We don't know who leaked emails implicating Joe Paterno in a coverup of Jerry Sandusky's crimes, but we know of only one person who benefited from the leak: Tom Corbett.
Six days before CNN reported on the emails, the Altoona Mirror reported that the Regional Director of the Attorney General's State College Office admitted Corbett's obsessive investigation of the legislature created a shortage of investigators, impeding the effort to put Sandusky behind bars.
Corbett already was in the midst of a national campaign to defend once again the shocking, nearly 3-year length of the Sandusky investigation.
What were people saying before the emails were leaked?
ESPN:
"As Pennsylvania's attorney general, he investigated Sandusky for nearly two years but failed to make an arrest" ... Corbett had agressively pursued prosecution of sexual predators, "But this time, he assigned just one investigator to the Sandusky case, say lawyers with knowledge of the arrangement..."
"While the current Sandusky investigation was in its second year, Corbett spent much of his time focusing on the sweeping public corruption inquiry of Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg nicknamed “Bonusgate.” He also crisscrossed Pennsylvania campaigning for governor, pledging to cut runaway spending and 'restore trust in Harrisburg.' State campaign records show he accepted contributions of nearly $650,000 from current and past board members of Second Mile and their businesses."
Buzz Bissinger in The Daily Beast:
"...the way his office handled the investigation raises inevitable and legitimate questions about why an alleged sexual predator was allowed to remain at large for nearly three years while the grand jury investigated. The question of political considerations cannot be avoided.
"Not only that, but Corbett’s gubernatorial staff approved—yes, approved—a $3 million grant to Second Mile, the foundation for kids that, according to the grand jury, served as a repository for potential sex-abuse victims. Corbett knew about the grant and let it through last July for reasons that seem absurd.
"...in any case where authorities know of an alleged sexual predator believed to have committed a crime, the first obligation is to make an arrest. The risk of Sandusky committing another act against a minor child was too great to wait three years for a report,...
"...it’s no wonder that the ooze would eventually touch Corbett. Add him to the lengthening list of those who’ll have to scrub awfully hard to cleanse themselves of the stain."
Deadspin:
"Past And Present Board Members Of Sandusky’s Charity And Their Businesses Or Families Gave $641,481.21 To Gov. Tom Corbett"
The Nation:
"...the governor is far from an innocent bystander .. Although his office denies it, there are multiple confirmations that Corbett assigned no one from his office to follow up on the charges: just one state trooper, a state trooper “not authorized to bring charges against Sandusky.”
"In addition, when Corbett was sworn in as governor in 2011, he still had not informed the Second Mile Foundation that their founder was under investigation. Instead, as a candidate for governor, he took $650,000 in donations from members of the Second Mile’s unsuspecting board, even allowing the chairman to hold a fundraiser for his campaign.
"Upon being elected, Corbett then moved deftly from doing nothing to immediately trying to deflect the entire weight of the scandal onto Joe Paterno and Penn State itself, using his recently appointed position as a member of the school’s Board of Trustees (an automatic appointment for all Pennsylvania governors) to do so."
WJAC-TV:
“There have been allegations of political arm twisting and strong lobbying against lawmakers who have raised questions” about alleged “foot-dragging” on behalf of Corbett."
Philadelphia Weekly:
"...some have openly wondered whether Governor Tom Corbett, while he was attorney general of the state, did enough to investigate and prosecute the former Penn State football coach."
The Examiner:
"Corbett appears to have contradicted himself by stating that he wanted to keep a "hands-off" approach of the pending Sandusky investigation, despite the fact that Corbett was front and center in the firing of Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier late last year."
Philadelphia Daily News:
"Pennsylvania taxpayers have underwritten nearly $1.4 million in contributions to The Second Mille, the disgraced charity founded by convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky where testimony showed he groomed some of the boys he later molested. The taxpayer-subsidized donations — which support The Second Mile's summer camp and an annual Leadership Institute — come through a controversial scholarship program called the Educational Improvement Tax Credit..."
Disclosure of the emails successfully diverted attention away from Corbett's role in the scandal.
There are signs of hope, however, that it won't be forgotten. A Bloomsburg Press-Enterprise editorial this week headlined "Scandal questions surround Corbett," noted, "...no governor in memory has been enmeshed in a scandal as big, as emptional, as polarizing as the one that''s enveloped Penn State University since Sandusky's arrest. Corbett's involvement figures to be very much an issue in the 2014 gubernatorial race."
