REVISIONIST HISTORY

Last Saturday, Associated Press reporter Mark Levy put together an interesting post-Republican bonus indictment news item. Levy obtained quotes ranging from the top of the GOP caucus heap like Republican House Leader Sam Smith to the bottom of the barrel like State Representative Karen Beyer. (Associated Press 11/14/09)

Basically, Levy captured the prevailing sentiment among the Republican caucus that they were "shocked, shocked, that politics was happening in the Capitol."

Their feigned incredulousness is a lie.

We addressed how implausible Smith's cluelessness is when examined through the prism of the grand jury presentment.

Smith is a liar, but Beyer is a lying hypocrite.

Here she is in 2008 reacting to the Democratic grand jury presentment outlining how Democratic caucus resources were allegedly used against her in her 2005 special election:

"It's outrageous. The problem is, they tried to buy an election using taxpayers' money." (Tribune-Review 7/19/08)

"I couldn't keep up. I didn't have the resources to spend what she was spending." (Morning Call 7/11/08)

Boo-hoo! Except she is lying and she knows it. Corbett's grand jury presentment last week outlined how hundreds of thousands of dollars in technical and staff (through the Office of District Operations) assistance were provided to her.

After her first election and after she spent some time in Harrisburg, there is no way that Beyer (or any other Republican member who received this type of assistance) didn't have the intellectual capacity to put two and two together and figure out that the dozens of people who worked on her campaign were actually full-time House employees.

CasablancaPA received this entertaining campaign commercial that made a point about that liar Beyer in 2005 that still holds true today (be sure to turn the volume up):



Don't just take our word for it when we say that every member of the Republican caucus knew a massive political operation was being run out of the Capitol.

The grand jury presentment went into depth about how most of the House Republican Campaign Committee fundraising was conducted by staff in the Capitol. A close examination of Republican campaign finance reports shows that rank and file members were aware of this and knew where to send their campaign checks.

Note the addresses where these campaign contributions to the HRCC were sent. It doesn't get more blantant and obvious than this:

Rick Geist -- 2004 and 2007
Gordon Denlinger -- 2004
Adam Harris -- 2004
David Millard -- 2006
Katie True -- 2006 and 2007 and again in 2007. (Note that Perzel was no longer in charge in 2007!)
Nick Micozzie -- 2004 and 2005 and 2007 (Again, Perzel wasn't in charge in 2007!)

These pale in comparison to how much money and how many times 2010 Republican Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate Tom Killion sent to the HRCC campaign operation at its Capitol building offices:

January 2004
May 2004
August 2004
October 2004
December 2004
May 2005
September 2007 (uh, wasn't Smith in charge by this time?)

We dare any of these Republican members to say they had no idea that the House Republican Campaign Committee was operating out of the Capitol using caucus resources and caucus staff. Every elected member of the House and Senate used their staff and their offices to get re-elected. Any member who says otherwise is a liar.

Don't believe us? Then ask Lt. Governor Joe Scarnati why he sent this large campaign contribution to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee to (you guessed it!) the State Capitol Building in 2006.

Or, ask Scarnati about reimbursing his campaign staff via their Capitol office in 2006.

For that matter, look below that entry for Casey Long and someone should ask Scarnati why he bought tickets to a Sam Smith campaign event by sending his contribution to Smith's district office at 527 E Mahoning Street in Punxutawny. Was Smith's district office staff organizing a campaign event at his office using state computers on state time? Hmmm.

Since the time Ben Franklin was sitting in the Speaker's Chair, members of both parties (even the Federalists and Whigs) were using their staff and offices to get re-elected. It was and is an acceptable and pervasive part of the Harrisburg culture. Even partisan Republican Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett uses his taxpayer funded staff and taxpayer funded phones for his campaign.

There is a tremendous amount of faux shock from both Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg surrounding Corbett's grand jury presentments last week and in July of 2008. Don't believe them for a second...it is just a pitiful attempt at revisionist history.

A TALE OF TWO INVESTIGATIONS

*Attorney General Tom Corbett is looking at "the entire bonus issue," which includes payments awarded to hundreds of staffers in the House and Senate Republican and Democratic caucuses, said spokesman Kevin Harley. (Harrisburg Patriot-News, Feb. 14, 2007)

*A change in [House Republican] computer systems coincided with word that an investigation was underway ... all GOP desktop computers were replaced from July 17 to Sept. 6 last year at the Capitol and from Sept. 24 through Nov. 2 at district offices. (Harrisburg Patriot-News, Aug. 3, 2008)

*The attorney general's investigators were consulted about the changeover of computers... (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Oct. 16, 2008)

*Democratic attorney general candidate John Morganelli's charge that House Republicans probably destroyed records in the investigation of legislative bonuses is borderline slander, the state House GOP leader [Sam Smith] said Wednesday. (Ibid.)

*Agents and attorneys traveled to New Orleans and Washington, DC as part of the efforts required reconstructing the extensive amounts of pertinent evidence that was reportedly missing from the Caucus. (28th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury Presentment, page 3, footnote)

*The full extent of RIT’s work and expenditures on behalf of campaigns may never be fully realized due to the significant amount of missing emails and documents. (Ibid., page 48)

*The grand jury obtained important testimony from the operators and employees of GCR and significant evidence – missing or not produced by the Caucus – was recovered from GCR. (Ibid., page 50)

*Missing and incomplete information from within the Republican Caucus has led to the exercise of significant efforts to acquire pertinent information from sources outside of the Caucus. (Ibid., page 178)

*State Attorney General Tom Corbett, now running for governor, met with state Rep. John Perzel, of Philadelphia, at a Harrisburg hotel in October 2007. Two months later, Brian Preski, Perzel's former chief of staff, organized a campaign fundraiser for Corbett. (Philadelphia Daily News, Nov. 12, 2009)

*The Perzel meeting and Preski fundraiser came "at a time when we didn't have all the facts in front of us ... There has been very little contact with these individuals since that period of time, once we understood where everything was going with this investigation," Corbett added. (Philadelphia Daily News, Nov. 17, 2009)

Once again, we are faced with the question of whether Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett is full of bovine excrement, or simply breathakingly, mind-numbingly incompetent.

