WHY IS THIS MAN SMILING?

As the Feese/Preski/Seaman trial fast approaches, we here at CasablancaPA are reviewing the grand jury presentment from 2009. A few names are popping up that have us scratching our heads.

One in particular is Shannon Royer, the Deputy Secretary for External Affairs and Elections in the Department of State. For those not familiar with the DOS, he's the guy who oversees all the elections in Pennsylvania.

A too-often overlooked, yet substantial aspect of the charges against Feese/Preski/Seaman revolves around the rampant abuse of taxpayer resources through the House Republican Office of District Operations. This is how Corbett's grand jury described it:

"[District Operations] for at least the period from 2001-2006, and to a lesser extent after 2006, was virtually a wholly owned campaign subsidiary of the House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC). This arrangement, which included the use of taxpayer money for campaign work performed by [District Operations] staffers, was organized, coordinated, and approved at the highest levels of the House Republican Caucus..." (Page 157, Grand Jury presentment 11/09)

Royer was a Regional Coordinator with the Office of District Operations during this entire period.

 Here's what the grand jury had to say about Royer's position:

"...all but a handful of these staffers actually worked out of their homes across the state, not in the Capitol. The Caucus, in response to a number of Grand Jury subpoenas, has produced little to no documentation about what these coordinators did or how much time they actually spent doing legislative work during the time period which was the focus of the Grand Jury's investigation. That dearth of documentation regarding legislative work became understandable to the Grand Jury once the Grand Jury learned about what most of the Regional Coordinators and other [District Operations] staffers actually did while being paid by the taxpayers." (Page 158)

Royer even is mentioned by name within the grand jury presentment as participating in illegal activities on pages 164 and 165.

Furthermore, in 2006, Royer was a candidate for state representative while working as a Regional Coordinator. Remember when Royer's boss, Tom Corbett, charged someone with six felonies for running for office while employed by the House of Representatives?

Royer's apparent climb up the career ladder - courtesy of Governor Corbett - is particularly galling when you consider that Corbett arrested former State Represenative Sean Ramaley on charges that he used state resources inappropriately while running for state representative as a House Democratic Caucus employee. (Harrisburg Patriot-News 7/18/08)

How ironic that Corbett, the supposed scourge of political chicanery in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Commonwealth's elections generally, would make such an important appointment even though his own investigation found that Royer had blatantly broken the laws governing the process Royer now oversees.

According to Deputy Attorney General Marc Costanzo, General Assembly employees should be "[sent] a loud and clear message that this kind of activity [illegal use of taxpayers funds for political campaigns] will not be tolerated, and people will pay for their crimes." (Post-Gazette 5/21/10)

Clearly, that's a lie.

Throughout the entire investigation, Corbett selectively picked whom to investigate and prosecute from among members and staff of the General Assembly who universally used taxpayer resources for political campaigns.

Instead of being arrested, the vast majority were let off the hook. A select few were given plumb appointments -- just like Deputy Secretary Shannon Royer.