No question in any of the Mother's Victim's Hearts and Minds that a Federal Investigation needs to take place on how Corbett ignored these children during their horrible ordeal and peril, as ran for Governor.
ReplyDeleteThe Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office needs to be investigated under oath, and by an Independent Prosecutor with arrest and charges powers, so this never happens again.
Where are the decent people, dedicated professionals, and much needed honest characters to stand up and say, what Corbett did was wrong and needs to be inevstigated.
Where is your courage, hearts, and heads over such terrible practices of the AG Office?
Shame on all of you that know the truth, and keep silent, for your own jobs.
If it was so bad for Paterno, Spanier and others to conceal what they knew about Sandusky, and go about their business to protect the organization, was it not just as bad for Tom Corbett to bury his investigation into one of the most disutrbing criminal activities while he went about his business of raising money from Sandusky's charity pals and asking for support among Penn State supporters. Where was his crisis on conscience? Is it not worse for this white-hatted, tough on crime prosecutor to allow a child predator to roam free while Corbett reaped the benefits? THis man is a hypcrite through and through.
ReplyDeleteFederal agents search PA Cyber offices:
ReplyDeleteAgents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and two other federal agencies conducted a search today in the executive offices of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Midland, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Pittsburgh office.
The statement said PA Cyber “as an entity, is not a current target of this investigation.”
FBI agents carrying federal search warrants were joined by representatives of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division and the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office of Inspector General Investigation Services.
The Department of Justice statement did not identify the target of the investigation, or the purpose of the search at PA Cyber.
PA Cyber Charter School Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Conti said in a statement that the staff fully cooperated with federal agents and will continue to cooperate with the investigation.
"We have told our staff to do their best to concentrate on fulfilling their professional obligations to our students, while making sure that they comply with any further requests from government agencies involved in this investigation," he said.
PA Cyber, headquartered at 1200 Midland Ave., enrolled more than 11,000 students from across the state in the 2011-2012 school year.
PA Cyber was founded in 2000 by Nick Trombetta, then-superintendent of Midland School District. The organization overseeing PA Cyber and associated agencies was the subject of a state grand jury investigation in 2006 and 2007 into possible improprieties in operations. No charges have resulted from the investigation.
"We have traveled a road fraught with stumbling blocks since envisioning the idea back in the late 90s, but the rewards have been worth it," Trombetta said in a press release issued July 1 to mark his retirement as the chief executive officer at PA Cyber.
Several other locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio, unspecified in the statement, also were searched today by federal agents. The statement said today’s activity was part of an ongoing investigation.
Trombetta did not return a call for comment on the investigation.
Among the locations served with warrants was the Prence Certified Public Accountants firm, 2501 Second Ave., Koppel. Several agents from the FBI and Internal Revenue Service were seen entering the building Thursday morning, at least one was carrying collapsible cardboard boxes.
Special Agent Andrew T. Hromoko, a spokesman for the IRS criminal investigation division, was among the agents on the team in Koppel. He had no comment, except to say that the federal agents were working on official business.
A few red flags in this story, eh? Stay tuned for further developments.... Looks like Trombetta and Corbett will be joining Veon in the big house.
Courtesy of Mike Manzo!
Trombetta using public money to take all of his "important employees" and their families to Italy for a "working vacation" so they can bond and work better together, for starts.
ReplyDeleteTrombetta is very close with Corbett, so was Corbett Appointee Charlie Camp whose wife is hired by Trombetta, and the Campaign Contributions seemed the Grand Jury.
Now look at how Corbett is throwing money around and closing down schools.
He closed down the most endangered school in PA, to make sure his buddies (Trombetta and crew) got more money for Cyber Schooling.
I am NOT against Cyber Schooling.
It's good for some kids, but to force an entire district to close and make legislation that takes over schools had nothing to do with not wanting to pay for public schools.
It had everything to do with funneling money to his buddies.
Hmmmmmnnnnnnn, Looks like some people hired as relatives from Elected Officials in Beaver County may have some explaining to do on interlocking Board of Directors from the Schools Districts and PA Cyber School Corporate Boards hiring each other.
ReplyDeleteOnce the Grand Juries were over and Campaign contributions went to Corbett no Grand Jury Report was ever issued way back in 2005 and 2006.
Now we know the Freeh Report uncovered evidence AG Corbett and AG Kelly never discovered on Penn State proving the AG's Investigations were held up, flawed, and covered up Paterno & Spanier participations dating back to 1998 and 2001 Grand Jury Testimony, and never indicted by Corbett or Kelly.
