Steve Dettelbach wants to be Ohio’s top cop. Unfortunately for that aspiring attorney general, he may have already violated the law with the help of none other than former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
It started when the Dettelbach campaign decided to raffle off a meet-and-greet with the Obama alumnus.
[Eric Holder: ‘I’m thinking about’ running against Trump]
“The former Attorney General is coming to Ohio to stump for Steve and we want you to be there!” a fundraiser blared. “You have until July 23 to be entered into a chance to meet the former AG, so you’ll want to act quickly.” A donation of $5, $10, or $50 bought Obama fans a chance to rub shoulders with the old attorney general. But it could end up bringing them legal trouble.
As the Cincinnati Inquirer reports, Ohio law largely prohibits political campaigns from any type of gambling activity. The two would have known this if they would have, you know, looked up the law on the website of the Ohio attorney general.
“I would urge him not to have a raffle because it is probably illegal,” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, a Republican, told The Enquirer. Conducting an illegal raffle, that paper reported, is a misdemeanor offense under Ohio law.
It’s not a good look for someone looking to lead the state’s police force and someone who actually led the Department of Justice from 2009-2015. But either the pair don’t know the law, which is bad enough, or they don’t care about breaking the law, which is worse. The campaign was still advertising the raffle Tuesday morning.
