The Bill DeWeese public relations machine, led by former human Paul Sunyak, is running in overdrive.
Resplendent in a Marine Corps jacket, (was it his idea to shoot from that angle to make him look more heroic?) DeWeese "soldiers on," breathing "rhetorical fire" with a "certain bravado." (Seriously? Retch.)
The swooning Inquirer article makes scant mention of the charges against him - and none at all of the charges he escaped, and why he escaped them.
If DeWeese wants attention so badly, let's give him some. But let's get the facts straight:
Sept. 19, 2007: DeWeese fights probe of bonus payments
Attorneys for House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese sought to pre-empt subpoenas requiring several caucus employees to appear before a statewide investigating grand jury.
Oct. 16, 2007: DeWeese loses motion to exclude seized files
DeWeese's attorneys appealed Feudale's order to the state Supreme Court, citing federal and state "legislative privilege" protections for the seized material.
Oct, 27, 2007: DeWeese loses motion to quash subpoenas
The state Supreme Court denied DeWeese's petitions to block subpoenas compelling seven staffers to testify to the grand jury.
November 2007: DeWeese "negotiated" with Corbett to turn over emails implicating others
"It was negotiated through representation from the House ... specifically Mr. Chadwick." It's unclear what considerations DeWeese received in exchange for the evidence or why Corbett agreed to the arrangement.
11/18/08: DeWeese insists he's not a target
DeWeese said he's been cooperating with Attorney General Tom Corbett's investigation of legislative practices "Since Day One." He was not asked how his attempts to quash subpoenas and motions to exclude evidence qualified as "cooperating."
Big fat lies to the contrary notwithstanding, DeWeese obviously was not cooperating with Corbett's investigation well into October of 2007. But by mid-November at the latest, he'd "negotiated" an agreement to turn over emails, fired the staffers implicated in the emails, and arranged to provide caucus-paid attorneys for staff who testified to the grand jury.
Nov. 18, 2007: Bill DeWeese, ahead of the avalanche
"He has the goods on every single member of that [Democratic] caucus, and right now they are scared,'' Mr. Potts said. "He knows what everybody is afraid of and could tell tales if he wanted to and everybody knows it. It's every man for himself."
What changed between October and November? What did the "negotiations" entail? And do they explain why DeWeese was never charged in the caucus-wide activities at the center of the Bonusgate case? Big fat lies to the contrary notwithstanding, the evidence against him was undeniable:
February 2008: DeWeese admits he never delegated authority to award bonuses
DeWeese is visibly shaken when he realizes what he just admitted to KDKA's Jon Delano. The admission contradicts earlier statements about bonuses.
July 13, 2008: DeWeese's legislative assistant testifies DeWeese approved awarding bonuses for political work
Manzo came to Bill and said several epople were coming up for their annual evaluations. They were gung-ho, go-getters, always volunteer ... they volunteered to do campaign work. Bill said, craft something you think is appropriate.
Oct, 9, 2008: Ex-aide accuses DeWeese in probe
DeWeese "had full knowledge of the bonuses. He directed that certain bonuses be given."
March 16, 2009: E-mail may tie DeWeese to scandal
Karen Steiner thanked DeWeese for a "bonus for campaigning." DeWeese responded with "U R welcome."
April 7, 2009: DeWeese OK'd extending Peter Schweyer's employment, records show
Rep. Jen Mann sought, and received, permission from Bill DeWeese to keep an aide under contract after a Democratic staffer pointed to his campaign work.
April 6, 2009: Bonusgate records contradict DeWeese
Documents show that DeWeese's campaign tapped a state-paid computer consultant - a key figure in the Bonusgate probe - to perform a long list of political tasks...exchanged campaign-related messages with his legislative staffers on state e-mail accounts ...replied "UR welcome" to an email thanking for a bonus "for campaigning" ...and approved the extension of a legislative aide's contract based on his campaign work.
The media haven't always been so willing to overlook the implications of the evidence against Deweese.
April 7, 2009: Persistent cloud: More questions raised on DeWeese's role
Time and again, though, information comes forward that seems to contradict Mr. DeWeese's assertions regarding his knowledge of taxpayer money being used to underwrite political campaigns.
Inevitably, though, as time went on and predictions about DeWeese's imminent arrest on bonus charges fell flat, scrutiny of DeWeese's role in Bonusgate led to questions about Corbett's failure to charge him.
And so far, nobody's been willing to open that can of worms.
17 comments:
One Big fat Lie, that CasablancaPa once made is that DeWeese never went before The Grand Jury?
We never saw a retraction from CasablancaPA care to amke it now?
Here is the correct testimony as outlined in the PPG and cleverly left off by Casa and then blended with an Attorney Eisenhower that had no knowledge of what was actually said....shame on you casa:
Eddy asked Manzo in court whether DeWeese knew the bonus money was for campaign work.
"I believe he did, yes," Manzo testified.
Manzo's attorney Eisenhower later told reporters that DeWeese "had full knowledge of the bonuses. He directed that certain bonuses be given."
Read more: Ex-aide accuses DeWeese in probe - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/tribpm/s_592418.html#ixzz1DAF7PrLh
By the way, Manzo repeated in the Veon Trial Deweese did not have knowledge and was never there to command the bonuses and you could not talk to him for more than a few minutes since he was working on the Democratic agenda as his Schedule proved.