Second Mile has not been investigated nor anyone indicted and they gave Corbett over $641,000 in Campaign Contributions and got a $3 Million Dollar Grant from Corbett.
Something smells here and it may be bigger than anyone knows, but Corbett got angry when the Press brought up him knowing about Sandusky but took 3 years to get him off the streets.
Now that Corbett allow Paterno & Spanier no Indictments but they knew, no way can Corbett claim he did the right thing by waiting 3 years too.
If Paterno knew in 1998 then Corbett knew in 2007, and Corbett needs investigated by a Special Prosecutor!
PA Cyber is another example of corbett's 'pay-to-not-play' pattern...trombetta was being scrutinized and the subject of a state grand jury. But some hefty campaign contributions to Corbett later, and all is forgotten/forgiven. I'm sure Kevin Harley would like to spin that into a coincidence, but there are a lot of similar coincidences over hCorbett's illustrious farce of a prosecutorial career.
ReplyDeleteThe Corbett Cover Up has now opened to include AG Office.
ReplyDeleteFor example, looks like the State AG's office has some explaining to do, especially relating to Jonelle Eshbach, the Senior Deputy Attorney General who interviewed Paterno an dgave him a pass on not knowing anything.
The Freeh Report in 8 Months did more than the AG Investigators did in 3 years.
Probably not a good idea to have a big fan be the investigator that's what caused this problem in the first place.
Maybe the State AG needs to bring in an outsider to re-conduct their investigations.
Freeh is probably available and shuld be appointed as that Independent Prosecutor needed to find the truth under Corbett's interest to allow Child Predators to remain on the streets while he ran for Governor.
Questions for Top Cover Up Corbett under oath:
ReplyDelete1. Where is Ray Gricar?
2. What did you know and when did you know it?
3. How much money did you receive from 2nd mile?
4. When did you know JS was a pedophile?
5. Why did you only assigned ONE Investigator to the entire time he was AG?
While Corbett had 40 people combing through Bill Deweese's underwear drawer, he had only ONE looking into what Sandusky was doing.
Say what you will about Bonusgate, but it sure wasn't a 40-1 favorite for anyone but Corbett.
Someone really needs to turn the spotlight on Corbett.
He deserves the same scrutiny he put other politicians under for being corrupt.
US Attorney Office, where are you??
The first thing the PSU BOT needs to do is remove Tom Corbett from the PSU BOT and call for an investigation of Tom Corbett behavior that allow this happen on his watch.
At least some of the BOT lied when interviewed by Freeh about Corbett's role.
ReplyDeleteWhat did he do? Say?
We know he took money from TSM.
We know he failed to take JS off the streets. Why?
No mention is made in the title, nor in the report itself, of the years of inaction in this case involving the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and the office of the Centre County District Attorney.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett for more than three years -- from at least 2008 to 2011 -- did little or nothing to protect Sandusky's young victims.
Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira got the Sandusky case in 2007.
Madeira also did nothing to bring charges for a year until he referred the case in 2008 to Corbett.
The ignored case sat in Corbett's office until 2011, while Corbett ran for governor, and while he took political contributions from (and later enabled) Sandusky's Second Mile Charity.
When DA Gricar vanished mysteriously in 2005, AG Tom Corbett strangely also refused to launch a serious investigation into that troubling development.
By hermetically sealing the perimeters of his investigation at the doors of Penn State, and refusing to ask the hard questions involving Gov. Corbett and other public officials beyond the gates of Old Main, former Director Freeh, himself a longtime political appointee, has raised more questions than he answers.
Why did Tom Corbett do nothing for three years?
ReplyDeleteWhy is Coach Paterno held to a different or higher standard than Governor Corbett?
The most troubling question of all remains:
Are state officials, and not children, protected in Pennsylvania?
CORBETT is the mastermind behind the inaction of the BOARD.
He was a stealth board member using his knowledge to misguide PENN STATE BOARD versus being proactive and taking immediately action with the information he had knowledge of and slows down the investigation just like he did for his senate buddies.
This man has abused his POWER AS A PUBLIC SERVANT...THOMAS CORBETT had a mindset that people need to serve HIM and his immoral conduct and behavior to prosecute this case for 4 years and 4 summers of crickets.
This MAN is the REAL MONSTER ALONG WITH Gerald Sandusky, Corbett used his experience to benefit politically, and he needs to BE RECALLED AND INVESTIGATED AND PUT IN PRISON.
