Forgery. Perjury. Tampering with records. Identity theft.In a just world, the chairman of the Upper Darby Republican Party and at least one of his cronies would be facing those charges. As the Philadelphia Daily News reported today, chairman John F. McNichol listed himself as the circulator on Tom Corbett gubernatorial petitions, containing hundreds of signatures, that actually were circulated by Steve Valero. ("Can Corbett be unbiased in probe of Delco nominating petitions?" Daily News, 4/3/10)
That's illegal and Corbett should be leading the way in bringing charges against McNichol.
But we don't live in a just world. We live in Tom Corbett's world.
In Tom Corbett's world, Democrats are prosecuted for petition fraud ("Ex-Pa. lawmaker, aide plead in election fraud case" AP, 8/5/08), while Republicans who do the very same thing are not. ("Challenger accuses Gingrich of forging nominating papers" Lebanon Daily News, 3/20/08)
Just last month, the District Attorney right there in Delaware County, where McNichol and Valero blithely committed their fraud, appears willing to prosecute a Republican. ("District judge faces charges in forged signatures" Philly Daily News 3/30/10) (Perhaps it's worth noting that he's a former Democrat, and he was trying to get on the Democratic ballot)
Will Corbett do the same?
It is highly unlikley. Corbett's reputation for allowing his Republican cronies to skate on issues for which Democrats are prosecuted is so pervasive, the Daily News reporter opens today's story with skepticism: "Can state Attorney General Tom Corbett's agents conduct an impartial investigation of Delaware County GOP officials who submitted nominating petitions for Corbett's gubernatorial campaign?"
If past is prologue, the answer is no.
10 comments:
The answer is YES. YES that the Attorney General's office has effectively prosecuted and convicted corrupt politicians and staffers.
Anonymous said...
The answer is YES. YES that the Attorney General's office has effectively prosecuted and convicted corrupt politicians and staffers. April 3, 2010 1:04 PM
EXCEPT THEMSELVES, REPUBLICAN JUDGES AND REPUBLICAN SENATORS???
Anonymous said...
The answer is YES. YES that the Attorney General's office has effectively prosecuted and convicted corrupt politicians and staffers. April 3, 2010 1:04 PM
EXCEPT THEMSELVES, REPUBLICAN JUDGES AND REPUBLICAN SENATORS???
AND Southwestern Republican candidates for Representative in the PA General Assembly - G.Deluca, Kime, Massafra, Yeager, Evankovich, Dunbar & Ferguson - all signed the notarized affidavit as circulator on a number of their own petitions with date & location inconsistencies. Is the AG or some DA going to investigate these blatant, illegal violations and prosecute them?
YES we can BUT
NO we WON'T.
We do as we do
and NOT as we say.
We define Hipocracy and call it
Democracy. Praise GOD for the
Double Cross.
Anonymous said...Double Cross. April 4, 2010 9:24 PM
Bring up those Nazi Tactics again?
it was double cross not twisted cross
Tom Corbett's friends and supporters: Felons, frauds and forgerers!
That's what we want for PA's top law enforcement officer. And this guy want a promotion to be Gov? Give me a break.
Enough is enough. When are the feds going to investigate this guy? Now he has taken it upon himself to "investigate" his own petition circulators (or maybe, not really?) as well as those who also circulated (or maybe, not really?) Pat Meehan's petitions. Pat Meehan...you know...Corbett's former opponent and, more recently, a key contributor to the Corbett express. Yeah, bet that would be a fair investigation. just like York, Bedford and Crawford counties, where the illegal deeds of Republican supporters of Corbett are ignored.
Corbett's tunnel vision for D's and R's who don't support him enables him to exclude his friends (Felons, Frauds and Forgerers) from investigation This guy isn't cleaning up corruption in harrisburg, he's knee deep and shoveling his own sludge onto others.
According to KDKA, Senator Jane Orie will be indicted very soon. Another grand jury will be closely examining her sister, the Justice.
While all of these individuals are innocent until proven guilty (a task Corbett has come up short on several times) one has to wonder why the AGs office took a pass on this investigation. Of course, it probably has nothing to do with the fact that Corbett lives in the Senator's district or that they are both members of the Jim Roddey fold.
But why, then? Why did Tom Corbett refuse to accept the case? Why did a member of the staff of the Office of Attorney General tell Sen. Orie's former intern, who courageously took a stand on principle, that they had no time for her claim and that she should go bother the DA or someone else with her claim of political corruption?
Afterall, the OAG was very busy prosecuting Dems who stood between them and the Gov's office. The OAG was also too busy investigating Republicans like Metcalf and Perzel, and others who did not support the boss's political ambitions.
It begs the question, what is worse: Prosecuting innocent people or ignoring potentially criminal behavior of your friends?
With the length of taxpayer $ spent, time wasted, other aspects of their duties ignored, all for a 15% conviction rate and a special pass for the FOCCers(Friends Of Corbett Campaign). I think one has to question Corbett's judgement before he is handed the reigns of power as governor.
CONTINUED FROM ABOVE....
(Post Gazette 9/23/08)
Corbett is lying about being overwhelmed with evidence as his reason to not bring charges.
In reality, he succumbed to the pressure from Republican power brokers who understand that charges against Republicans before the election would hamper the GOP's chances of taking back the majority in the House.
It is the same kind of pressure Dennis Roddy buckled under to when he erased his coverage of Brian Preski's Fumo-esq use of Republican IT staff to wire his home.
