Attorney General Marc Dann curses reporter outside Obama event

6/22/2007

BOARDMAN, Ohio Ohio s chief law enforcer was caught on tape cursing a reporter outside a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama because of an article about a woman Dann raised as his daughter landing a state job.

Attorney General Marc Dann, a Youngstown Democrat, was headed into the fundraiser Wednesday when he spotted Warren Tribune Chronicle reporter Steve Oravecz and shouted, Hey Steve, write this down: Go (expletive) yourself!

Jennifer Brindisi, a spokeswoman for Dann, said the attorney general believed the article naming Mavilya Chubarova, 22, whom he raised as his daughter, was unfair.

In talking to him, he s a father first, Brindisi said. He felt someone was unfairly targeting or attacking his daughter, so the words were in protection of her.

Television station WYTV caught the swearing on camera and posted it online.

Oravecz wrote an article the day before with the headline Locals with ties to Dann get jobs, that reported Chubarova got a $37,000-a-year job with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Oravecz declined to comment today.

Brunner, a fellow Democrat, hired Chubarova the day she took office and later promoted her to the new position of constituent coordinator, the report said. She s great, Brunner said. I liked Mia s enthusiasm and her creativity.

Dann s office offered Brunner s older daughter a job as well, but she ultimately turned it down, Brunner said.

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