Cleveland City Council’s handling of Councilman Joe Jones’ censure has been an inexcusably secret process that denied Jones due process by refusing him to see the results of the investigation into his behavior, say the hosts of the Today in Ohio podcast.
Jones is the first Cleveland council member censured in 50 years, based on an investigation that concluded he had threatened to kill a staffer and intimidated another employee. The council voted to censure him, however, without seeing the full facts, as council leadership has refused to release the investigative report—even hiding it hidden from Jones himself.
Jones now is demanding to see it.
“He and his attorney, Sam O’Leary, say that the investigation that led to the censure was riddled with serious factual, procedural, and legal failings,” Leila Atassi said in Friday’s episode. “And they’re demanding access to the full report that was prepared by the outside law firm McDonald Hopkins.”
Chris Quinn argued that the report belongs in the public domain and suggested Council President Blaine Griffin may be keeping it secret because it contains critical information about him.
“That report should be in the public domain because counsel is the public. They’re the representatives of the public. So when they get something, they’re doing it on our behalf, which means we should all see it,” Quinn said. He also noted that if council is the client, then Jones, as a member of council, has a right to see the report. And, because the report was used to censure him, Quinn argued he has every right to read it.
The podcast hosts systematically dismantled the council’s justification for withholding the report. Atassi explained that the claim of attorney-client privilege was being misused as a shield against transparency.
“Counsel keeps hiding behind attorney client privilege, but I think that’s a red herring, because privilege doesn’t mean the document can never be released. It just means that the lawyer can’t hand it over without the client’s approval,” she said. “So in this case, if the client is counsel, if Blaine Griffin and the count and the clerk wanted transparency, they would just waive privilege.”
Quinn drew a powerful parallel to authoritarian systems, highlighting the absurdity of the process. “It’s like an authoritarian court process where you don’t ever get to know what the evidence is against you and you get jailed anyway. That’s what Blaine Griffin’s running here,” he said. “They have censured this guy and none of the people who voted to censure him have seen the evidence against him. How does that make any sense whatsoever?”
The hosts also noted that this isn’t the first time council has withheld investigative findings about Jones. Atassi noted that an earlier report from January, which found “a troubling pattern of behavior,” was also kept from public view.
Listen to the discussion here.
Read more Today in Ohio news
Congressman Max Miller blows the dog whistle, calls for National Guard in Cleveland
Click, cash, gone? Cleveland library nearly duped out of $400K
‘He’s playing politics too’: Husted’s CDC broadside draws fire