Pete Decoursey went on to eviscerate Harley's bogus claim in a July 23rd column (subscription required). But the fact that it even occurs to Harley to spew such obvious nonsense is evidence of Corbett's clear confidence that his word is unlikely to be questioned.
Anyone who paid attention to the media coverage of Corbett's partisan propaganda exercise known as "Bonusgate" knows the grand jury leaked like a sieve.
CasablancaPA documented more than a dozen leaks to former Post-Gazette reporter, now high-ranking Corbett aide (what a coincidence!) Dennis Roddy, alone. Harley's straight-faced claim "there were no leaks" is a breathtakingly bold lie.
Harley claims as fact that none of those .... whatever he wants to call them, since "there were no leaks" - came from the Attorney General's office. How does he know? He doesn't, because no one ever tried to find out where they came from. And why didn't then-Attorney General Tom Corbett - who, DeCoursey noted, "is death on leaks" and "says often the letter of the rules must be followed" on grand jury secrecy - ever try to find out who was leaking grand jury information?
Apparently because -- despite the repeated and constant publication of intimate details from a grand jury -- no one ever claimed there were leaks.
Harley called on DeCoursey to "Name the leaks [Pssst! Over here!] and prove the attribution or back off that one.”
"I not only believe it to be true, I have multiple sources over the years from your past and present colleagues who said it to me," DeCoursey responded. "I stand by what I wrote.”
The question of whether the observations of convicts (or anonymous bloggers) are "b.s." in this case may be irrelevant, since DeCoursey - who is not a convicted criminal , as far as we know (though we suppose he could be an anonymous blogger; we never issued a subpoena to find out) - makes the same observation. And while we commend DeCoursey for practicing actual journalism in the face of obvious lies from Corbett's office, Harley's audacity is the direct result of getting away with lying far too often, for far too long.
27 comments:
Why did former FBI Director Louis Freeh conclude that legendary head football coach Joe Paterno was among top officials at the school who had a "total disregard for the safety and welfare" of Jerry Sandusky's child victims and that Paterno had known as long ago as 1998 that Sandusky might be a pedophile?
And why are Freeh's conclusions about Paterno so much more damning than the initial statements from state Attorney General Linda Kelly, who said Paterno had done what he should concerning Sandusky?
According to Sara Ganim of Harrisburg's The Patriot News:
— "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 helped Freeh conclude 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."
— And, the emails helped Freeh conclude that Paterno and three other top Penn State officials "actively concealed similar allegations three years later in 2001" when a graduate assistant told Paterno he had seen Sandusky assaulting a young boy in a Penn State shower.
Also, as Ganim notes, "those emails and other correspondence, according to Freeh, helped the attorney general's office correct the date of the infamous Mike McQueary incident [the shower assault reported by McQueary] from 2002 to 2001."
All in all, she writes, it's clear that "the Freeh investigators had been more successful in burrowing into the traditionally closed university."
The main players in the Penn State scandal:
JERRY SANDUSKY
Role: Former assistant football coach and founder of The Second Mile charity for children, convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period.
Status: Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts and he is in jail, awaiting sentencing. He faces the possibility of life in prison.
___
DOTTIE SANDUSKY
Role: Married to Jerry Sandusky.
Background: Dottie Sandusky has stood by her husband, posting his bail, accompanying him to court proceedings and issuing a statement in December that proclaimed his innocence and said accusers were making up stories. She wasn't charged. She testified June 19 on her husband's behalf.
___
GRAHAM SPANIER
Role: Penn State's longtime president, he was forced out by university trustees after Sandusky's arrest in November but remains a tenured faculty member.
Background: An investigation led by ex-FBI director Louis Freeh concluded that Spanier failed in his duties as president by not informing the board of trustees about the allegations against Sandusky or about the subsequent grand jury investigation. Spanier told investigators he wasn't notified of any criminal behavior by Sandusky during his 16 years as president. He has not been charged with any crime.
___
LOUIS FREEH
Role: Leader of an investigative team tasked with determining how the abuse occurred and recommending changes, as well as reviewing Penn State's handling of sex crimes and misconduct
Background: Freeh, a former federal judge who spent eight years as director of the FBI, was hired by Penn State's board of trustees in June. His firm produced a 267-page report that said Spanier, longtime football coach Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz "repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse."
___
TIM CURLEY
Role: Penn State athletic director, on leave while he fights criminal charges for actions related to the Sandusky scandal.
Background: Curley fielded a complaint about Sandusky in a team shower with a boy in early 2001, and told a grand jury he instructed Sandusky not to be inside Penn State athletic facilities with any young people.
Charges: Failure to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury for lying to the grand jury. He wasn't on trial with Sandusky, denies the allegations and is seeking to have the charges dismissed. Freeh's report concluded that Curley and others at Penn State concealed child sex abuse allegations against Sandusky.
___
GARY SCHULTZ
Role: Penn State vice president for business and finance, now retired.
Background: Schultz told the grand jury that head coach Joe Paterno and assistant Mike McQueary reported the 2001 shower incident "in a very general way" but did not provide details.
Charges: Failure to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury for lying to the grand jury. He wasn't on trial with Sandusky, denies the allegations and is seeking to have the charges dismissed. Freeh's report said Schultz was among the Penn State officials who hid child sex abuse allegations against Sandusky.
___
MIKE MCQUEARY
Role: Assistant Penn State football coach. Was a graduate assistant in 2001, when he says he witnessed Jerry Sandusky and a boy naked together in a team shower. McQueary took his complaint to Paterno, who alerted university administrators.
Background: McQueary testified in court June 12 that he had "no doubt" Sandusky was having intercourse with the boy.
___
JOE PATERNO
Role: The longtime football coach was told by McQueary in 2001 that he saw Sandusky and Victim No. 2 in a shower on the Penn State campus and, in turn, told Curley and Schultz.
Background: The head coach at Penn State from 1966 through 2011, and major college football's winningest, he offered to resign at the end of the 2011 season amid the uproar after Sandusky's arrest Nov. 6. The Penn State Board of Trustees, however, ousted him for what was called his "failure of leadership" surrounding allegations about Sandusky. He died of lung cancer Jan. 22. Freeh said Paterno "was an integral part of this active decision to conceal" the abuse and that his firing was justified. Paterno's family responded that he didn't cover anything up and didn't know Sandusky was a pedophile.
___
SUE PATERNO
Role: Married to Joe Paterno for almost 50 years, she raised five children with him and passionately defended her husband during the scandal and after he died. She was among the Sandusky defense team's potential trial witnesses but wasn't called to the stand.
___
TOM CORBETT
Role: Now the governor of Pennsylvania, he was attorney general when the investigation into Sandusky was launched by state prosecutors.
Background: Corbett is an ex-officio member of the Penn State Board of Trustees, although he did not actively participate until after Sandusky was charged in December.
___
LINDA KELLY
Role: Pennsylvania attorney general, whose office prosecuted Sandusky.
Background: A career prosecutor in the Pittsburgh area, Kelly inherited the Sandusky probe from Corbett when she was confirmed as his temporary successor as attorney general. She leaves office in January.
___
JACK RAYKOVITZ
Role: Former CEO of The Second Mile, the charity Jerry Sandusky founded.
Background: Raykovitz led the charity for almost 30 years and was a longtime friend of Sandusky's. Raykovitz testified before the grand jury that recommended indicting Sandusky on child abuse charges. He resigned from The Second Mile soon after the scandal broke, and board members later complained that Raykovitz hadn't told them enough about earlier allegations against Sandusky.
Elected Republican politicians have controlled the Executive Offices of the Office of the Attorney General OAG) for over 32 years.
OAG is no longer a law enforcement institution, it is a powerful unchecked political organization using prosecutors to fulfill unchecked political ambition.
Leaks occur when politicians want to taint a potential jury pool so as to guarantee convictions. It is the potential jury pool that is the target.
We must end this 32 year Republican control of the Attorney General's Office.
Lots to check up on. Why such a sloooow investigation of Sandusky? Why essentially NO investigation of the State Senate? Why ignore complaints about Senator Jane Orie? Remember when everyone arrested was handcuffed behind their backs because that was the standard policy (but only for some Democrats)? How did DeWeese escape bonusgate indictment? Why no obstruction charges about the passel of e mails found after the first set of indictments? Why arresst aides to Veon, but not DeWeese (or Stetler) who did the very same thing? Why did some people lose pensdions, and others have charges reduced to misdemeanors or dismissed altogether, after they admitted guilt? All very strange.
Impeachment according to the PA Constitution.
...."any misbehavior in office."
The public must demand action from their member of the state House of Representatives.
If Gov. Corbett & his henchmen think no one has accused OAG of leaking during Bonusgate, he ought to take a look at Twitter!
The "High Crime" here is jury manipulation by Corbett, Harley and his OAG prosecutors.
Will The Keystone Cops PAOAG Prosecutors Do A Proper Investigation Follow Up On Second Mile or Will Linda Kelly Cover Corbett's Butt!?
Sabres Owner Says Penn State Scandal Is “Not About Covering Your Ass” Before Covering His Ass About Hiring Second Mile Board Member
You might wonder what Terry Pegula, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres, has to do with the Jerry Sandusky investigation.
More than Terry Pegula would like you to believe. Pegula, who gave $88 million to Penn State last year to build a hockey arena and start a D1 hockey program, was in the news recently, talking about how PSU officials have "got to come clean."
Here's some of what he said:
This is not about covering your ass.
Telling the truth now will go a long way towards getting everyone through this.
If there's going to be a blind allegiance to anyone or anything here, it needs to be the university and to the truth...that's how we get to the bottom of what happened, that's how we get our image back.
The truth, eh?
Pegula might start looking for it by talking to Cliff Benson, whom he hired this October as the Sabres chief development officer.
Benson had been working informally as a senior adviser to the team and is described in other media reports as Pegula's "confidante."
But he is also on the board of The Second Mile. He has been since 2009.
Last week, the Sabres website listed his role at the charity as "finance chair":
This week, the Sabres covered their fat collective ass and removed all references to The Second Mile from Benson's profile.
Maybe Benson didn't know anything.
Maybe he did.
I couldn't get through to anyone at the Sabres main number.
Doesn't anyone want to come clean?
Remember, when AG Kelly public exocerated Paterno as doing the right thing, only to look silly when Freeh Report proved otherwise?
LINJK
http://deadspin.com/5861976/sabres-owner-says-penn-state-scandal-is-not-about-covering-your-ass-before-covering-his-ass-about-hiring-second-mile-board-member
I found it interesting that penn state had a private plane routinely used by people like jopo and sandusky. There were rumors that some of these poor victims were pimped out to other pedophiles and a private plane flying out of a little commuter airport would be ideal. Has any one investigated this thoroughly?
The good news the FAA makes all flights recordable and has records of all flights and for what purpose and who flew, any short invetsigation can uncover many crimes leading back to those that used the children.
Of course Corbett's State Trooper Investigator never looked into it, nor the sterling AG Linda Kelly that publicly said Paterno did the right thing, only to be red-faced when FBI Freeh Report Emails made her and the PAOAG look stupid?
The Patriot-News (March 9) reported that our governor, Tom Corbett, wished Joe Paterno would have done more after reporting to university officials on the child molestation concern.
How about having an investigative journalist start an inquiry on why Corbett did not do more when he was attorney general, since this has been on record since at least 2002? A child molestation case should have been looked into deeply by his office, especially one that took place in our state university.
It looks like Corbett should be careful when pointing blame to others
Are we going to allow Corbett to ride this out and get away with his incompetence?
Let's hear some chatter out there!!!
As one of the Jerry Sandusky Second Mile tri-state (PA-NJ-NY) pedophile ring victims 1977-1980 who actually had and lived first hand knowledge regarding the "Real" pedophile activities of what was going on at The Second Mile foundation in the early days.
I can honestly say that Joe Paterno & other Penn State officials had very little to do with the "BIGGER" criminal picture.
Back in 2011 I had information regarding my Sandusky TSM accusations and was never called to testify during the Sandusky trial in adition to being 'Blackballed" from all news associated with the Sandusky trial.
In closing I am very dissapointed that TSM victims from the 1970's & 1980's have decided to "$$$ Civially Lawyer Up $$$" and not honestly speak up as to date what really occured during the 1970's & 1980's.
Its my educated guess since Joe Paterno & Penn State have "$$$ Deeper Pockets $$$" The "REAL" truth may never be honestly told?
POSTED LINK BY Greg Bucceroni:
UNDER COMMENTS:
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/08/09/prosecutors_in_sandusky_case_want_out_of_appeal.aspx
CBS NEWS
August 10, 2012 3:34 PM
Feds probe possible Sandusky child porn ring:
CBS/AP) U.S. Postal inspectors are leading a federal investigation into whether former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky shared child pornography with other individuals, CBS News has learned.
Analyzing a computer seized from Sandusky, investigators are also looking into whether he sent "seductive letters" across state lines for sexual purposes. Some of these letters were said to be sent to some of his sexual abuse victims.
