John Kasich's Top Advisers Include Lehman Brothers Lobbyist: Failed Wall Street Firm's Fingerprints All Over Ohio Campaign

Lehman Brothers Lobbyist Form

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A lobbyist who represented Lehman Brothers is a key figure in Republican candidate for Ohio governor John Kasich's campaign.  Robert F. Klaffky worked for the failed Wall Street investment bank as a registered "legislative agent" in Columbus between 2000 and 2008.  Those years coincide with Kasich's time as Lehman Brothers managing director.  Klaffky's lobbyist registration form shows he reported to a Lehman Brothers office on the 11th floor of a building at 399 Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan.  For a time, that address gilded the most expensive office building in the world.  It was purchased for $1.06 billion in 2002.  399 Park Avenue is a 41-story office building that houses the world headquarters of Citigroup.  Lehman Brothers collapsed in bankruptcy in late 2008 -- it demise worsened the Great Recession and waves of woe are still washing over the U.S. economy.  Klaffky stopped lobbying for Lehman Brothers in December 2008 when the firm went belly up. 

Klaffky's Ohio lobbyist registration documents can be found by searching here, which takes you to the portal of the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. The Daily Bellwether has posted a 2008 form filed by Klaffky that discloses his affiliation with Lehman Brothers. Klaffky said he was engaged to handle "all issues pertaining to the client."   Kasich has tried to minimize his Wall Street connections during the campaign for governor.  For example, the Republican candidate's official biography posted on his campaign website does not mention that he was a Lehman Brothers executive.

Four months ago, Columbus Dispatch reporters Joe Hallett and Mark Niquette wrote a story naming the insiders in the campaigns of Republican Kasich and Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. Lehman Brothers lobbyist Klaffky was lumped in the group that Kasich called his key aides.  But the story did not mention the identify of Klaffky's lobbying clients.  You can read the excerpt below: exeHneidentify the firm say w:

"Kasich described his campaign as "kind of like getting the band back together." It is a mix of longtime trusted aides from his years in Congress, such as Wayne Struble, Don Thibaut and Ben Kanzeg, and newcomers such as Hansen and communications director Scott Milburn.
Kasich gushes accolades when discussing campaign staffers and volunteers individually, saying, 'A better team, in my opinion, has never been assembled since I've lived in this state. I will live and die with them.'

"Along with paid staffers, an assortment of former co-workers, unofficial advisers and old friends can be found on any given day at Kasich's Downtown headquarters. Among them: former Lehman Brothers colleague and right-hand man Jai Chabria, who Kasich said is "like a member of my family"; Franklin County GOP Chairman Doug Preisse; lobbyist Robert F. Klaffky; and longtime personal friend Ron Hartman, a member of Kasich's Bible study group."

Joe Deters' Nemesis In Cleveland Facing DUI Scandal: Bill Mason Drove Deters From Statewide Office

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Upstate bloggers are having a field day over the current tribulations of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason. Mason was riding in a car with a fellow officeholder who got picked up for drunk driving. Mason contends he didn't notice his pal was intoxicated. Hamilton County Prosecutor Deters, who served as state treasurer until Mason drove him from that office with a corruption probe, ought to be buckled up with laughter. His nemesis now looks like an imbecile. After all, prosecutors are supposed to see that drunk drivers go to jail. They aren't suppose to hitch rides with them.

For those who don't recall, Cuyahoga County's Mason, a Democrat, went after Deters and ended the Hamilton County Republican's dream of becoming Ohio attorney general. There were issues about pay to play and dealings with Lehman Bros., the Wall Street investment bank that collapsed in 2008. Here are a few excerpts from an archived Cincinnati Enquirer story about the 2004 scandal :

"COLUMBUS - State Treasurer Joe Deters insists that nothing is going to stop him from becoming Ohio attorney general in 2006.
But a public corruption probe linked to his office threatens to derail the political ambitions . . . The source of Deters' trouble is his relationship with Frank Gruttadauria, a former Cleveland stockbroker serving prison time for swindling investors around the country out of $125 million over 15 years.
Gruttadauria was introduced to Deters in 1999, shortly after Deters became state treasurer. Gruttadauria was trying to help his employer land the lucrative job of managing some of the state's $150 billion investment portfolio. He succeeded.
From 1999 to 2001, Gruttadauria's two employers, SG Cowen Corp. and Lehman Brothers Inc., did a combined $5.9 billion in investment trades with Deters' office.
Gruttadauria also worked to develop a relationship with Deters, giving him rides on his Lear jet and donating thousands of dollars to Deters' campaign as well as to the Hamilton County Republican Party, which Deters chaired in 2000 and 2001.
But the case didn't end there. It caught the attention of William Mason, the Democratic prosecutor in Cleveland, who launched his own investigation.
In March, Gruttadauria, 46, pleaded guilty to bribing an unnamed person from 1999 to 2002 to get state investment business, racketeering, theft, money laundering, forgery and election law violations.
He also admitted to making a $50,000 donation to Deters' campaign that he masked as a contribution to the Hamilton County Republican Party. And he admitted to making illegal campaign donations to Deters by funneling $7,000 through clients and employees to Deters' campaign."