07/20/03

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro insists there is nothing improper about his work on behalf of a national organization that solicits political donations from large corporations frequently entangled in state litigation.

He's wrong. And his conclusion suggests that his ethical compass needs to be recalibrated.

The Republican Attorneys General Association exists for the primary purpose of electing Republicans to top state legal posts. There's nothing wrong with that. But when attorneys general, like Petro, become the major solicitors for the partisan organization, they needlessly open themselves to allegations of favoritism, if not outright conflicts of interest.

Petro says he's careful not to solicit businesses with legal entanglements in Ohio. But he conveniently declines to identify the dozen or so corporations he has recently pitched. One look at the companies RAGA routinely solicits - tobacco, pharmaceutical, energy and banking concerns - shows that Petro's caution may be an anomaly. Ohioans shouldn't be asked merely to trust him on the matter.

Former Attorney General Betty Montgomery, now Ohio's auditor, joined the group shortly after it was formed in 1999. But she dropped out after about 60 days because she was troubled by the "ethical land mines," she encountered through her fund-raising "assignments."

Petro should also exit. Companies routinely tied up in product-liability lawsuits should not be playing financial footsie with Ohio's attorney general, the chief enforcer of state government regulations. It's disappointing that Petro doesn't see it that way.