We've learned about the hundreds of calls between Tom Corbett's campaign staff and his taxpayer-funded staff at their taxpayer-funded phones in their taxpayer-funded offices on taxpayer-funded time. (Post-Gazette 3/26/10)Now, it appears Corbett's campaign wasn't the only GOP business being conducted in the Offices of the Attorney General under Corbett's watch.
The Sunbury Daily Item reports today that in October of 2007, a political phone call between Brian Nutt, Corbett's Chief of Staff and taxpayer-funded campaign manager, and Union County Republican activists may have been recorded illegally:
"According to Corbett's then chief-of-staff Brian Nutt, who is presently serving as campaign spokesman in Corbett's bid for governor, he received a phone call from Haas prior to the November 2007 election asking the attorney general to withdraw the endorsement of Johnson.Why would the Chief-of-Staff to the Commonwealth's highest law enforcement official NOT pursue an investigation of being surreptitiously and illegally recorded?
'I explained to (Haas) that I would be the wrong person to talk to and that Tom Corbett was a personal friend of Pete Johnson,' Nutt said Thursday. 'I remember that he was not happy about that response.'
According to the October 2007 minutes of the Union County Republican Committee compiled by secretary Carolyn Conner, Haas informed members he called Nutt and recorded the conversation in the presence of others. If so, that would be a violation of the state Wiretapping Act, prohibiting one person from taping another without his knowledge ... Nutt said he was told at one point that his 2007 telephone conversation with Haas may have been recorded without his knowledge, but he never pursued the issue." (Sunbury Daily Item 3/23/10)
Perhaps it is because an investigation and possible prosecution would reveal that this political phone call took place on Nutt's taxpayer-funded phone in his taxpayer-funded office while he was on taxpayer-funded time...Nutt didn't start on the Corbett re-election payroll until June of 2008. (Campaign finance reports)
We're looking forward to learning what number for Nutt the Union County Republicans called and when they called him. Of course, the only way to get the truth is for a brave District Attorney somewhere in the state to subpoena the phone records of all involved. Otherwise it is awful easy for everyone involved to not remember...or worse.
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Tom Ridge joins board of 3D mapping firm Geospatial
Friday, April 23, 2010
By Elwin Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge has been added to the board of directors of Geospatial Holdings, Inc.
The Sarver company specializes in creating 3D maps and models of underground infrastructure such as pipelines and conduits.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10113/1052775-100.stm#ixzz0lwmmf9Cn
Pa Lt Gov candidate Jim Cawley introduced last night by man w/ assault convictions & rape allegations, aka Bedford County DA Bill Higgins. Twitter: BedfordPenn
It sounds like he told the caller the right thing: talk to Corbett. If the whole article was posted, people would know there's no mention that the conversation took place on an office phone (unlike what all those convicted Bonusgate felons were doing).
Post the whole article? Click on the link. It is all there. And, there is no mention that the call didn't happen at a state office either.
Response to Anonymous 4/23 11:10 pm: You're funny but you must have missed this post on this blog which clearly shows what all those proven-but-not-convicted-felons in the Attorney General's own office were doing on the phone. As a reminder here's the post that shows hundreds of phone calls ON STATE TIME by multiple state paid staff as they talked back and forth DAILY OVER MANY MONTHS with Corbett campaign staff:
http://casablancapa.blogspot.com/2010/03/whats-buzz.html
Oh, and here's the proof:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29064265/Corbett-Campaign-Phones
This Corbett and OAG hypocrisy and use of prosecution as a political weapon would be funny if it weren't so dangerous. Who is going to investigate this obvious campaign work on state time by OAG staff? Where is the subpoena for all of their phone records and emails back and forth? Where is the "outraged" main stream media?
Witness testifies no-work job set up by Feese
Friday, April 23, 2010
By Tracie Mauriello, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Former state Rep. Sue Cornell, R-Montgomery, was ousted from office in November 2006, but continued to be paid until mid-January, according to testimony in a Thursday preliminary hearing.
On paper, Ms. Cornell was an aide to former state Rep. George Kenney, R-Philadelphia, for those six weeks, but she never reported to his office or did any work for him, she testified on Thursday.
The no-work job, which was arranged for her by former state Rep. Brett O. Feese, R-Lycoming, held her over until she was hired by the Philadelphia Parking Authority.
Mr. Feese, who later became House Republican chief legal counsel, now faces criminal charges along with state Rep. John Perzel and eight Republican associates.
All are in the midst of a long preliminary hearing before Harrisburg District Justice William Wenner, who will decide whether to bind them over for trial on allegations they abused tax dollars.
The hearing was scheduled to wrap up today after three days of testimony, but prosecutors have many more witnesses to call and attorneys have a scheduling conflict that prevents them from returning Monday. Another three days of testimony have been tentatively scheduled for May 24, 25 and 26.