On the one hand, there is the possibility that he was, in fact, conducting an earnest, thorough investigation of the House Republican Caucus throughout the summer and autumn of 2007, as he claims, and actually told them, "Sure, go ahead and get rid of your computers. I'm sure there's nothing on there we'll need."

It's also possible that he was six months deep into his investigation of House Republicans when he met privately with Perzel in October 2007, and eight months deep when Preski hosted his fundraiser in December 2007, but Corbett didn't quite understand who the heck Perzel and Preski were. He didn't "have all the facts in front of" him, after all.

Or, there's the possibility that he simply was not investigating the House Republicans when all that happened, despite his claims to the contrary.

The 28th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, which indicted Perzel and Company, didn't even convene until March 2008.

The realization that indicting Republicans (or at least creating the illusion of a real investigation) would be a political necessity appears to have crept upon Corbett gradually. It wasn't until Oct. 23, 2007, the day after critical editorials appeared on Capitolwire and in The Morning Call, that the Associated Press reported that Corbett had issued subpoenas for House R records.

As the presentment makes clear, the records were long gone by then - thanks to Corbett giving House Republicans the go-ahead to ditch their computers three months prior.

The subpoenas were issued about three weeks after Corbett met privately with Perzel and aide John Zimmerman, who was indicted along with Perzel last week.

It's hard to know whether the announcement represented a sincere effort to gather evidence - since Corbett knew by then the computers had been replaced - or whether it was simply intended to dampen the flickering suspicion about the evenhandedness of his investigation.

Contempt hearings "held for the purpose of forcing the caucus into compliance with subpoenas and court orders" did not take place until October 2008, a full year after the subpoenas were issued.

About two months before issuing suboenas for House Republican records, Corbett executed a search warrant on the House Democratic Caucus. The boxes of documents, which were the object of the search, had recently been moved from a basement storage room in order to create more office space. Republican documents had been stored in the basement as well; Corbett's investigators had to have learned that when they interviewed Democrats about the boxes. But Corbett never executed a search warrent for those. Instead, he waited six months and issued a subpoena for them in February 2008.

Even though Corbett immediately learned the boxes had vanished, it doesn't appear that House Republican staffers were interviewed until late July 2008, at the earliest, according to the Post-Gazette.

We're willing to believe that by then, Corbett was intent on finding a way to indict some Republicans. At some point he must have realized his gubernatorial hopes would be dashed if he didn't. We only wish we could have seen the expression on his face when he realized he was going to need all that data he allowed the House Republicans to discard the year before.

The Fourth Estate is only beginning to view Corbett with the skepticism appropriate for political candidates rather than the reverence reserved for heroes, but it may be too late ever to learn the truth. The words of Tom Knox bear repeating: "Unfortunately, Pennsylvanians will never know who was not charged or investigated as the attorney general seeks to solidify GOP support in his primary campaign for governor."

SMITH: THIS SEASON'S DeWEESE

For all the swooning over John Perzel's indictment, we feel the need to point out that partisan Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett did not indict a Speaker of the House. He did not indict a caucus leader. He didn't even indict an influential sitting member.

It's no coincidence that Corbett chose to indict another infamous but washed-up House member, while creating the illusion of drama by piling on lots of staff. Just as in the Democratic indictments, Corbett has ignored influential elected officials who are clearly culpable in the crimes he alleges others have committed.

The fact is, out of 22 people charged, only one sitting member was charged in any significant, ongoing wrongdoing. Sean Ramaley was practically an afterthought, who just happened to be running for the State Senate in a seat the Senate Republicans hoped to pick-up.

In choosing whom to indict in July of 2008, it's clear through Veon's pre-trial motions that Corbett ignored reams of evidence that incriminated active and influential Democrats, namely then-Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, then-Majority Policy Chairman Todd Eachus and Secretary of Revenue Steve Stetler.

History repeats itself with Corbett's Republican indictments. The most egregious example is how Corbett lets House Republican Leader Sam Smith slide by.

How can Corbett grant immunity (which implies she committed crimes for which she would otherwise be charged) to former full-time Smith employee Sheila Flickinger, yet not charge her boss Sam Smith?

Flickinger was a full-time "Special Projects Coordinator" for Smith in 2006, earning $58,539. She appears over and over in the Republican presentment as an insider who knew everything that was going on under Perzel's and Feese's watch at both the House Republican Campaign Committee and the Republican Caucus' Office of District Operations.

Yet, we're supposed to believe that not once did Flickinger discuss any of it with her direct boss Sam Smith?

Did Smith actually say to Corbett, "I had no idea," and did Corbett actually believe him?

This is simply not plausible.

This is just more of the same from Corbett. He is a tough guy when it comes to arresting staff people and a washed-up member or two, but when it comes to any elected official with juice you can just imagine the shrinkage going on in the collective shorts of the Office of Attorney General.

Corbett's efforts in the presentment to excuse Smith's conduct are eerily similar to his bizarre aside in the Democratic presentment, in which he admits that DeWeese did in fact, direct a state contractor to perform campaign work, but he used his campaign e-mail address to do it.

Smith and his supervision of the post-Perzel Office of District Operations:

"After issues regarding legislative bonuses paid for campaign work came to public attention in early 2007, a gradual shift in the culture in District Operations occurred, for the first time in many years placing a specific focus on a stark separation between legislative work and campaign work. For example, in the 2008 campaign cycle Ms. Uliana only was aware of one or two District Operations employees who worked on a campaign." (Page 172 of the Republican Presentment)

That's a lie and Corbett knows it.

The Office of District Operations did not skip a beat after Smith took over. A quick analysis of campaign reimbursements to the director of the office, John Hanley, and the Regional Coordinators he supervised didn't change one iota from when Perzel oversaw the office. Compare Perzel-era expenditures here with post-Perzel expenditures here.

Daphne Uliana is shameful liar who not only escapes prosecution by Corbett but continues greedily gobbling up money from the House Republican Caucus with her $5,500 per month contract with the House Republicans.

