Cleveland's own memo scandal just keeps growing.
An assistant U.S. attorney from Ohio's Southern District will oversee an investigation into who gave reporters sealed court documents that purport widespread corruption in Cleveland City Hall while Michael R. White was mayor.Mark D'Alessandro will lead the inquiry and prosecute whoever leaked the documents to The Plain Dealer and Scene magazine, according to a notice filed in federal court Tuesday.
The publications ran stories last week detailing a federal government theory of City Hall corruption, including allegations from FBI agents that the former mayor traded construction and other contracts for bribes.
See, the funny thing is that the foundation of this scandal, the claim that White acted nefariously during his tenure, should come as no surprise to anyone. I remember waking up last week and seeing White plastered on the front page of the Plain Dealer. My first thought was "no shit."
Whitegate is becoming a big deal around here, probably in part because of the CIA memo leak story. At least the CIA leak story is about getting to the bottom of something that a lot of people care about. Who really cares about what White did ten years ago? Cleveland is still full of this type of nepotism/bribery baloney. That's why nothing gets done. How about instead of "Quiet Crisis" stories, where all the problems are laid out on the front page, we actually get some real investigative reporting as to why Cleveland is a big source of Ohio's decomposition stink.
It's one big vicious circle here in Cleveland, with shady business deals at the center.