Among the allegations against them are that they used more than $10 million in public money to fund technology projects used to run political campaigns.
In testimony on Thursday, state employees said they often did political work on state time; that they spent the majority of their work time on campaign tasks; and that they sent ink, paper and other taxpayer-purchased supplies to campaign offices in Philadelphia.
Tracie Mauriello: tmauriello@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-2141.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10113/1052648-454.stm#ixzz0lYiekpsv
HOW COME CORBETT DIDN'T CHARGE SUE CORNELL FOR HAVING HER "NO SHOW" JOB WHEN HE CHARGED SEAN RAMALEY FOR AN ALLEGED "NO WORK" JOB WHICH WAS COMPLETELY DISPROVEN IN COURT? THIS IN AND OF ITSELF SHOWS THAT CORBETT CHARGED RAMALEY TO GUARANTEE THAT THE SENATE REPUBLICANS WOULD GAIN LAVALLE'S SENATE SEAT. CORBETT AND HIS "CAREER PROSECUTORS" MADE A DEAL WITH STEVE WEBB THAT HE WOULDN'T BE PROSECUTED FOR HIS PERJURY, FALSE LEAVE SLIPS AND DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE IF HE WOULD TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR ABOUT RAMALEY. THEY IGNORED THE TRUTH THAT RAMALEY DID WORK AT VEON'S OFFICE AND THREATENED WITNESSES NOT TO PREVENT THEM FROM TESTIFYING FOR THE DEFENSE. IN FACT WHEN ONE OF THE WITNESSES TESTIFIED BEFORE THE GRAND JURY THAT HE SAW SEAN RAMALEY HELPING CONSTITUENTS AT THE COUNTER IN VEON'S OFFICE, DEPUTY AG KRASTEK RESPONDED "WELL, THAT'S THE FIRST TIME WE HEARD OF HIM DOING ANY WORK." DESPITE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY, CORBETT CHOSE TO PROCEED WITH FALSE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST RAMALEY AND DESTROYED HIS POLITICAL CAREER. FORTUNATELY, THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO DESTROY HIS LIFE SINCE THEY HAD THEIR A** HANDED TO THEM ON A SILVER PLATTER IN COURT.
AS ONE OF RAMALEY'S JURORS STATED, "THIS WAS CLEARLY A POLITICAL WITCHHUNT." CORBETT'S OFFICE EVEN REALIZED THEIR MISTAKE SINCE THEY DIDN'T EVEN CALL STEVE WEBB TO TESTIFY AGAINST VEON FOR THIS ALLEGED CONSPIRACY FOR A "NO WORK" JOB. RUMOR HAS IT THAT THIS IS ALSO WHY DEPUTY AG KRASTEK WAS TAKEN OFF VEON'S CASE AND OFF THE UPCOMING BIG TRIAL!
SO HERE'S A QUESTION FOR THE MEDIA, WHY AREN'T YOU CALLING CORBETT ON THE CARPET FOR NOT PROSECUTING STEVE WEBB OR SUE CORNELL FOR THEIR ADMITTED CRIMES? IF OUR AG IS SO "LAW AND ORDER" AS HE MAKES HIMSELF OUT TO BE THEN HE NEEDS TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND CHARGE EVERYONE ENGAGED IN THIS CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
OF COURSE, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE MEDIA WANTS CORBETT TO BE GOVERNOR. OTHERWISE, THEY WOULD START SHOWING THE CITIZENS OF PENNSYLVANIA THE TRUTH ABOUT CORBETT AND THE PROSECUTORS IN HIS OFFICE.
Very informative post @11:54 am...
Shocking, shocking that Team Corbett did not go after a fellow Republican (DA in York, DA in Bedford, Sen. Orie, Mike Long, Republican state reps forging petitions, etc., aside). Afterall, they go where the evidence leads, you know!
What is ironic is that the amount of money Sue Cornell pocketed as a ghost employee is similar to the amount Sean Ramaley earned as a staffer. Didn't Corbett once say what would shock the conscience is the amount of money involved?
So the fact that Ramaley showed up for work everyday, fulfilled his obligations and received his contractually agreed-to salary (AS TESTIFIED TO BY WITNESSES AND RATIFIED BY A JURY OF HIS PEERS) apparently shocked Corbett's conscience that he went ahead and indicted him and prosecuted him to the fullest extent of the law.
However, if you collect a salary for never even showing up, let alone doing any work for the taxpayers, then quit so you can be handed an even better political-hack position, you are immune from prosecution.
It is hard to say when the taxpayers were fleeced more--Cornell's unearned income or an unjust prosecution.
What a topsy-turvey world we live in...the world of and according to Tom Corbett. Boy, if this is the opening act, I can't wait to see how he pillages PA as governor.
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