DaytonDailyNews.com

WASHINGTON — Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann ate out on his donors' dime more than 300 times between Jan. 2, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2007 — dining out at places as disparate as McDonald's, where he once put 35 cents on his campaign's debit card, to $330.45 at an Akron eatery.

There were sushi bars in Washington, D.C., and frequent trips to Bob Evans in Ohio. More than 80 restaurant tabs were from the Youngstown area, where Dann lives and the attorney general has an office.

One receipt for $95 from the Columbus bar Zenos shows that Dann opened a tab on Feb. 7, 2007, at 11:04 p.m. and closed it at 2:04 a.m.

All told, the restaurant charges came to more than $18,500, according to receipts filed with the Ohio Secretary of State's Office. The figures do not include the many soft drinks and snacks Dann purchased at gas stations.

Some of the restaurant expenses were marked clearly as fundraisers in checks written by the campaign. Others were charged to a campaign debit card issued to Dann. His former treasurer, Bruce Lev, who resigned in April, said he could not explain the debit purchases because Dann had control of the card.

In an e-mail, Dann, who resigned last week, defended the meal charges and other expenses he billed to the campaign. "I did not allow anyone to pay for my meals as a candidate or as an officeholder," he wrote. "All meals charged were either fundraising meals, office-related meetings with people interested in the business of the office or with office or campaign staff who I would not allow to pay for my meals. I took no meal reimbursement from the state, ever."

Catherine Turcer, director of the Money in Politics project for Ohio Citizen Action, was among those calling the charges egregious. "There's a difference between, 'I have to raise money so I can have a conversation with voters' and 'I have to raise money so I can get myself a hamburger,' " she said. "How could he even think this is OK?"

One debit charge — $31.23 for Domino's Pizza — was posted Sept. 13, three days after Dann aide Anthony Gutierrez brought a colleague, Cindy Stankoski, for pizza to the apartment Gutierrez shared with Dann and a third colleague. Stankoski accused Gutierrez of sexually harassing her — a scandal that ultimately cost Dann his job.

Dann said he didn't know if that charge was for the pizza eaten at his apartment on Sept. 10.

"It's possible," he said. "I honestly don't remember."

Contact this reporter at (202) 887-8328 or jwehrman@coxnews.com

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