Tsk, Tsk, Tsk!
One more comment, Mike Manzo has not been sentenced yet even though pleaded guilty last year?
Rachel Manzo was charged with 12 Felonies and reduced to one misdemeanor so the Manzo's duo could keep one Pension.
William Ward was her Attorney and now is Chief of Staff of Governor Tom Corbett.
Finally, correct us if we are wrong, but didn’t Veon Lawyers prove Mike Manzo was a liar in order to save himself from a higher prison sentence for hiding his misdeeds from Veon and Caucus Campaign Operators?
Now you quote Mike Manzo on what he did not say in the papers?
"Manzo repeated in the Veon Trial Deweese did not have knowledge and was never there to command the bonuses"
That is false. He said no such thing.
At the time CasablancaPA reported that DeWeese had not gone before the grand jury, he had not. He since has done so, where he offered the very testimony that was used against him at his preliminary hearing.
You've accused DeWeese of everything under the sun. You blamed him for cooperating. Now you blame him for not cooperating. You said he was the secret immunity witness. Clearly he wasn't. You said he knew about Bonusgate. Clearly he didn't. Had he, Corbett would have LOVED to charge him. Even your own group has admitted DeWeese was never in the office when all the shenanigans went on. Veon was the inside guy; DeWeese was the outside guy. Let's not keep fighting each other. DeWeese is not the problem.
How about retired Speaker McCall - He's a lot like DeWeese too.
He was implicated all over the place in the bonus gate activity, he awarded his staff huge bonuses that they got to keep even after leadership imposed the so called "staff wage freeze" and has been rewarded for his bonus gate activity, mismanagement and for helping to lose the Dem House Majority when Dem. Leadership gave him an even higher paying state position on the Gaming Commission to add to his already bloated state pension.
But then again, what else is McCall capable of doing but government work? Just like DeWeese, McCall has no other skills, training or employment history and lobbying is out because he isn’t welcome or respected by the rank-n-file members.
Given this thought process by Dem Leadership, the Dems will most likely be in the MINORITY for a VERY LONG TIME even in spite of Dictator Turzai and his narcissistic, elitist attitude.
"You said he was the secret immunity witness. Clearly he wasn't."
Says who? He was never charged in connection with bonuses or LCOMM. None of the evidence turned over in "negotiations" was used against him. It's
not at all clear what kind of deal Corbett made with DeWeese, but something definitely changed between October and November 2007.
At least we know they let you guys have computer access while in prison. What gang do you belong to? My guess is CFAD 2.
CFAD = Convicted Felons Against DeWeese.
2 = Number of gang members.
"Karen Steiner thanked DeWeese for a "bonus for campaigning." DeWeese responded with "U R welcome."
well that about sums up the whole thing, if this is positivley proven, then why is he still working at the capitol today?this is about all the evidence a person needs against him.
Why is DeWeese still working at the Capitol - because, amazingly - he got re-elected. But the question is a good one: why are people who admitted their knowing roles in various felonies in their own testimony, like Steve Webb, Karen Steiner Blaner and Bob Caton still working and never have returned their bonuses? Or how about those deeply implicated by the evidence in the trial, many of them still on the payroll, still working for leadership and all of them still retaining their bonuses. It's hard to think of Democrats as reformers when much of their staff could be viewed as unindicted co-conspirators.
The caucus never spent one dime without DeWeese's knowledge and approval. But by the time the investigators figured that out, it was too late.
"But the question is a good one: why are people who admitted their knowing roles in various felonies ...still working and never have returned their bonuses?"
That would be a question for Bill DeWeese. He is the one who decided which evidence to turn over to the OAG, which staffers would be fired and which would be provided with taxpayer-funded attorneys under his supervision.
"CFAD 2"
OMG, that's so clever! Did you think of it all by yourself?
"if this is positivley proven, then why is he still working at the capitol today?"
By the time investigators saw that email, "negotiations" had been completed.
So what? It's not illegal or even unusual for a prosecutor to make a deal with one participant in a crime in exchange for evidence on another - for heaven's sake, he made deals with dozens of caucus employees. Why is this any different? Instead of agreeing to testify, like the others, he just agreed to turn over evidence. Not illegal.
You say it's not unusual to make a deal for immunity with one violator to go after another. You say they did that with loads of witnesses who testified and admitted their crimes with immunity (and, btw, are still working for the Dem caucus). What is unusual is giving immunity to the top boss to go after his underling staffers. Bill DeWeese was the very highest, top most caucus leader. It is unusual to immunize the boss and prosecute his assistant. And a bunch of other staffers. You don't usually get to roll over on the smaller guy. Makes no sense.
All I know is Veon, cott, and Rosepink did not deserve being prosecuted and should win on Appeal.
I also feel DeWeese was never an Secret Immunity Witness since he nor veon ran the HDC Caucus Re-election and elections, Todd Eachus did, but never appeared before a Grand Jury and was not charged?
Quit pointing fingers at each other when in essence the good were prosecuted and the bad let off the hook.
And now the Republicans are trying to change the Conflicts Laws to prevent them from being targeted in the future.
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