Corbett Speak: "Everyone Has The Duty To Report Child Sex Abuse"
Corbett Translation: "If Your Plans Are Running For Governor You Don’t Have The Duty To Investigate And Prosecute Child Sex Abuse"
When will the one term governor learn to keep his mouth shut and when will the one term governor understand there are many PA citizens far smarter than he.
Typical politician accepts everyone to believe what he spoon feeds and the lies he spews from his mouth.
Corbett's lack of concern for the children being abused by Sandusky by being slow in his investigation is just another example of his lack of concern for other human beings.
He shows the same indifference towards uninsured people in PA and those who have problems with their well water due to fracking.
This monster's only interest has been to not tax gas companies. I hope he doesn't get re-elected.
Please GOD!
They knew of an investigation in 1998 that didn't lead to charges, but the leadership certainly knew that Sandusky, at least, bear hugged a naked kid in the shower.
ReplyDeleteFrankly a conviction in 2001 isn't what the problem is.
The problem is the University giving money and land to Sandusky for the 2nd mile, they allowed him full access to University facilities and allowed use for the 2nd mile.
They gave him Emeritus status after knowing of the 2nd accusation.
That's a pretty damn big issue.
The only person who told Sandusky not to take kids into the showers in 1998 was a detective.
Nobody from the University said that was not allowed; not then and not in 2001.
Would Sandusky have been convicted in 2001 if he was charged? Maybe.
Would the University and 2nd mile HAVE to take action to make sure it didn't happen again on their property, absolutely.
Other kids were molested/raped. Unfortunately that hangs on Spanier, Curley, Shultz, and Paterno and Corbett.
Corbett is appearing more arrogant and less of a true leader with every press conference and the press is not starting to smell blood but seeing it rush to Corbett face when confronted with questions he will not answer.
ReplyDelete"Corbett, who has been criticized for not leveling more urgency and resources to the Sandusky investigation while AG, lashed out at a reporter that asked that question as to whether the Freeh report had led him think whether he should have handled things differently.
'Why are you all obsessed with that,' he said."
But later admits he never read the Freeh Report?
Yet, still will not answer that simple question?
Fair question.
Is the answer, the reporter is obsessed with "that" for the same reason that Corbett, as Attorney General, would not accept a witness' answer on cross-examination without probing it further.
We, the people of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, no longer trust you, Tom.
That's why we question you, your judgment, and your record.
By the way, when you're being cross-examined, you don't get to ask the questions.
But of course you'll be reminded of that in your deposition. Have fun with that.
Who are the important figures not interviewed by Freeh?
ReplyDeleteCan someone confirm on the question marks?
Also, please add any you feel are missing.
In no particular order...
Joe Paterno
Karen Arnold
Ray Gricar
Tom Corbett
Linda Kelly
Frank Fina
Tim Curley
Gary Schultz
Mike McQueary
Cythia Baldwin?
Janitor #1
Janitor #2?
Gov. Corbett
Any members of the Board of The Second Mile
Wendell Courtney
Thomas Harmon
The ethos of fair play, honesty, doing the right thing, abiding by the same rules as everyone else, hard work, proper preparation, and decency in all our endeavors is lost on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett.
ReplyDeleteInsiders at the state attorney general's office speak of moral bankruptcy, blatant hypocrisy and raw politics in the AG's office under Corbett.
Tom Corbett misused the office of attorney general to win the Pennsylvania governor's office at any and all cost, by any means necessary, those around him say.
Part of the great cost paid, we now see in the Jerry Sandusky case, included the safety, dignity and well-being of children.
Tom Corbett's lack of sense of decency or character, his fundamental dishonesty, and basic incompetence were magnified by the political nature of the elected attorney general's office.
Not so clearly seen and spoken about is that Corbett, on his political run to the governor's office, would leave in tatters the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, and potentially the careers and reputations of the many good and dedicated people who work there.
Jerry Sandusky's kid glove treatment at the hands of diverse Pennsylvania institutions, from 1998 until late 2010, reveals a classic pattern of looking the other way. From at least 2009 onward, AG Tom Corbett would be the lead player in this culture of cover-up, shielding and confidentiality.
The bottom line is that Tom Corbett's personal misuse of the state AG's office to run for governor all but destroyed the morale and integrity of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
Previous to 1980 the AG was an appointed position. Elective politics have proven to be poison for the AG's office.
Most ironically, the staff of the AG's office has been left as helpless as the victims. No one working in the state AG's office seems to know where to turn for help, or how to explain to the public the deep problems.
