Kansas' Dem AG Resigned 6 Months Ago In Sex Scandal: Ohio Native Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Helped Push Him Out

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Democratic attorney general of Kansas, Paul Morrison, resigned last December after a female aide with whom he had an extramarital romantic relationship filed federal sexual harassment charges. The Ohio angle: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Cincinnati native and potential Obama vice presidential running mate, wanted the AG out. Sebelius is the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan. A Kansas source who was "very close to the story" wrote The Daily Bellwether and said the attorney general resigned when Sebelius "essentially kicked him to the curb . . ." The source added there were "some fascinating parallels" between the Kansas and Ohio scandals.

And while the events that unfolded in the Sunflower State a half year ago aren't quite the same as the uproar now enveloping Ohio Atty. Gen. Marc Dann, there are similarities. Especially Morrison's insistence at first that he would not resign, which sounds like Dann's vow to stay despite increasing pressure to step aside.

Sebelius took a dim view of Morrison's consensual sexual affair with one of his subordinates, and called for his resignation if the allegations were true. Morrison was married with three kids. The attorney general admitted the relationship, which took place while he was a county district attorney -- an office he held before switching from the Republican Party to run statewide as a Democrat. "Certainly, if any of the allegations turn out to be true, I think yes," Sebelius said about a resignation at the time. "One deals with his conduct as an attorney in the DA's office. The other is as an employer. I think either one should trigger a resignation."

There is more background about the Kansas AG scandal in this MSNBC.com report.