JUSTICE FOR RENT

Here at Casablancapa, we've been following the on-going drama surrounding Senate Minority Leader Bob Mellow's district office rental agreement that resulted in Mellow and his family receiving over $200,000 in rent money.

It is of keen interest because the Mellow situation is a perfect example of how partisan Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett's woefully mismanaged and arbitrary bonus investigation can and will inhibit the investigation of even the most blantant violations of the law.

First, we should discuss how Mellow's self-dealing is clearly illegal.

Mellow renting a building for his district office from a company owned either by himself or his wife is illegal. The ethics law can't be any clearer. Read it for yourself here.

And, if you think there is any ambiguity, the Ethics Commission spelled out why Mellow's arrangement is illegal in a 1989 ruling involving former State Representative Italo Cappabianca's attempts to collect rent for his district office, as well as collect a 10% commission through the travel agency he owned by purchasing airline tickets for his travel to and from Erie for legislative business.

Mellow attempts to throw up a smoke screen of confusion in an effort to say he didn't break the law by trotting out Senate Resolution 2 of 2009.

However, this ploy is dripping with disingenousness when you consider that in 1990, CJ Hafner, Mellow's chief counsel, was part of an ethics ruling seeking to revisit the 1989 Cappabianca ruling. Hafner was turned down and told unequivocally that a member of the state legislature could not pay themselves rent money for their district offices.

This would all seem reason enough for Attorney General Tom Corbett to investigate Mellow for his conflict of interest, but that is not all. You see, Corbett has a keen interest in how members of the state legislature pay for their district offices.

In March, Corbett charged Mike Veon with three felonies (see the charges here) for splitting his district office rent with the Beaver Initiative for Growth (read the relevant section of the grand jury presentment here.)

So, if Corbett believes Veon's district office rental arrangements rose to the level of illegality, then surely Corbett will launch a full investigation of Mellow and begin dragging the Senator and relevant staff into the Grand Jury?

Don't count on it.

Corbett's train wreck of an investigation of the bonuses has backed him into a corner of political expediency for his gubernatorial campaign.

Even though Mellow clearly should be investigated and charged with a crime, Corbett's political handlers are telling him that he can't because he has yet to charge any Republicans after more than a year after arresting Veon and eleven other Democrats.

Political expendiency is preventing Corbett from charging any Republicans for bonus related crimes ahead of the GOP primary because the Republican legislative caucuses and their leaders have been among his largest financial supporters and they in turn are very close with Bob Asher, Corbett's top political adviser and donor.

Consequently, Corbett can't investigate and charge Mellow because his blatant disregard for Republican illegalities would be highlighted even further if he arrests yet another Democrat without any Republicans or even Republican window dressing.

Corbett thought he would have an open and shut case when it came to arresting only Democrats in relation to bonusgate. One that would make for great tv commercials and glowing editorials. Instead, his political miscalculations and the ineptitude of his investigators have made it possible for blatant violations of the law like Mellow's to go uninvestigated and uncharged.