Two Democratic women state representatives have asked Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Mike DeWine to reopen an investigation into comments made by the Majority Floor Leader at a going-away party in January.
They’re concerned not only about the alleged conduct of Rep. Bill Seitz, but with a previous investigation that cleared him of wrongdoing.
After an anonymous complaint about offensive comments by Seitz, the House hired Taft, a law firm it says has provided excellent counsel in nine previous investigations. Though Seitz worked for Taft for 36 years and Taft had donated to his campaign, Taft determined there was no conflict of interest and cleared Seitz of sexual harassment.
Reps. Teresa Fedor and Nickie Antonio wrote to the AG, who Fedor says can order a new investigation, “with a law firm that doesn’t have a conflict of interest, a law firm that’s going to apply the rules and laws of sexual harassment in the state of Ohio.”
Seitz said in a statement that reads in part that he thinks calls for further investigation are politically-motivated and he wants an investigation into a conspiracy.