Will Smith cancel this contract now that Uliana has admitted that most of her work for the caucus was political? Remember, DeWeese never fired Angela Bertugli after she admitted she did no work for the caucus. These payments were apparently felonious when others were responsible, but they go on with impunity.

More importantly, we may never know why some people were charged and others were not.

Did Corbett have a meeting with Smith just like the one with Perzel (Philly Daily News 11/12/09), but the result of the conversation was different?

WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS MAN?

Just as we predicted, the media is slavering over Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett's "bipartisanship" now that he has indicted a single Republican legislator.

At the same time the pundits hail Corbett as a hero, they point out how much he gained politically by bringing the indictiments.

"Why, yes; it is true that I slept with the casting director. And yes, it is true that I got the part. But sleeping with the casting director had nothing to do with why I got the part."

In this country, we don't rely on politicians to pinky swear that they won't abuse the power of their offices, then sit back with our fingers crossed. Would any other politician be allowed to get away with "just trust me?"

Everyone acknowledges that indicting Perzel gives Corbett a political boost. Yet no one seems to care if he indicted Perzel in order to gain a political boost.

One of Corbett's rivals in the gubernatorial race, Tom Knox, stated the obvious:

"Unfortunately, Pennsylvanians will never know who was not charged or investigated, as the attorney general seeks to solidify GOP support in his campaign for governor."

The Philadelpia Daily News' Chris Brennan dug deep and discovered that Corbett met privately with Perzel while Perzel supposedly was under investigation, and allowed Brian Preski to host a fund-raiser for him.

Was Corbett really conducting a serious investigation as he claimed?

Why does he excuse the meeting by saying he didn't yet have all the facts?

Does that mean (contrary to every public pronouncement by Corbett prior to the meeting and fundraiser) Perzel and Preski weren't really under investigation at the time?

Did Corbett and Perzel discuss the investigations?

Did he ask for Perzel's support for Governor? ("Corbett's run for governor probably came up during the meeting, [Brian] Nutt [Corbett's campaign manager and meeting attendee] said. 'I'm sure somebody said something like: 'How are your chances? 'he added." -Daily News 11/12/09)

Did Perzel decline?

Does Perzel's indictment against have anything to do with that meeting?

How many other meetings with legislators under investigation don't we know about?

Don't ask Corbett. Just trust him.

LIES AND LYING LIARS

We are endlessly fascinated by the pure, unadulterated arse biscuits that fall from the lips of Tom Corbett and his lackeys. Is it pathological? Can they simply not help themselves?

Here's a recent whopper from Senior Deputy Attorney General K. Kenneth Brown II:

“A felony is a felony, and if it is a felony, you get cuffed,” Brown said. “The law makes no distinction for white collar crimes, and neither do we.”

As his quote was preceded by the description of Brett Feese freely walking to and fro unencumbered by handcuffs, we hardly need elaborate.

But we will. Jeff Foreman, charged with 25 felonies, was never handcuffed. Scott Brubaker, charged with 22 felonies, was never handcuffed. Jennifer Brubaker, charged with 17 felonies, was never handcuffed.

And while it may seem a petty detail, the Republican defendants were handcuffed with their wrists in front, rather than behind their backs as the Democrats were. One Democratic defendant reports that he was originally cuffed in front, but a supervisor who spotted him angrily berated the agent handling his arrest: "What are you doing? Don't you remember how we said we were going to handle this?" He was marched back into the police station and recuffed, hands behind his back, before being paraded before the media.

No distinctions, our ass.

Here's another gem:

Democrats arranged bonuses and "used labor ... The Republicans, under Perzel, used technology."

Corbett's own press release called the House Republican's department of District Operations "a subsidiary of the House Republican Campaign Committee."

"The grand jury found that most of the District Operations employees hired during this time were hired because of their campaign and or fundraising skills. For the majority of the new hires, who worked out of their homes, it was clearly understood that as part of their legislative job that they would work on campaigns."

Sounds like labor to us. Does he even know what he's saying?

One of our favorite examples of blatant mendacity is Corbett's apparent confusion over his cell phones.

In a story that aired September 23 on ABC27 News in Harrisburg, Corbett said he carries two cell phones:

"He says he has a separate BlackBerry for his campaign work and one for his 'work' work. Separation of government and campaigning is big with this attorney general."

But when ABC27 News obtained cell phone bills showing hundreds of phone calls between OAG staff and Corbett's campaign cell and the campaign's other cell phones, including his campaign manager's, he changed his story:

"It's easier to keep it on one that the taxpayers are not paying for. That's the most important thing: taxpayers aren't paying for this. Either the campaign or myself are paying for this."

He didn't explain what state business his campaign manager might have been discussing with his OAG stafff (and the staffs of Republican legislators).



He deviated even further from his original story at Thursday's press conference when AP reporter Mark Scolforo asked him about the calls, claiming he uses his "personal" cell phone for both state and campaign business, and he doesn't even know the number of his state-issued cell phone.

If that's true, why make up a story about using two different phones? Why didn't he just say that in the first place?

Or is he just making it up as he goes along?

DEER TOM, I DIDUNT DOO NUTHIN

Ever hear about the guy who murdered his parents then asked the court for leniency because he's an orphan?

That's how Tom Corbett sounded when he whined that his boffo-stupendo investigation of the House Republicans took so everlastingly long because those meanies went and hid all their evidence.

Maybe if he'd started investigating them back when he said he started investigating them, they wouldn't have had a chance to get all their ducks in a row - just as everyone in Harrisburg except apparently the crack investigators at the OAG predicted they would do.

Corbett's genius move of asking the bad guys pretty please to hand over any evidence they see lying around hasn't worked out too well for him. Surely he's heard of a little investigative tool called a search warrant: after all, he used one to swoop down on the House Democrats in August of 2007 - exactly the time of the discovery of those boxes he asked the House Republicans pretty please can I have them in February of 2008.

Ever throw something away, then realize later that it was actually more valuable than you thought and you're gonna need it, and then you have to go outside and dig through the Dumpster to find it? Yeah, it's kind of like that for Corbett.