Corbett, for his part, has doubtfully explained his failure to prosecute Sandusky.
It was the fault of a "slow grand jury," Corbett explains. Very slow indeed.
Corbett said, he wanted to make sure there was enough evidence before bringing a case.
But he did little to collect more evidence, and stymied the investigation.
Corbett in fact did next to nothing from early 2009 onward, when the Centre County DA Michael Madeira referred the case to him.
It was Tom all along and alone who was slow no one else.
It's apparent that the "one investigator," a state trooper, assigned to Sandusky's pedophile case, wasn't even actively investigating.
ReplyDeleteThe trooper was resigned to occasionally flipping through a dusty copy of Sandusky's book, Touched, that was stashed at his desk -- when he wasn't working on other cases.
The other side of the story wasn't all that was not being told.
A growing number of hard questions about Tom Corbett's personal misconduct were, and continue to be, ignored by the Patriot-News, and other corporate media.
What about the hypocrisy of Corbett using his AG's staff and resources for political ends?
Just how far did these political and prosecutorial abuses go? As the Romans used to say in their final days of Praetorian Guard corruption, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? "Who will guard the guardians themselves?"
Apparently Corbett's political opponents were supposed to be contrite and sorrowful that they were not members of Corbett's own protected Republican caucus.
So everyone mostly shut up and went along.
There were no opposition newspapers left to speak out against what critics say was, and is, going on in Pennsylvania. Dissenting voices found themselves drowned out, ignored, or threatened into silence.
The AG's office would be converted into a political machine for Tom Corbett.
The AG's office would be transformed from a respectable and independent law enforcement agency into an election-day power base.
Until like a bad seed hidden somewhere in the bowels of that in-all-but-name political election machine was a pedophile complaint mentioning Jerry Sandusky and a few of his long-suffering young victims, that no one at teh AG Office was listening or willing to do anything about until Mother's cries turn into some faint sounds of silence.
The farcical yet ultimately tragic canard that the Jerry Sandusky pedophile investigation languished in the AG's office for almost two years because it was before "a slow grand jury" is a disingenuous and ridiculous lie, associates of Tom Corbett say.
ReplyDeleteThe sad truth is it was before a slow attorney general who was running for governor.
AG office staff say perp walk photos, published by the Patriot-News, were a calculated part of AG Tom Corbett's campaign for governor.
The photo of Joe and Sue Paterno, thrown to the wolves in sudden disgrace, was placed in heavy rotation by the Patriot in its pages and on its website shortly before JoePa's death.
The reality is that, since 2007, a large percentage of grand juror time was devoted exclusively to "Bonusgate."
In Tom Corbett's election playbook and timetable, there would be little grand jury time for anything else, including sodomized children.
These "Bonusgate" grand jury sessions were scheduled purely to "Get Tom elected governor,"
Most everyone in the AG's office knew this, but could not openly say it in order to protect their jobs, and their careers in Pennsylvania law enforcement.
Instead, Orwellian-like Newspeak began to spill from the tongues of the AG staff.
Phrases like, "We're going to make another arrest by news conference today," were commonly heard.
The lack of prosecutor availability and oversight can also be seen as a method by which the AG's front office came to control, slow, or otherwise obstruct a hot-potato case involving even the most diligent state trooper or AG's office agent.
In the old days, agents and troopers ran the cases. They would consult with the deputy AGs mostly for matters like legal advice and warrants. For the most part, back then, investigators were in the driver's seat. They'd file charges, and the AG's office would follow through.
In 2003 all that changed.
A new policy for criminal investigations required agents and troopers to consult closely with a deputy AG for what was called the direction, scope and flow of a case.
AG Corbett's job and public trust to the people in the Sandusky case was to assign priorities and resources to the deputy AG to ensure the job was done.
That's precisely what Corbett did not do, and where Corbett fell down on the job.
I too continue reading everything I get my hands on when I can in an attempt to make sense of this.
ReplyDeleteIn my heart I pray that Joe Paterno will go down in history not as the winningest coach in football, but his legacy will show him as a kind caring man who looked after so many children.
He promised their mothers their boy would get a good education, would go o class, and he taught them to be role models.
As for Tom Corbett goes, I don't think even we the citizens of PA can do much to let the world see what he did.
But the world of cut throat politics that he lives and breathes...it is my hope that his peers will bring all of this out to the public come election time and we will NOT re-elect him.
And maybe the next AG will actually arrest him for violating the laws of hiding evidence. He had enough evidence to at least attempt bring a grand jury in, now it's time for someone to do a grand jury investigation on him.
