First, the Buckeye Institute has a must read post about the situation here. They note that Dann is probably a poor man’s Eliot Spitzer and remind us that right after Condogate, his scheduler received a 26% raise and a new position.

Secondly, James Nash has an update in today’s Columbus Dispatch, where union thug Leo Jennings, Dann’s Spokesman, notes that Dann has removed himself from the investigation of Condogate. Former State Senator Ben Espy will lead the probe, and Tom Winters (a long time champion of pay-to-play politics) will have the final say.:

Jennings said Dann “wants to make sure that the investigation is handled by people in whom he has confidence and in whom the public has confidence. I don’t know of anyone who is going to assault Ben Espy’s integrity.”

The Democratic attorney general’s “only concern … is to have a thorough investigation no matter where it leads” — even if that’s to Dann himself, Jennings said.

Both Espy and Winters, of course, serve at the pleasure of AG Dann. And as the The Professor of the 216 notes, this fact can cause major problems.

And to make matters worse, AG Marc Dann and one of the two women alleging that Gutierrez sexually harassed them apparently enjoys pineapples on his pizza:

On one occasion last September at the Dublin condo shared by Dann, Gutierrez and Jennings, Stankoski said in her complaint that she awoke after an evening of drinking to find three buttons of her pants undone and Gutierrez beside her wearing only underwear. Dann helped persuade her to come to the condo that night, promising her over Gutierrez’s cell phone that he would get the Hawaiian pizza she requested.

When she still expressed reluctance, Gutierrez assured her there would be no problem since she would be hanging out with the “big dogs,” the complaint said.

Stankoski said that when she arrived, Dann’s scheduler, Jessica Utovich, 28, was in the apartment with Dann wearing pajamas.

And according to the Dayton Daily News, the AG’s office is refusing to comment about if they will release text messages from one of the women and they also won’t say if Gutierrez and the woman showed up in the condo in a state-owned vehicle.

Also, check out Plain Dealer editorial cartoonist’s cartoon about Dann in The Plain Dealer. The Ohio Democrat Party is now that “Ohio Pajama Party.” too funny!

And the Youngstown Vindicator uses in their sub-headline “Dann’s spokesman says the probe will be thorough.” Since Gutierrez allegedly gave one of the woman a sex toy, that may not be an appropriate sub-headline to use.

In the Vindicator, Jennings is quoted as saying, “It’s impossible to engage in a cover-up.” Really? With keeping phone records away from public scrutiny and having two employees of Marc Dann lead the probe, it is IMPOSSIBLE to engage in a coverup? The article reviews other problems Dann has had with hiring his unqualified friends:

Dann, who took office in January 2007, has had some difficulty with the hiring of key employees, including former Youngstown Police Detective Sgt. Rick Alli, his chief of law enforcement operations, who Dann fired for improperly taking two public salaries.

Dann also fired David L. Nelson of Liberty as deputy security director because of Nelson’s 1976 involuntary manslaughter conviction, and Rick Houze, his top fiscal watchdog, because Houze’s CPA license had expired.

“There are 1,400 outstanding people who work in this office, and you’re talking about four,” Jennings said of Alli, Nelson, Houze and Gutierrez.

Leo left the Attorney General himself off the list, even though Dann was at the condo while the atleast while one of the alleged sexual assaults took place. Dann was there with his scheduler, Jessica, who was wearing pajamas at the time.

Marc Dann is single-handedly hurting the Ohio Democrat Party more than the Ohio GOP ever could. There have been rumors that Dann will resign this year, but I hope he stays in office for as long as possible. At this rate, he will have atleast a baker’s dozen additional major screwups before 2010.