But it wasn't just the boxes that Corbett waited six months to ask pretty please that foiled his crack investigative team. After all, Brett Feese wrote Corbett a sweet little note: "Deer Tom, I didunt doo nuthin. Luv, Brett." Who wouldn't be fooled?

Corbett claims his investigation was stymied by notes Feese directed his assistant to fabricate, notes intended to mislead Corbett's agents.

Notes that were turned over to Corbett in December of 2008.

Got that? The reason why Corbett's investigation took so long is because of the diabolically deceptive notes that were turned over twenty-two months after the investigation supposedly began. That, and some boxes he waited six months to subpoena.

You almost have to feel sorry for a guy who's up against this mastermind-level obfuscation.

JOHN PERZEL: SOFTWARE SALESMAN?

The Philadelphia Daily News today reports that Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett met privately with Rep. John Perzel, while Perzel was under investigation, and Perzel's former chief of staff, Brian Preski, organized a fund raiser for Corbett two months later.
 
Corbett is expected to announce indictments of both Perzel and Preski later today.
 
Since when was it part of Perzel's "official duties" to brief the Attorney General about "computer software that could be used to track registered sex offenders?
 
"Hello, Attorney General's Office. How may I help you?"
 
"Hi, I'm calling from Representative John Perzel's office. We'd like to meet with Attorney General Tom Corbett to tell him about some exciting new software that can help track registered sex offenders."
 
"John Perzel? Aren't you currently under investigation by our office?"
 
"Yepper! How's October 2 at the Hilton?"
 
"Sounds good. Don't bring your lawyer. See you then."
 
Wonder if the career prosecutors on whom Corbett relies to keep him honest were aware of the meeting?

The only question we have about Preski's fund raiser for Corbett is whether Preski raised enough to keep from getting indicted.
 
Guess we'll find out later today!

INTRIGUE!

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during House Minority Policy Chairman Stan Saylor's briefing yesterday for freshmen.

Whatever could he have been telling them?

But first, this: Corbett's crack legal team loses again. Hmm.

Back to the House Republican Caucus.

According to the Tribune-Review, Saylor "invited freshmen into his office to help them prepare for an onslaught of questions from the media and constituents that might surface" if former Speaker John Perzel is indicted as has been widely speculated.

Questions? We have a few.

The Tribune-Review story notes that the freshmen weren't in the legislature during the period Corbett supposedly is investigating. But several of them benefited directly from Perzel's skullduggery. Several took his campaign contributions.

We wonder if Saylor invoked the names of Vince Biancucci, Dan Surra, Chris King and Frank Andrews Shimkus. They, like our friendly Republican freshman (probably), weren't implicated in the Bonusgate scandal. But association with the principal defendant lost them their re-elections all the same. Even a few challengers who obviously weren't in the legislature during the during the period Corbett investigated - just like our friendly Republican freshmen! - slipped and fell in the Bonusgate puddle.

Corbett is unlikely to try to stage an extravaganza show hearing for the benefit of their opponents just before the election, as he did in 2008. But what might a clever political operative make of the $21,000 Frank Farry took from Perzel?

Will the $23,000 Nick Miccareli took from Perzel come back to haunt him?

Will they give the money back?

We're most curious about the illegal and dishonest robo-calls that Sheryl DeLozier believes Perzel bought for her campaign.

DeLozier's race was one of at least three where such robo-calls were employed against candidates who either voted against Perzel for Speaker or publicly declared they would not vote for Perzel for leadership.

Are the calls part of Corbett's super-badass shocking-beyond-words prosecution of biblical proportions?

So many questions!

THE PAY-RAISE POSTER BOYS

What do Mike Veon and John Perzel have in common?

So far, it's not criminal charges, though that may change within days.

Despite the fact that they generally operated from opposite ends of the political spectrum, Veon and Perzel actually share some very important similarities - similarities that have not been lost on Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett.

At one time, each was among the most influential legislators in Harrisburg. Each generated statewide controversy and outrage over the 2005 pay raise vote - Veon when he refused to recant his vote, and Perzel when he asserted (absurdly) that farm workers who milk cows earned more than state legislators.

But the most important similarity for Corbett is that by the time Corbett trained his prosecutorial guns on them, they were virtually without influence. Veon was out of the legislature, and Perzel would have been if not for the investigation.

Veon lost his reelection in 2006 and was a private citizen without a vote in the legislature when Corbett launched his Democrats-only investigation in early 2007. Perzel was widely rumored to be considering retirement after his failed attempt to recapture the Speaker's chair. According to several sources, the only reason he decided to stay was the perceived protection of the caucus' high-priced, taxpayer-funded lawyers.

If Charlie Thompson's Patriot-News story - and the most persistent Capitol rumors - are true, Corbett has found a way to generate maximum publicity for an investigation that has put nary a dent in the Harrisburg power structure. Not a single member of House leadership has been touched. The guy who controlled the purse strings in the Democratic caucus -- Bill DeWeese -- wasn't even subpoenaed, much less indicted.

Will the torch-bearing public be satisfied with the heads of the pay-raise poster boys, and fail to notice - as Corbett hopes - that not a single major player was even inconvenienced?

TURNPIKE TREACHERY

Our interest has been piqued by reports that partisan Republican Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett has put a grand jury to work looking into contracting and patronage practices at the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Unsurprisingly, the only reported targets of this grand jury have been Democrats.

The Post-Gazette reports that Corbett has Democratic Congressman and Philadelphia Democratic Party Chair Bob Brady his is sights:

"The complaint also declares that when members of Teamster Local 250, which represents turnpike employees in the western half of the state, ceased donating money to the Philadelphia Democratic Committee, a turnpike manager named Melvin Shelton, 'instructed plaintiff to deny all grievances brought on behalf of employees represented by Local 250.' Mr. Kovac's complaint also says he told turnpike Executive Director Joseph Brimmeier that he believed Mr. Shelton, in fact, did little work for the commission 'but rather, worked to further the interests of Congressman [Robert] Brady, the Philadelphia Democratic Committee and Teamsters Local No. 77.'" (Post Gazette 10/30/2009)

And, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has been tipped off that Democratic State Representative Tony DeLuca could be in hot water with the grand jury:

"Earlier this year, Peggy Denham, who works for the state as a municipal auditor, said she testified that Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, helped his daughter Deborah Brinker get a job with the Turnpike Commission, and arranged jobs for other relatives with public agencies...According to Denham, DeLuca arranged for Brinker to work for the turnpike by persuading Penn Hills council to hire Bonnie Brimmeier as its solicitor. She is the sister of Joe Brimmeier, the commission's executive director." (Tribune Review 10/30/09)

Yet, Corbett refuses to use his grand jury to investigate allegedly shoddy work and fleecing of the Turnpike by the construction contractors Allan C. Myers, Inc. Instead, the FBI is handling the investigation. (Inquirer 10/31/09)

Why would Corbett ignore malfeasance by a Pennsylvania contractor who is allegedly ripping-off the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the tune of tens of millions of dollars?

