Beacon Journal: Caught in the coverup

Ted Strickland reaffirmed his confidence in Cathy Collins-Taylor, the director of the state Department of Public Safety, and in Col. David Dicken and Lt. Joseph Mannion of the State Highway Patrol. Ohioans shouldn't be so generous in view of the blistering assessment by Thomas Charles, the state inspector general. Collins-Taylor, in particular, would do the governor a favor by stepping down.

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Once again, an administration has flunked the lesson: The coverup makes matters worse. The report states flatly that Collins-Taylor ''did not tell the truth'' about her decision to shut down the sting, adding ''nor was she truthful about the timing of her decision.'' Mannion, too, ''was untruthful under oath.'' Dicken blew smoke in arguing the safety of patrol officers would be jeopardized by the sting.

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All of this was part of an unacceptable pattern. Charles points to the ''adversarial and obstructionist conduct'' of public safety officials. They went to ''extraordinary lengths'' to impede the investigation, shielding records, denying passwords, dumping ''tens of thousands of pages'' of irrelevant documents. They did so even though the law requires their cooperation. Obviously, this matter hardly ranks among the state's pressing concerns. Yet officials violated a profound trust, and for that reason, Cathy Collins-Taylor should do the honorable thing and step down.