Ruth said that in late 2004 a GCR invoice listing such work was accidentally sent to the Bipartisan Management Committee of the House. He and other conspirators knew that invoice “revealed that campaign work was being paid for with state money,” Ruth said. (Patriot 10/12/11)This near-miss is interesting, but not nearly as interesting as the House Republican political operation actually being exposed in 2007 by former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mario Cattabiani. (Inquirer 2/18/07)
In his report, Cattabiani related how the House GOP servers had political videos, photos, and campaign manuals stored on them. But, what really interests us is how this clear, unambiguous peek into the multi-million dollar "computergate" scheme resulted in no investigation by then Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett.
If Corbett really was investigating "computergate" in 2007, would he have give permission to House Republicans to replace their computers and servers? (Patriot 8/3/08)
If Corbett really was taking a hard look at John Perzel and Brian Preski, would Corbett and his taxpayer-funded campaign manager Brian Nutt have enlisted Preski to raise money for Corbett's campaigns? Or held private meetings with Perzel about the gubernatorial campaign? (Daily News 11/12/09)
A careful examination of the timeline of Corbett's "computergate" investigation shows it was one of political expediency that would net only small fish and has-beens like Perzel and Feese, not active power-brokers like Sam Smith.
2 comments:
The timeline of who were the governors 2001 through 20007:
Governor Ed Rendell term was January 21, 2003 - January 18, 2011
Governor Mark Schweiker term was October 2001 - January 21, 2003
Governor Tom Ridge term was January 17, 1995 - October 5, 2001
The timeline of who were the attorney generals 2001 through 2007:
Attorney General Tom Corbett was January 18, 2005 - January 18, 2011
Attorney General Jerry Pappert was February 2, 2004 - January 18, 2005
Attorney General Mike Fisher was January 21, 1997 - December 15, 2003
Attorney General Tom Corbett was October 3, 1995 - January 21, 1997
Prosecutors say GCR received more than $9 million in public money between 2001 and 2007. They say at least $4.5 million went toward technology designed to give GOP candidates an illegal advantage.
This crime happened during three governors watch and three attorney generals watch. Why weren’t these people caught earlier? No one recognize any raised red flags? There was a breakdown of security? Where was the check and balance system? For $9 million of public money to disappear into thin air and not one computer guru caught it?
Something doesn’t sound right in Denmark and in Governor Mansion!
The political corruption case known as "Computergate" is about one thing, state prosecutors argued Monday: the use of taxpayer money in the quest for power and GOP domination of the House of Representatives.
Attorneys for the three remaining defendants in the case, however, countered that it was just one man's quest - a man who is no longer seated at the defense table but who manipulated all the political strings: former House Speaker John M. Perzel.
"It's about powerful people taking the public's money and using it to expand and enhance their campaigns," said Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina.
This does not include any powerful people in the senate that have not been investigated by Frank Fina for over 5 years?
Once one of the most powerful people in Pennsylvania politics, Perzel was initially charged in the case but pleaded guilty this month to conspiracy and other charges.
He is expected to be the prosecution's star witness, detailing how he and others allegedly conspired to tap upward of $20 million in public money to buy sophisticated computer programs that were then used to help win campaigns for Republicans House, Senate, and Governor candidates.
Attorneys for the defendants insisted that it was Perzel who drove the process, and that his hunger to amass power made him greedy and, ultimately, criminally responsible, and Frank Fina refused to investigate senate and governor campaigns.
Computergate grew out of the attorney general's "Bonusgate" investigation into how people connected to the House Democratic caucus used taxpayer money to reward employees who did political work.
But for some reason never followed such abuses in the senate in spite of ample evidence in the public domain, Frank Fina could not find, pursue, or seek out?
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