(Post Gazette 9/11/08 original; 9/12/08 changed)
And, it probably doesn't hurt that John Perzel and Brian Preski have contributed over $50,000 to Corbett's campaigns.
(3/4/04 $25,000 from Citizens for Government Reform to Friends of Tom Corbett;
4/2/04 $1,219 in-kind from Friends of John Perzel to Friends of Tom Corbett; 10/18/04 $25,000 Friends of John Perzel to Friends of Tom Corbett;
12/31/07 $500 Brian Preski to Friends of Tom Corbett)
An even more blatant untruth is partisan Republican liar Tom Corbett's assertion that he couldn't begin investigating Republicans because he had no probable cause:
"Corbett responded that investigators must have probable cause for a search warrant, meaning they must show a judge evidence of wrongdoing."
(Tribune Review 9/23/08)
This is where partisan Republican liar Corbett is trying to close the sale of his bridge to nowhere.
And, he is hoping everyone will buy it.
Republican campaign activity in the Capitol has been known and written about for years. Corbett is just choosing to ignore it.
Just refer to Mario Cattabiani's item "A tangled web at statehouse" from 2/18/07 (yes, 2007, 20 months ago):
"[An animated Perzel political commercial] was parked online by the state House Republican Caucus, on a Web site funded by tax dollars. So, too, were other campaign materials:
photos of Perzel going door to door in his Northeast Philadelphia district, and a 20-minute video tribute narrated by his wife, Sheryl.
There was even a 487-page primer on how to run legislative campaigns, produced by the Republican National Committee…. The site containing the campaign-related material was registered and paid for with state money by the House Republican Caucus."
Even Steve Miskin admits it was blatantly illegal. "It's wrong. It should not have happened, and it should never happen."
(Inquirer 2/18/07)
This isn't enough probable cause for Corbett to seize documents, issue subpoenas and begin his investigation?!?!?!
Instead, the Republicans were given ample time to purposefully and systematically destroy their hard drives over the summer of 2007.
(Patriot 8/3/08) Thus, eliminating evidence for Corbett to follow (even though he has shown no propensity to aggressively do so.)
There is still time to return this bridge to nowhere back to the partisan Republican liar Tom Corbett!!
He is slapping all of you in the face with not even a whimper from you. Many of you are being battered in your campaigns because of Corbett's bonusgate charges against Democrats.
Demand that he stop this partisan charade and bring charges against Republicans!!!
Corbett has the evidence. Corbett has the probable cause. But, just like Sarah Palin and her bridge to nowhere, he is hoping that if he lies enough times to you that you'll all start believing him.
Just like Sara Palin and her bridge to nowhere, Tom Corbett is a liar.
Tom Corbett is lying about the conduct of his bonusgate investigation and Tom Corbett is lying about his motivations behind his latest decision to not bring charges against Republicans before the Election.
First, the conduct that partisan Republican liar Corbett ignores.
Corbett told the Morning Call yesterday, "I, and the career lawyers in my office, are conducting this investigation as thoroughly, fairly, honestly and as quickly as we can.''
Simply not true.
Four times as many Democratic staff as Republican staff have been subpoenaed. (AP 7/31/08; Patriot 8/14/08)
No Republican members have had to testify or have even been interviewed.
(Post Gazette 8/16/08)
The schedule of the investigation has given the Republicans ample time to destroy evidence, most notably their hard drives and servers. (Patriot News 8/3/08)
Corbett strategically timed his investigation in order to give his Republican friends an opportunity to destroy evidence and prepare for what little window dressing of an investigation he felt he needed to do politically.
This timeline clearly illustrates Corbett's foot dragging:
4/16/07 – Corbett empanels Grand Jury (Tribune Review 4/12/07)
8/23/07 – Corbett raids Democratic offices (AP 8/30/07)
9/10/07 – Corbett compels House Democratic staff to testify before
Grand Jury (Patriot 9/12/07)
10/22/07 – Corbett issues first subpoenas for House Republican documents
(Post Gazette 10/24/07)
2/12/08 – Corbett issues first subpoenas for Senate Republican documents (Patriot 2/13/08)
Circa 8/1/08 – Corbett interviews first Republican House staff (Post Gazette 8/7/08)
This morning Pete DeCoursey with Capitolwire put it best:
"Corbett oversaw an investigation that managed to take nearly 19 months so far, and only charge House Democrats before a re-election, where he, a partisan Republican, is running for re-election.
And in an election where many believe he could lose, especially if eastern Republicans dumped him, because, say, he just indicted a bunch of their pals, again, the smell here isn't quite right."
Now, let's discuss partisan Republican liar Corbett's motivation behind his decision to not bring charges before the election.
Corbett told the Tribune Review yesterday, "I know this investigation very well," Corbett said.
"I know that my office cannot present to the grand jury in that one week ... all of the testimony and other evidence that will be necessary to complete the next phase of the investigation."
Again, Corbett is fibbing about his real motivation.
Corbett's own office has been illegally leaking to Dennis Roddy at the Post-Gazette that his supposedly fleet-footed investigators are looking at the huge political operation John Perzel, Brian Preski and John Hanley ran from the House Republican Caucus:
"Yesterday, several aides to former Republican Speaker of the House John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, were interviewed by prosecutors, according to a source close to the probe."
CONTINUED BELOW.....
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