It could be because the owner of Allan C. Myers, Inc. is a major -- no, make that massive -- Republican campaign contributor.

Not only has A. Ross Myers contributed $15,000 directly to Corbett in just the last two years (we're still waiting to see what he's given to Corbett in 2009), but he's also sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican interests in every corner of the state since 2004:

$300,000 to Pennsylvania Future Fund (Bob Asher's PAC)
$27,848 to Friends of Joe Scarnati
$1,000 to Friends of Bob Mensch
$3,250 to Lloyd Smucker for Senate 5/20/09
$8,250 to Friends for Jay Moyer
$1,000 to Friends of Sheryl DeLozier
$45,000 to Friends of John Perzel
$2,000 to Friends of Dave Reed
$8,500 to Friends of Kate Harper
$1,000 to Friends of Tom Ellis
$52,500 to Friends of Rob Wonderling
$15,500 to Friends of Bruce Castor
$6,000 to Friends of Jim Matthews
$100,000 to Lynn Swann for Governor
$2,500 to Friends of Senator Jubelirer
$2,500 to Friends of Senator Brightbill
$35,000 to House Republican Campaign Committee
$1,000 to John Rafferty for Senate
$1,000 to Bob Godshall for Legislature

After seeing this list of GOP largess, it makes sense that Corbett would ignore shennanigans by this Republican donor and instead pursue Congressman Brady and Rep. DeLuca.

It doesn't end at punting an investigation of Allan A. Myers to the Feds.

Corbett has definitively shown that his investigation of the Turnpike isn't going to lead to any headaches for Republicans by how his gubernatorial campaign is raising money.

Just this week, John Micek with the Morning Call reported that a sponsor of a high-dollar Corbett fundraising event in Philadelphia was Timothy J. Carson...the Vice-Chairman of the Turnpike and major Republican poo-bah. (Capitol Ideas 11/6/2009)

Just how serious a probe of the Turnpike is Corbett conducting if he is rubbing elbows (connected to fists full of campaign cash) with one of the very persons he is supposedly investigating?

FEESE RESIGNS; RUMORS PERSIST THAT BOWMAN FORCED OUT

Tracie Mauriello with the Post-Gazette breaks the news that former Republican State Representative and former chair of the House Republican Campaign Committee Brett Feese resigned his position as House Republican Chief Counsel today. Mauriello also reports that Feese was the recipient of one of Corbett's target letters sent to Republicans in recent weeks.

Readers of CasablancaPA will remember that Feese appeared to spend a tremendous amount of time working on his private practice...even though he was the full-time House Republican Caucus Chief Counsel.

Rumors are also rampant that Al Bowman, longtime House Republican staff person and campaign operative, has been forced out of the caucus. Those in the Capitol will remember that Bowman was the taxpayer funded political mouthpiece for the HRCC in 2008.

It is ironic to read this quote from Bowman regarding state house elections last year:

"In terms of control of the state House, it really comes down to Bonsugate vs.Obama's popularity. All politics are still local, and while Barack is claiming he will usher in a new day as President, local state House Democrats are still being chased by the ghosts of their own corruption and inaction." (Inquirer 10/31/08)

After that quote, we can only hope that karma catches up to Bowman...of course, Corbett hasn't arrested anyone yet.

COURIER-EXPRESS: CORBETT IS "EGREGIOUSLY ABUSING THE SYSTEM"

In an editorial today, the publisher of the Tri-County Courier-Express, Denny Bonavita, continues to point out the hypocrisy of partisan Republican Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett:

"Attorney General Tom Corbett is prosecuting people - so far, only Democrats - for, he claims, abusing their state-paid positions for political purposes.

But Corbett himself, now a candidate for governor in 2010, is allowing his staff members to take 'leaves of absence' to work on his campaign.

Other incumbents, Republicans and Democrats, have done the same thing, and will do it again next year.

Why?

Because we voters are stupid enough to allow them to get away with it...

We wonder how Corbett can continue the 'leaves of absence' practice with a straight face while prosecuting Democrats for abusing the system financially when he - and other incumbents - are egregiously abusing the system morally with this 'leaves of
absence' charade."

We wholeheartedly agree with Bonavita.

Not only does Corbett conduct his campaign no differently than those he is prosecuting with his "leaves of absense charade" but there is no separation of his political and official offices. Corbett campaign staff is parked at his OAG offices at the taxpayer expense and it has been documented that hundreds and hundreds of calls are made between the Corbett campaign and his official offices during the work day.

What would someone with subpoena power find at Corbett's Office of Attorney General if they slapped supoenas for documents and staff testimony on Corbett as aggressively as Corbett did with the House Democrats?

REALLY, TRIBUNE-REVIEW?

Look, guys. It's obvious you're backing Tom Corbett for Governor. And it's only natural you'd want to defend your boy.

But today's ludicrous rationalization for his refusal to resign is really beyond the pale.

As informed Pennsylvanians are well aware, when a governor appoints a replacement for a departing elected official, he always appoints a replacement of the same party who agrees not to run in the next election. Besides, there's not a chance in hell the Republican-controlled Senate would confirm a Democrat if he even tried.

So, no, Tribune-Review. Tom Corbett isn't afraid to resign because scary Ed Rendell might appoint a Democratic successor. In fact, Corbett's been pretty friendly to Rendell's administration, inexplicably allowing one cabinet secretary to ignore a subpoena and looking the other way on another cabinet member who reportedly threatened a witness.

