A video produced at taxpayer expense about Attorney General Dave Yost's first 100 days in office has cropped up in an campaign email seeking donations to the Republican's political campaign fund.

Yost spokesman Dave O'Neil acknowledged the video was produced by office employees and when asked about its use for political purposes, replied, "Anyone can link to that video for any reason, it’s public."



The four and-a-half minute video posted to YouTube —dubbed "The Yost Post" — includes remarks from Yost's inaugural address and Holly Hollingsworth, his chief communications officer, interviewing him while also providing narration on various scenes. It was posted on the attorney general's state website April 25.

The video was embedded in a Yost campaign email sent to political supporters Wednesday evening outlining what he portrays as accomplishments during his first months as attorney general.

The email, marked as "Paid for by Dave Yost for Ohio," concluded with a "Donate" button that links to a webpage that accepts political contributions for Yost's campaign fund. He is up for re-election in 2022.

When asked about the cost of the video, O'Neil said, "It was produced in-house with no added costs."

In a 2014 bulletin about telephone "town halls" while he was serving as state auditor, Yost warned local governmental officials: "Public officials should be aware that promoting partisan politics is not a proper public purpose. Indeed, expending public money in support of partisan politics could violate (state law)."

That particular law, however, appears to only apply to local officials — not state officeholders.

"Wasting taxpayer resources on self-promotional videos that somehow make their way into political communications seems to be an annual ritual with Republican officeholders in Ohio," Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Alvanitakis said in a reference to videos produced by the office of Lt. Gov. Jon Husted when he was secretary of state and a GOP gubernatorial candidate.

"The most dangerous place in Columbus might be between Dave Yost and a camera — but it's ludicrous that Ohio taxpayers are subsidizing Dave's campaign and political appeals," she said.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow