COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Bob Taft and five key aides have declined to give sworn statements requested by a Democratic state senator who is suing Taft over access to records in a state investment scandal.
Sen. Marc Dann of suburban Youngstown sent a notice this week to the attorney general's office requesting the six depositions on Friday.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Arthur Marziale Jr. wrote a letter Wednesday declining all six depositions and citing executive privilege. He said Taft's chief policy director, Kate Bartter, would be available to testify about general, non-privileged information in reports that Taft received from the bureau.
Dann's attorney, Frederick Gittes, said he would ask the court to force the governor to testify unless Taft reconsiders by Thursday afternoon.
In his lawsuit, Dann is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to order Taft to release memos between the governor's office and the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. The bureau, which invests employer premiums to run an insurance program for injured workers, has lost about $300 million in various investments over the past few years.
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