Corbett won't resign because he can't give up the spotlight. It's a risk, because if the Bonusgate prosecutions crash and burn, he won't be able to shift the blame (although he'll probably try).

WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE

Last week's leak regarding "invitations to testify" issued to Republican House members and staff certainly had its intended effect.

It effectively doused the flicker of indignation ignited by activists' "1,000 Days of Bonusgate" demonstration, gently fanned by WHTM's investigative report about how much time state employees spend on the phone with Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett's campaign staff.

We understand: no one wants to be standing on the Capitol steps denouncing a lack of Republican indictments at the very moment Republicans are indicted.

Tom Corbett gets it, too. He's been getting away with it for more than two years.

What we find fascinating is the very idea that that Republican indictments will somehow absolve Corbett of politicizing his office. If anything, he is further condemned.

Politically, Corbett has to indict Republicans. That fact alone - and it is a fact - should disqualify him from exercising the power of his office.

From a political perspective, indicting Democrats was merely a good idea. Indicting Republicans is a necessity.

When he announces those indictments, Corbett says we'll understand why his investigation of Republicans took so long. We already understand why. It's a tricky calculation, determining how many victims he has to choose to maintain political viability, how far up the hierarchy he has to reach, which of his supporters he can afford to alienate, how long can he hold out on his announcement to achieve maximum publicity ... it's all very complicated.

We've no doubt that Republicans have engaged in political activity using state resouces. But that's almost beside the point. Just as the Democratic indictments were, the conscience-shocking Republican indictments of Biblical proportion will be based on making maxium splash while doing as little damage to the actual power structure as possible.

FOLLOWING THE EVIDENCE?

It seems pretty clear that charges against Rachel Manzo will be withdrawn, as has been speculated for months, in exchange for Mike Manzo's plea agreement.

If that's true, we can assume that Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett isn't interested in Rachel Manzo's testimony.

And if Corbett had any plans to indict House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, who was Rachel Manzo's boss for two years before she was arrested, and who directly supervised the activities for which she is charged, he'd be pretty interested in Rachel Manzo's testimony.

(Then again, considering Corbett's general level of competence throughout the Bonusgate investigation, he may plan to prosecute Todd Eachus using the testimony of Balloon Boy Falcon Heene.)

Corbett has repeatedly claimed he's ordered his investigators to follow the evidence wherever it leads. Evidence that Eachus ordered caucus staff and a taxpayer-funded contractor to perform political work? Evidence that Eachus knew about the campaign volunteer list maintained by Eric Webb that was allegedly used to award bonuses in 2006? Evidence that Eachus coordinated appearances by Cabinet secretaries in targeted incumbent districts for campaign purposes, an effort that made extensive use of caucus resources?

Perhaps Corbett doesn't feel these activities rise to the level of crime. Yet he charged others - including Rachel Manzo - for their involvement in these very same activities.

Speculation remains high in the Capitol that indictments still are on the horizon for Eachus, former House Majority Leader H. William DeWeese, and Revenue Secretary Steve Stetler, former chair of the House Democratic Campaign Committee. Anything's possible.

But the absence of a plea agreement for Rachel Manzo is a strong sign that Eachus is in the clear. And this week's leak about invitations to testify to the grand jury did not include Eachus, DeWeese or Stetler. Considering the heat Corbett already has taken for his failure to indict DeWeese in particular, we find it hard to believe he wouldn't try to diffuse the criticism if he could by including DeWeese's name.

TEST PATTERN

One thing we can say about Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett: at least he's consistent.

Throughout the nearly three years of the Bonusgate investigation, leaks to the media regarding any investigation of Republicans have always followed closely on the heels of accusations or questions about Corbett's partisanship.

Today is no exception. "Lawyers with knowledge of the investigation" told the Inquirer that former Republican House Speaker John Perzel, his former chief of staff Brian Preski and " as many as 10 other current and former House Republican aides" have received letters inviting them to testify to a grand jury.

Although the Inquirer story calls the letters "akin to 'target letters' that federal prosecutors often use to advise people that they are likely to face criminal charges," some Democrats who received similar letters last year were not charged, and some of those who now face charges never received them.

While the story marks the first time the names of any Republicans called to testify have been leaked, it's otherwise the same old schtick.

Activists yesterday held a party in the Capitol Rotunda to celebrate "1,000 days of Bonusgate," and called upon Corbett to resign. Questions about Corbett's ability to conduct an impartial investigation are growing louder. John Baer of the Philadelphia Daily News asks, "should Corbett run investigations & run for guv, too?" ABC27 paired news of the "celebration" with the revelation that Corbett and his campaign manager have spent a lot of time on the phone with state workers on state phones during state time.

Corbett has followed this pattern for two years almost exactly to the date. The first revelation that any Republicans had been suboenaed was reported by the Associated Press on Oct. 23, 2007, the day after a Morning Call editorial called for a special prosecutor in the case and Capitolwire suggested Corbett's political ties might inhibit his investigation. The investigation by then was 10 months old.

In late January 2008, the Tribune-Review reported an accusation that Corbett's "conflicts of interest" could jeopardize the investigation. News was quickly leaked to the Patriot-News that Corbett had subpoenaed records from House Republicans.

The Patriot-News' Aug. 3, 2008 analysis, "Is state bonus probe partisan?" inspired a revelation that prosecutors had interviewed "20 to 30" House Republican staffers.

Concurrent with Corbett's announcement that a Bonusgate preliminary hearing would be held just weeks before Election Day, news about interviews with House Republican staff was leaked to the Patriot-News and the Tribune-Review trumpeted a false rumor that charges against Republicans could be filed that very week.

Corbett has promised two things about his next round of charges: that they would "shock the conscience" and that they would make clear why the investigation has taken so unbelievably long. Charges against Team Perzel in connection with "a $9 million taxpayer-funded database" have been expected for more than two years, so they'd hardly qualify on either count. Yet those are precisely the charges to which the Inquirer story alludes.

