat Attorney General Marc Dann has just admitted to an extramarital affair with one of his employees. Those other, now former, Democrat Attorneys General first delayed their resignation and then turned theirs in – for more family time. The question now is, how long until Marc Dann decides to turn it in?
Soon after news of Kansas Democrat Attorney General Paul Morrison’s sex scandal broke, the AP reported Morrison saying:
“I sincerely apologize for this failing in my personal life and I pledge to continue to fight for the safety and security of Kansans to the best of my ability.”
“I will continue to defend the people of this state and perform my public duties as I have my entire career.”
Just 4 days Later, Morrison announced his resignation.
And what about the former Democrat Governor (and former AG) from New York? Remember, he’s the guy that Marc Dann spent his entire 2006 campaign saying He wants to be “Ohio’s” version of.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | 1 Comment