BCI conducts office searches of top county executive

Investigators have served 17 subpoenas on Budish’s team.

Subpoena required information be presented this week to a grand jury.

The FBI and CLEVELAND — the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducted a search of the offices of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish.

The offices on the 8th floor of the county administration building in downtown Cleveland were off limits, BCI spokesman Charles Moran told a cleveland.com reporter. A person trying to gain access to the offices was told the area would be “off limits for the next few hours.”

County spokesman Mary Louise Madigan acknowledged there is a “team” of law enforcement personnel involved in the search and that Budish was not in the office. She said the search personnel showed up around 11:45 a.m.

Madigan did not identify those involved in the search but an FBI spokeswoman said her office is involved.

County employees are cooperating with those conducting the search, Madigan said.

Corruption investigators have served 17 subpoenas on Budish’s administration over the past year. The latest subpoena seeks the complete email accounts belonging to Budish and several of his top executives, as well as the phone records of former Jail Director Ken Mills.

The other officials whose email accounts were sought include Brandy Carney, chief of public safety and justice; Maggie Keenan, director of the office of budget and management; Ed Morales, director of human resources and labor relations; and Douglas Dykes, chief talent officer.

This latest subpoena is the first to be served on the county since the corruption investigation was taken over by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. A number of county officials have also been required to appear before the grand jury looking into possible criminal activity.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office began the investigation more than a year ago, but the probe is now being overseen by Yost to avoid a conflict of interest in the prosecutor’s office.

County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley recused himself because he was in the position of having to defend Budish in a civil lawsuit involving conditions at the County Jail while at the same time investigating possible criminal behavior related to the jail.

Last month, the grand jury indicted Dykes, a member of Budish’s cabinet, and two former county administrators on corruption-related charges.

Dykes, Mills, and former IT administrator Emily McNeeley were charged with a variety of felonies and misdemeanors. All three have pleaded not guilty.