We believe Corbett originally expected to charge only Democrats in Bonusgate and be done with it. We believe he was caught off-guard by the near-universal expectation that Republicans also would be charged. Any further charges in this case can be chalked up to damage control.

RULES ARE FOR OTHER PEOPLE

ABC27 News yesterday revealed that Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett's campaign has exchanged hundreds of phone calls with his taxpayer-paid staff - and the taxpayer-paid staffs of Republican legislators and campaign contributors - on state time at their state offices.

Corbett would not say what the phone calls concerned. Corbett stammered, "It's easier to keep it on one that the taxpayers are not paying for. That's the most important thing," when asked about the use of his campaign phone to call Attorney General staff on their state phones during state time. "Taxpayers aren't paying for this. Either campaign or myself are paying for this." So he admits it wasn't legitimate state business. But as ABC27 pointed out, "what about the person taking the call on a state phone, in a state office, on state time?"



Reporter Dennis Owens used telephone bills from the campaign to reveal that hundreds of calls have been made to and from Corbett's campaign phone and those of other campaign staff and his state offices. The campaign confers with state AG staff on their state phones, several times a day, during business hours.

The story is especially ironic coming just weeks after Corbett made a point of boasting to the same news organization that he always carries two phones because he's so very careful to keep state business strictly separated from his campaign. (Minute 2:25 below)




But when confronted about the phone calls, he said the campaign phone is his "main phone." The reporter didn't ask, and Corbett didn't volunteer to explain what his campaign staff might be discussing during the hundreds of phone calls with his taxpayer-funded state staff.

We'd love to tell you how shocked we are, but we're not in the least surprised. Corbett's use of his office as a parking lot for campaign workers is already widely known. The Bonusgate investigation itself is a more outrageous use of state resources for political puposes than anything he might dream of uncovering in the legislature.

A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

What kind of Governor would Tom Corbett make, when he obviously has no clue how the legislature operates?

If there is a single exchange that encapsulates the depth and breadth of Corbett's gullibility, it is this excerpt from grand jury testimony:

Q Now, I want to show you an e-mail that the grand jury had not seen yet, and this is dated December 17th, of '04. It's from you to William DeWeese. Subject: Thank you. It's addressed to Representative Deweese, Representative Veon, and Mike. Mike being --
A Mike Manzo.
Q Right. And although in the subject line -- I don't want to touch this because I think that -- it's to DeWeese and Veon and carbon copy to Manzo, correct?
A Yes.
Q And then the line below the subject line says Representative DeWeese, Representative Veon and Mike. I can't thank you enough for the bonus for campaigning. I am speechless, as most of us are. Thank you. I hope you both have a nice holiday weekend. Again, thank you for the opportunity of being part of your staff. If you look above that, it appears that there's a response from William DeWeese to you, carbon copy no one, December 17th, '04, 2:17:45 p.m. Capital U, Capital R, welcome, correct?
A Yes.
Q And I'm assuming of the people who communicate not verbally and through
machines UR means the [same] as y-o-u, space, a-r-e, correct?
A Yes.
Q You remember this e-mail?
A Yes.
Q Did you send his e-mail?
A Yes.
Q Did you receive that response from what looks like
DeWeese?
A Yes.

(Grand jury testimony of Karen Steiner, June 24, 2008)

By the time they questioned Steiner, investigators had seen the "smoking gun" emails that proved DeWeese knew about and approved of bonuses for campaigning. But Corbett apparently fell for DeWeese's incredible tale - not only that he didn't answer his own email, but that the person who did actually pretended to be DeWeese and was deliberately keeping the contents of DeWeese's own email a secret from him.

A reasonable person would've offered DeWeese the name of a competent psychotherapist at that point.

But Corbett bought it, possibly because it was sold to him by a Republican crony and campaign contributer, DeWeese's taxpayer-funded defense attorney Bill Chadwick. Imagine Corbett's shock when the Tribune-Review published the emails. The thinking world laughed uproriously at DeWeese's pathetic explanation and turned expectantly to Corbett. Oh noes! How could he admit he'd been duped?

Corbett's cluelessness regarding lege-world is further evident in his original Democrats-only investigation. Only after widespread accusations of partisanship did Corbett make any effort even to create the appearance of an investigation of Republicans. At that point, the horse was out of the barn. House Republicans already had replaced their computer servers and newspapers had been reporting the details of the investigation for months. The true embarrasment is not the partisanship that led to a one-sided investigation, but the ignorance that made him think he could get away with it. He's been playing catch-up to try to remedy that blunder ever since. He may be bound and determined now to charge a few Republicans just to change perceptions, but the prosecutions will suffer from his initial miscalculation.

Corbett is so ignorant of the ways of the legislature that he filed criminal charges against a former member for the routine use his contingency account. Even after the charges were filed, House comptroller Alexis Brown issued a memo clarifying that the practices Corbett considered felonious were still regarded by the House to be perfectly legal. Now what? Admit he was wrong, or file felony charges against every committee chair and member of leadership in the entire House? Our money's on withdrawing the charges when he thinks nobody's paying attention.

Corbett's profound ignorance of Capitol culture blinded him to the ramifications of Bonusgate's narrow focus. This isn't how he imagined he'd spend the opening weeks of his gubernatorial campaign. Here he is, figuring out how to manage the near-univiversal expectation of indictments against legislative leaders he'd had no intention of investigating in the first place. He has so little understanding of how the legislature operates and the culture of the Capitol that the response to his investigation caght him off-guard.

Whether he really believed politics in the Capitol was confined to a single legislator and a handful of staff, or he just believed he could sell that story to the voting public, he reveals a naïveté that would be embarassing in a first-year Capitol intern, much less a governor.

CORBETT TO VOTERS: NAH-NAH-NA-NA-NAH

Partisan Republican Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett's hubris increases weekly.

For over a year, he has been teasing Pennsylvania with promises of what he describes as "shocking" Republican indictments that will be announced allegedly very soon. We're not sure that he is going to live up to his own hyperbole. It is beginning to look like Corbett feels he can do and say whatever he wants without being held accountable.