If its not the Democrats that will de-throne him, maybe the Feds can
"In order for law enforcement to stay one step ahead of ... sexual predators the Office widened the scope of the Attorney General's task force into a larger, broader statewide Child Predator Unit," the AG's office website explains.
ReplyDelete"In January 2005, a dedicated Child Predator Unit was created using a group of specially trained agents and prosecutors across Pennsylvania to identify and capture ... predators before they can harm children," the webpage goes on to tell voters.
The webpage reminds us, "The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that one in five girls and one in ten boys are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood." Tom Corbett would do nothing to improve those statistics.
In 2011, in fact, the AG's office crowed that its hard-working Child Predator Unit had, since its inception in 2005, arrested 298 child predators. Jerry Sandusky would never be among the hundreds arrested by the unit.
"The Child Predator's Unit could have done a quick grand jury in two months' time back in 2009, arrested Jerry Sandusky like all the other predators and got him off the street."
But that never happened.
AG Corbett didn't seem to trust his own vaunted Child Predator Unit to handle the Sandusky case, or to get the job done.
Analysis: FBI Director Louis Freeh, state's results differ greatly. Why?
ReplyDeleteBy SARA GANIM, The Patriot-News
PHILADELPHIA -- Two days after Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexually assaulting children, state Attorney General Linda Kelly said Joe Paterno had done the right thing.
An internal report from Penn State University released Thursday laid blame for a culture of silence at the feet of the legendary coach, along with former President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Vice President Gary Schultz.
The report says they together created a culture of secrecy that started at the top and penetrated fear into anyone who dared go against the Happy Valley image.
The narrative they reached is one of a coverup, and is much different than the one given by a state grand jury — that Paterno did what he should have, and Curley and Schultz simply didn’t act enough.
Unlike the grand jury, the Freeh team had no ability to compel evidence and witnesses, and no threat of charges for those who didn’t comply.
So how could they have come up with such different results about who was to blame for Jerry Sandusky’s rampant abuse of young boys on campus?
Before the report was made public, it was clear the Freeh investigators had been more successful in burrowing into the traditionally closed university.
Freeh’s team found emails that the AG’s investigators couldn’t get. Freeh called those emails the “most important pieces of evidence in the case.”
Those emails and other correspondence, according to Freeh, helped the attorney general’s office correct the date of the infamous Mike McQueary incident from 2002 to 2001.
But that could be considered a minor technicality compared to the drastic difference in impressions of Paterno.
Freeh’s report concluded two critical things the attorney general has not said:
•That Joe Paterno did know about a 1998 police investigation into Sandusky’s behavior and followed it closely, even though he testified he hadn’t heard of allegations other than in 2001.
•That Spanier, Paterno, Curley and Schultz actively concealed similar allegations three years later in 2001.
Paterno had previously denied knowledge of the 1998 police investigation twice — first vaguely when he testified before the grand jury, and then directly eight days before his death in January during an interview with The Washington Post.
Until now, there was no evidence to challenge his word.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/analysis_fbi_director_louis_fr.html
State investigator was a fan
ReplyDeleteIf that was the culture that permeated Penn State, could it have affected the investigation by state attorney general’s office?
Jonelle Eshbach, the senior deputy attorney general who interviewed Paterno, several of Sandusky’s victims and Penn State officials when they appeared before the grand jury, has not been shy about her loyalty to the late coach.
After Paterno’s divisive firing, her Facebook page showed she took a survey about the board’s decision.
Her page says she answered that she would have let Paterno finish the 2011 season, then retire as he planned.
Freeh’s team concluded that Paterno’s firing was warranted.
Eshbach didn’t return a message at her office.
Attorney general spokesman Nils Frederiksen declined to comment on it.
He also declined to comment on AG Kelly’s supportive statement of Paterno in November.
As to why an internal Penn State-funded investigation found more than state investigators, Frederiksen said: “Look, we’ve said from the beginning there are individuals who sought to conceal information about this case, and it takes time to dig that information up.”
When she interviewed Paterno, Eshbach specifically told him to explain what he knew about the McQueary incident, “without getting into any graphic detail.”
She also never followed up when Paterno hinted that something about an earlier claim might have been discussed in his presence prior to that.
“You did mention — I think you said something about a rumor. It may have been discussed in my presence, something else about somebody,”
Paterno said at the grand jury. “I don’t know. I don’t remember. I could not honestly say I heard a rumor.”
