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Second Search Warrant Served On Cuyahoga County Administration

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish addresses county residents in a video produced after the raid on his office. [Cuyahoga County]
Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish addresses county residents in a video produced after the raid on his office.

Investigators collected a laptop and numerous notebooks on Wednesday from the office of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish’s communications chief, the second search of the administration’s offices this month.

A search warrant dated Feb. 20 sought unedited video recordings that Budish filmed last week after a raid on his office. In the video, Budish said the Feb. 14 raid on his office by the FBI and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was “a political stunt.”   

The warrant sought Chief Communications Officer Eliza Wing’s laptop, electronic records and written notes.

Authorities from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office did not seize the records in person in this latest search, county spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan said. Inspector General Mark Griffin and Deputy IG Mark Cutright collected the materials after receiving the warrant, she said.

Budish has not been charged in the investigation, which has lasted more than a year. Last month, a grand jury indicted former jail director Ken Mills, former IT general counsel Emily McNeeley and Chief Talent Officer Douglas Dykes. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Steve Dettelbach, one of Budish’s attorneys, told Cleveland.com this week that prosecutors don’t have grounds to charge the county executive in this case.  

“There’s no ‘there’ there in this investigation,” Dettelbach told reporters and editors from the news outlet.

Last week’s search warrant sought computers, Budish’s iPhone, records related to the county jail and other materials. The next day, Budish released the video denouncing the raid on his office.

“We’ve been fully cooperative and readily supplied all information and documents requested,” Budish said in the video. “We have held nothing back.”

Nick Castele was a senior reporter covering politics and government for Ideastream Public Media. He worked as a reporter for Ideastream from 2012-2022.