Via the blog Hypothetically Speaking, the Plain Dealer reports:
Columbus - Four of every five dollars requested by Attorney General Jim Petro for special counsel contracts for this fiscal year will go to law firms that have given money to his political campaigns. [...]
[S]tate Democratic leaders said 41 of the 57 law firms receiving contracts on Monday have given Republican Petro more than $800,000 since 1998. Those same firms yesterday were awarded $15.4 million in contracts. [...]
"These special counsel contracts certainly seem to indicate a pay-to-play pattern," said Sen. Ray Miller, a Columbus Democrat and a member of the controlling board.
The Toledo Blade provides the details:
On the political contribution list, prepared by state Senate staff for Mr. Miller, the highest contributor to Mr. Petro was Hahn, Loesser & Parks LLP, which gave $95,016 since 1998 to the attorney general's campaigns. The firm was approved for $500,000 in special counsel contracts at the meeting yesterday.
Second on the contribution list was Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, which gave about $68,611 to Petro campaigns. The firm was approved yesterday for $1.47 million in special counsel work.
Calfee, Halter & Griswold received the most special counsel work yesterday, $2.15 million worth, and gave $34,250 in political contributions to Mr. Petro since 1998, eighth on the list of 41 firms. [...]
And what does Petro's office have to say in response?
Mark Anthony, spokesman for Mr. Petro, said after the meeting that the political contributions are lawful [...]
"How about if the attorney general just follows the law of the land?" Mr. Anthony said. "Lawyers like to give campaign contributions. That's how they participate in democracy."