While the state grand jury continues to meet, federal investigators are also investigating and appear to be focusing on areas the state’s case hasn’t gone — Penn State and The Second Mile.
The NCAA opened an inquiry, and the U.S. Department of Education is investigating Clery Act compliance.
The Louis Freeh report covers failures by responsible Pennsylvania State officials including former Attorney General, now Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, and former Center County District Attorneys and Pennsylvania department of welfare who could have prosecuted Sandusky because they received complaints years ago, and did not.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that these officials are not responsible for a cover-up?
It was their job to take action.
A Philadelphia jury recently convicted Monsignor Lynn of enabling pedophile within the church.
How is Sandusky any different?
As candidates for Attorney General and Governor , Tom Corbett received over $647,000 in campaign contributions from board members of the Second Mile Foundation headed by Sandusky, while only assigning one investigator to investigate Sandusky in 2008 after the case was sent to corbett's office.
Meanwhile, at the same time, he assigned 14 investigators to Bill Deweese, who spent more than 5 years trying to get him.
It is difficult to believe these campaign contributions did not improperly influence his decision to not file charges against Jerry Sandusky.
The State police trooper who initially handled the Clinton County case against Sandusky believed there was enough evidence from a teenage boy -- now known as Victim One-- to charge Sandusky with indecent assault, but was ignored by Corbett.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji7UQhr3z3M
After reading the Freeh report, here's what I want to know: How is it that some guy can walk in off the street, with no more authority than you or me to compel testimony or honesty, and come up with more information than Corbetts investigation and all the law enforcement in Centre County gathered in 14 years?
ReplyDeleteIn six months, Freeh has enough evidence to indict Curley, Shultz, AND Spanier, AND Paterno.
All his people did was ask questions and request information.
Why didn't Corbett and his crack investigators figure this out?
After reading Freehs report, doesn't Corbetts 'investigation' look a LOT more like a continuation of the coverup than anything else?
That would make Corbett guilty of obstruction of justice as Attorney General and as Governor.
Freeh said the most damning evidence was the emails about how to handle Sandusky after the 'Big Four' were told he was raping little boys on campus.
Why didn't any of the big time cops that worked for Corbett think to demand all the emails from Spanier, Curley. Shultz and Paterno after 1998, like Freeh did? Don't they know what email is? Are they going to say they're not very good cops?
Are they going to say they're dumb?
If someone is selling crack in your house and you know it, you're part of an operation to sell crack.
If a cop knows someone is selling crack from your house and doesn't do anything, the cop is part of the crack operation, too.
It's a criminal conspiracy.
The people at Penn State didn't just lie to a grand jury, they allowed Jerry to come over to their house and have sex with little boys.
They are equally guilty, just as if they themselves had sex with little boys.
Why isn't this being talked about by the Attorney General?
It's clear that there is no one in the Attorney Generals office or law enforcement in Pennsylvania that is honorable enough or capable of getting to the absolute truth in this.
The only way this will be resolved is if the Justice Department takes over the investigation. The truth will never come out as long as the investigation is being done by Pennsylvania law enforcement. Never.
You notice no one in Harrisburg is saying that.
If you want to know how Corbett would testify, just look at his past testimony. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsGvyoquw8A&feature=plcp
ReplyDeleteRonald Reagan strikes again.
Response to anonymous July 13, 2012 8:02 PM.
ReplyDeleteSomeone in Harrisburg is talking about it. There's legislation (albeit resolution) that calls for a federal investigation into the handling of it all.
You think Turzai will ever move it? Doubt he'll be putting that on his "done" list for party faithful.
Corbett most certainly did NOT spend "5 years trying to get" DeWeese. He quite deliberately did not go after DeWeese after DeWeese agreed to drop his legal challenges and voluntarily hand over self-selected evidence. Corbett only decided to "get" DeWeese in March of 2009, after newspapers revealed that he'd had smoking-gun evidence of DeWeese's involvement in the bonus scheme all along. The reason there were so many investigators assigned not just to DeWeese but to Perzel was because they were desperate to make indictments (and they had to indict a Republican before charging more Democrats, to appear even-handed) before the formal launch of his gubernatorial campaign. So, Corbett really spent only about eight months "trying to get" DeWeese. And it wasn't because of anything DeWeese had done, but because the public had found out what DeWeese had done - and that Corbett had known all along.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone ever going to review Corbett's actions/delays/refusal to answer press simple questions ?
ReplyDeleteAt least with respect to Sandusky. Was the DA that went missing in 2005 investigating anything related to Sandusky?
