From: July 8, 2022 post

Congressman Steve Chabot’s campaign issued the following statement Friday reacting to revelations from the third week of the trial of former Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld and his conviction on two federal counts that combined cause him to face up to 35 years in prison.

“The public heard directly from Greg Landsman’s former colleague and co-conspirator in the Gang of Five scandal that he would ‘shepherd the votes’ of his fellow city councilors on behalf of corrupt special interests that paid bribes,” said Chabot campaign manager John Gomez. “This further underscores revelations from earlier in the trial that demonstrate that by complicity or incompetence, Greg Landsman voted on the side of corrupt special interests rather than for the best interests of the people of Cincinnati — while keeping associates implicated in the illegality close and personally benefiting from organizations involved in bribing public officials.”

“P.G. Sittenfeld’s trial and conviction confirm that Landsman’s vote was compromised and raise a litany of questions about his awareness and involvement in the corruption and illegality swirling around him,” Gomez continued. “Landsman has demonstrated he is thoroughly unfit to honestly serve the hardworking people of the First District and should resign from the City Council, apologize to the people of Cincinnati and abandon his bid for a promotion to Congress.”

Landsman’s Vote Influenced by Corruption

During this week’s closing arguments, the jury heard audio from Sittenfeld in which he states that he would “shepherd the votes” when priority projects for those bribing him reached the city council. In court documents produced earlier in the trial, Sittenfeld told FBI informants that “I can always get a vote to my left or a vote to my right,’ referring to Landsman.

Landsman Benefited from Corruption

Earlier in the trial we also learned that “prosecutors allege [Sittenfeld] accepted $40,000 in contributions to his PAC, Progress and Growth, in exchange for support in passing legislation that would help developer Chinedum Ndukwe, who was working with two undercover FBI agents posing as out-of-town investors.” This occurred in 2019.

Later in 2019, Landsman accepted $1,000 from Progress and Growth PAC. In 2020, he accepted $1,700 from Progress and Growth.

Landsman’s Close Associate Implicated in Corruption, Illegality

Landsman’s longtime advisor Jared Kamrass testified during the trial last week about his illegal conduct, for which he could still face federal charges, and the breadth of corruption on the Cincinnati City Council.

Ahead of Kamrass’s testimony, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, “one of Cincinnati’s top political fundraisers, Jared Kamrass” is expected to testify in the upcoming Sittenfeld trial and that “Kamrass agreed to help the government after being investigated for his own alleged wrongdoing. Court records say Kamrass ‘violated federal laws, about commonplace, legal practices of campaign financing and fundraising…’ Kamrass could still be prosecuted, the records say.”

“Kamrass had a list of prominent Democratic clients including… City Councilman Greg Landsman who is running against Steve Chabot for Ohio’s 1st congressional district,” according to WCPO 9.

Kamrass led the search to fill the position of finance director for Landsman’s current campaign for Congress. He was also Landsman’s longtime campaign manager for City Council.

Original source can be found here