To show just how much he has the GOP nomination sewed up, Corbett trotted out another establishment Republican to endorse him this week. That isn't surprising and neither is the hypocrisy found in the endorsement statement his campaign wrote for former Congressman Bob Walker:

"Certainly Tom's success in fighting corruption is well known. And his election to the Governor's office will go a long way towards restoring people's trust in our state government."

This is only true if you consider "fighting corruption" and "restoring people's trust" arresting only Democrats and ignoring mountains of evidence implicating Republicans. But Corbett's bonusgate investigation was never about justice, rather it has shaped up to be a transparently partisan witchhunt to manufacture headlines for his gubernatorial campaign.

The whole "fighting corruption" message Corbett pushes is hypocrisy everyone in Harrisburg has grown to expect from him.

But this part of Walker's endorsement is a new and especially hilarious wrinkle in Corbett's message:

"As the manager of one of the state's largest operations, with over 800 employees, Tom also has the necessary managerial skills that will be needed to cut out of control spending, lower taxes, and develop an economic plan to create much needed jobs."

This portion of Walker's endorsement is so very funny when you consider that the one person Corbett put over this massive organization as Chief of Staff is his tax-payer funded political hack, Brian Nutt.

If Corbett is such a fiscally responsible steward of taxpayer dollars, them why does he allow Nutt to spend the majority of his time on leave working on his political campaigns and lards up his office with blatantly political staff?

Walker's statement this week is tame compared to the nose-thumbing Corbett gave to the voters when he decided to attend a fundraiser in Philadelphia this week for Bob O'Donnell, Republican candidate for governor in Virginia.

John Micek with the Morning Call breaks the news on his blog here.

This Virginian is the guy everyone, including Majority Leader Todd Eachus, points to as the example Corbett should follow by stepping down from his post as Attorney General to avoid any appearance of partisanship in his investigations, especially bonusgate. (Tribune-Review 3/31/09)

Rather than avoid stirring up the debate on his ability to be politically impartial, Corbett ignores the irony and puts himself on the same stage as the guy who everyone recogizes as the model for how a politically active Attorney Generals should conduct themselves.

It is this attitude that leads us to believe that Corbett is going to underwhelm everyone when -- and if -- he ever announces any arrests of Republicans.

BUCHANAN IGNORES REPUBLICANS, TOO

Quite a debate has erupted surrounding Western PA US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan's contemplation of running for Congress next year.

Although, it isn't centered on Buchanan. Instead it is a back and forth over whether or not partisan Republican Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Corbett's team is being hypocritical for agreeing that Buchanan should step down if she runs for office while asserting it is perfectly ok for Corbett to remain in office while running for governor.

We thought we'd bring some focus back onto Buchanan and point out some whitewashes conducted by the office under her direction.

Check out this news item from 2006 and try to guess who it is referring to:

"The newspaper independently interviewed the [xxxx] staff members. Among their allegations:

Mr. [xxxx] and his campaign staff have frequently used his [xxxx] office for campaign strategy sessions, and equipment like the office's fax, copier, camera and filing cabinets for campaign-related materials, instead of using his separate campaign office a few miles away.

Members of his taxpayer-paid staff have been expected to have campaign materials with them at all times when accompanying [xxxx], in case he wants to provide them to constituents.

In sending [xxxx] staff such as unpaid interns to perform door-knocking and drop off official literature throughout the district this summer, they were instructed to stop only at the homes of registered voters.

Multiple staff members from the district office were instructed last December to devote their time to labeling, stuffing and mailing greeting cards to individuals who were campaign contributors of [xxxx]. The postage and materials were paid by his campaign fund, but several staffers said they performed the functions in the middle of the government workday, rather than on heir own time." (Post-Gazette 10/28/06)

Any guesses? Mike Veon? This sounds exactly like what Corbett charged Veon and 11 other Democrats for allegedly doing. John Perzel? Everyone in the Capitol knows this kind of stuff was rampant in his Philadelphia offices.

This could be just about anyone in the Pennsylvania legislature. This kind of stuff has been going on for years in district offices...both Democrat and Republican.

You'd be wrong if you guessed any of the above.

This story was about Republican Congressman Tim Murphy in Allegheny County. A interview with Andy Sheehan with KDKA resulted in this piece de resistance:


That cring-worthy prevaricating by Murphy should join this performance by former Rep. Ken Ruffing in the politician interview disaster hall of fame.

Even though Buchanan asserts she investigates politicians of both parties equally...

"I investigate cases brought to my attention without regard to the political affiliation of the subject. Public corruption is nonpartisan, and we investigate it wherever we find it." (Post-Gazette
3/18/07)

...she's a liar:

"But allegations of wrongdoing have also come up against some Republicans here over the years.

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum was heavily criticized for saying that his family lived in Penn Hills -- requiring the school district there to pay the cost for his children to attend a cyber school -- while they were really in Virginia.

An employee of U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, was fired after alleging that congressional staff and resources were being used for campaign work.

And local charges were filed against then-state Rep. Jeff Habay, R-Shaler, for ordering his staff to do campaign work on public time.

None of those cases resulted in criminal charges in federal court, and Ms. Buchanan would not comment on whether there were any investigations." (Post-Gazette 3/18/07)

Murphy isn't the only member of Congress Buchanan has ignored. In 2003, she gave a pass to Congressman Bill Shuster for using his congressional staff to spy on his political adversaries. (Post-Gazette 11/6/03 and 11/7/03)

We've been saying for months that Republican prosecutors, especially politically active ones, can and do ignore mountains of evidence while hammering Democrats. The Bush Administration's Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales is tangible and very recent proof of this reality.

Buchanan's tenure as Western PA US Attorney is just one more example of how blatant the partisanship can be. Democrats like Allegheny Coroner Cyril Wecht and Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy are worthy of millions for an investigation and prosecution, but Republicans like Congressman Tim Murphy and Senator Rick Santorum aren't?

The same holds true for Corbett and bonusgate. Reams of documents and hours of testimony have shown bonusgate extends well-beyond Veon and the eleven other Democrats arrested in 2008. Everyone in Harrisbug knows Corbett has more than enough to charge dozens and dozens of Republican members and staff.

Corbett has promised us "shocking" Republican indictments, but we aren't so sure he'll deliver.