I thought I remembered reading that but am not sure anymore and those that have been engulfed in this probably can answer faster than google?
Was this just a coincidence?
The report ignores him and his responsibilities and that is by design.
I thought there would be a full review by a Federal Agency.
It seems, at this point, like the only way that stuff will be exposed is if he runs for president.
I just thought if the Governor is being accused of something off the cuff I thought this was an interesting twist to the plot.
So, inquiring minds still want to know...
ReplyDeleteIf Freeh says the Bd of Trustees is responsible because they didn't ask for more info, what about Trustee Tom Corbett who had the info? Shouldn't he have had some responsibility as a Trustee? Mr. Freeh avoids that issue.
If they were following evidence wherever it led, why absolutely no charges (Ds or Rs) in the State Senate? Very hard to believe.
Why the refusal to investigate what the Gov's own appointed Receiver calls "20 years of corruption" that drove Harrisburg into fiscal bankruptcy?
Why no major investigation into the Phila. Family Court Bldg., where the Supreme Court's lawyer wound up on both sides of the deal, and a Supreme Ct. Justice asked for big payments for her lawyer son?
Corbett has yet to answer the simple question why 3 years, why 1 one trooper, why no Child Predator Unit Investigation?
ReplyDeleteAnd that makes Corbett like JoePa you knew and did little when Corbett left for Governor, Acting AG Ryan launch the investigation not Kelly who was being confirmed, and when AG Kelly did take over she cover up Spanier & Paterno roles!
Kelly will not answer how Jonelle Escbach did not ask the right questions to Joe Paterno when he was lying under oath?
They thought they could away with it because no witnesses or evidence but them Freeh found the emails!
Kelly exocerated Paterno publicly before the sandusky trial, this never happens, but she did it, to cover up for her and Corbetts deal to cover Corbett's sins for her appointment.
Follow The Money.
This is all going to be intertwined - Penn State, the football program the political power seats and the Second Mile.
All of it is going to be intertwined and this is going to get MUCH uglier and a lot worse for a lot more people.
What about Free Tickets to Penn State Football Suites for Pennsylvania Legislators, Senators, and Judges that graduated from Penn State?
Congress is going to hold hearing on the penn State cover ups, why is our legislators not doing the same........maybe too many of them graduated from penn Satte and took free perks they do not want the nation to know about.
ReplyDeleteToo late, sooner or later this is coming out, a number of Journalists are on it!
It is start to (ship) your pants like JoePa Poopy pants did at one game in his career for some mighty powerful politicos in Pennsylvania.
As the Investigations continue to expand the entire 46 years of Paterno lies and cover ups with Penn State complicity of Non-Compliance and the involvement of covering up Child Rape to save Penn State from bad publicity along with involving investigations into Second Mile, PSU BOTS, and Title IX and Cleary Act, plus looking into Corbett's slow investigation, and Kelly's protecting Paterno in her own, along with PA legislators and Judges getting free tickets and protecting Penn State from earlier calls for an investigation.......as it spreads College Football may be regulated by the Feds sooner not later.
In a strange way, as the Republicans and Corbett decided to turn Ethical Rule Violations and Work rules Violations into crimes, they never thought in a million years it is coming back on them, over not investigating the Sandusky Rapes in a timely and proper manner.
ReplyDeleteBecause Corbett took money from Second Mile, and now what Corbett never did in investigating Republican Legislators and Senators is going to come back on him, as he turned the once trusted Attorney general Office intone his Campaign Crimes Bureau exemption of his own people to become Governor.
It is becoming a Greek tragedy, you put Veon, DeWeese, Stetler, and Prezel in jail over work rules as you cover up your own crimes, Mr. Corbett, like in Illinois get ready to join some Governors in jail.
The Count of Monte Carlo Revenge of Mike Veon and Brett Cott!
This is not Casablanca anymore, the beautiful friendship that began at the end of the movie is now being exposed, and the sequel is just starting!
Gotta just say we would all do well to leave the partisan comments out of this. Paterno and Corbett are both Conservative. I am too. I am all for replacing Corbett, and think he is probably guilty of crimes, but if people start making this partisan, I am not going to participate.
ReplyDeleteThe Feds should also include the Hershey School for Children in their investigation involving Corbett and his elite pals. They used some of the land next to the school to build a golf course for THEMSELVES and NONE of the children are allowed there. They also use the children there as unpaid SLAVES to cater their private parties.....and God only knows what else!!
ReplyDelete