Ohio GOP Coin-gate hits the Governor's Office

Well, well, well...is the coin-gate scandal finally starting to implicate major GOP major political figures in Ohio? Looks that way from today's Plain Dealer:

The investigation into the influence wielded by politically powerful Toledo coin dealer Tom Noe landed at state government's peak Tuesday - right in Gov. Bob Taft's office.

Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles asked for telephone records, e-mails and personnel records of four of Taft's former and current top aides dating to 1999.

Noe, a major Republican fund-raiser, or chestrated and managed a $55.4 million investment in rare coins for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation since 1998. He has been the target of recent investigations by six government agencies, including the FBI, over campaign contributions and 121 missing coins.

This is getting good. So why is it important for those of us outside of Ohio? Hmmm. Well, there was that election in 2004. The Ohio GOP has been in power for a very long time. They control the whole state's power infra-structure. And, they are out of control.

Coin-gate has become the symbol of the GOP's abuse of power. Tom Noe, the center of the scandal, is integrally related to all of the Ohio GOP power elite....and George W. Bush.

So, the investigation has hit the Governor's office:

"During the course of our investigation, information has come to light that certain members of the Governor's staff may have received lodging accommodations and other items by Mr. Noe," Charles wrote in a letter sent Monday.

Taft's former chief of staff Brian Hicks recently told the (Toledo) Blade that he stayed twice at a $1 million Florida home owned by Noe while he worked for Taft. Similar homes rent for thousands of dollars a week, but Hicks said he paid $300 to $500 for five nights.

Taft has said he knew Hicks had vacationed at Noe's home, but had assumed Hicks followed state law.

Noe also reportedly wined and dined the political elite regularly at Morton's, a tony steakhouse off Capital Square.

You know this really is a case of where there's smoke, there's fire. And, every day, in Ohio, there's another fire.