How much influence did Alyssa Lenhoff, Dann’s wife, have over the Attorney General’s office:

The e-mail messages also deal with the involvement of Dann’s wife, Alyssa Lenhoff Dann, head of the Youngstown State University journalism program, in the office.

Lenhoff Dann was included in e-mail messages concerning the office’s response to a bill revising Ohio’s open records law, and she made presentations at sessions training public officials about the new law.

On Oct. 18, 2007, Simpson wrote to Lenhoff Dann telling her she was supposed to pick dates for sessions she wanted to handle. The next day, she responded: ‘‘Look below, butthead.’’

At that point, Simpson apparently realized Lenhoff Dann had put her name by six sessions she was interested in. Two of those also had Simpson’s name. Simpson replied, ‘‘Oh ….OK, that’s me.’’

Simpson and Lenhoff Dann became friends when they both worked at the Tribune Chronicle.

If is unclear if Lenhoff Dann taught all of those sessions. A message seeking comment was left on Lenhoff Dann’s cell phone.

The e-mails also deal with the application for a $6,200 grant from the attorney general’s office for YSU to offer a joint journalism/criminal justice class on old unsolved murders, so-called cold cases. The class was offered this spring, but Lenhoff Dann apparently did not administer the grant or teach the course.

In another exchange between Lenhoff Dann and Simpson, she wrote on Oct. 18 that the money would be used for the instructor’s fee, a field trip and to promote the class.‘‘So what say you?’’ she wrote to Simpson.

He responded, ‘‘I’ll take it to the crew… It sounds very cool. If you break up the class into groups, what do you think about me running one of the groups?’’

Lenhoff Dann replied Oct. 19: ‘‘We would love for you to run one of the groups. We could absolutely do it.’’

Alyssa is the son of Bentley, the crazy old coot who claims the media were acting as agents for gambling interests to destroy his scheduler-screwing son-in-law.

It sounds like Alyssa not only had influence over the AG’s office, but she was as comfortable  at misusing authority at the office as her husband was. Such a grant is a clear conflict of interest, and that idea should have been immediately dismissed by Simpson.