Nancy Rogers (D)
Marc Dann (D)
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-Craig Mehall, the nation's only full-time lobbyist in Washington representing a state attorney general, has lost his plum post.
Hired in May 2007 by former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, Menhall was paid $98,000 a year to keep congressional money flowing to the Buckeye State's attorney general's office.
Although his former boss was forced from office amid disgrace in mid-May following a sexual harassment scandal and admitting to an affair with a staffer, officials said Menhall lost his job for purely financial reasons.
A spokesman for Attorney General Nancy Rogers said the lobbying position was eliminated to save "precious taxpayer dollars," the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Saturday.
Mehall, upon leaving his job Friday, was quoted by the newspaper as saying, "I think we did a lot of good work here."
Although he had no Washington or lobbying experience when Dann hired him, Menhall has been credited with such things as helping the state obtain millions in law enforcement grants.
Before joining the attorney general's staff, Mehall worked in his family's farm business in Ashtabula County and for a high-tech communications company in Chicago following graduation from law school at Michigan State University.
From Legal Newsline: Reach reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.