The investigation, which was launched at the beginning of the year, is being carried out of the U.S. Postal Inspectors office in Harrisburg, Pa. and the U.S. Attorney Office of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Sandusky, Penn State's defensive coordinator during the program's best years, was arrested in November on dozens of child sex abuse charges. He was convicted in June of 45 criminal counts.
How did Tom Corbett and Linda Kelly miss the evidence of the pedophile ring exposed by the Feds? Our latest AGs are an insult to the citizens of PA. Corbett was too busy collecting campaign contributions and using a state driver to get to and from the political events.
Republican Majority Leader Mike Turzai, stand up and introduce legislation to impeach Corbett for "misbehavior in office." The Senate is charged with the Impeachment Trial. Let the truth be told.
Perhaps the public will forgive Turzai for the Voter ID gaff if he brings charges against the Governor.
We honor those citizens who disclose the truth and help our state return to the position of the "Keystone State."
And the leaks continue. Could it be the leaks are from the AG and are used to influence the jury pool?
There are several trials and sentencing hearings coming up.
It is hard to believe the Feds would leak since they are much more hard core about the law than the Office of the Attorney General.
Corbett and Harley are dangerous to our government. Let the Feds lay out the case regarding Corbett.
1. The Second Mile
2. The Second Mile
3. The Second Mile
Why would a politician (Corbett) risk everything by taking money from the Board of the Second Mile when he knew some of the Board was aware of the Sandusky charges. Looks like Corbett lied about this issue.
Why would a politician (Corbett) approve a grant for the Second Mile and then rescind it. Sounds like a payoff for campaign contributions.
Corbett refuses to raise taxes. Perhaps he is like minded in approving the $2 million grant to TSM for campaign donations before he disapproves the grant due to legal concerns involving an ongoing investigation.
This is pathetic. Our state needs a clean break regarding our law enforcement establishment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/08/13/jerry-sandusky-booster-sex-abuse-private-plane_n_1772564.html?icid=hp_front_popular_art
The photo at the head of this story shows the leaks on one side of the bucket. What you don't see are the "destroyed leaks" on the other side of the bucket.
Check Mike Dawson's Centre Daily Times story of Judge Hoover ordering OAG to preserve all the testimony of the witnesses.
Not all PA Judges believe that all the testimony of witnesses is important. OAG starts the "game" with a 10 run lead.
CentreDaily.Com
Trial for Penn State administrators Tim Curley, Gary Schultz set for January; paragraph 4.
Is Corbett winning the media war?
The leaks influence the jury pool.
Follow the Presidential Campaign news accounts. All elected officials tell their constituents (voters) about their successes and their hard work.
David Freed recently reported his drug busts in Carlisle and used it for a campaign fundraiser letter. AG Tom Corbett used his state PR Department to increase his press events in 2008 and 2010.
Corbett and his prosecutors have sent people to jail for doing this. The remaining two Orie sisters are about to face charges identical to Corbett's MO.
Are the Feds working on this and the Sandusky debacle? Who will save this state from the hypocritical
politician in the Governor's Office?
Tom’s Top Twelve Tall Tales: Tale #4
Posted by By Timothy Dewald at 18 April, at 07 : 56 AM
http://www.rockthecapital.com/04/18/tom%E2%80%99s-top-twelve-tall-tales-tale-4/
Governor Tom tells tall tales. Here is Here is Tom’s Top Twelve Tall Tale Number Four – Hey, at least I was a great Attorney General.
Let’s examine the evidence, Mr. Attorney General.
It took the Feds to nail Fumo.
Attorney General Corbett also seems to have missed the Orie sisters, Republican State Senator Jane and her sister Janine.
They are standing trial on charges they directed state paid staffers to illegally do campaign work for third sister Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin.
Attorney General Corbett was asleep at the switch for the Orie sisters.
It took Allegheny District attorney Stephen A. Zappalla to bring the Ories to justice.
http://www.rockthecapital.com/04/18/tom%E2%80%99s-top-twelve-tall-tales-tale-4/
State attorney general candidates want to review Sandusky case:
http://blog.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2012/08/has_you_enthusiasm_for_penn_st.html#incart_hbx
fferter 6
Glad the above poster pointed to the HPN editorial board meeting where Freed says he will investigate how the Sandusky case was prosecuted. No mention in the article, though, of how this is an about-face from his previous position. Can you say political expediency???
Can't wait for AG Kane to haul Tommy and that arrogant snit Harley before the grand jury and show them what a proper use of the gran jury process is...
I wish somebody would ask Corbett about the involvement of that toothy tool, Jeb Wagner.
Sorry, who is Jeb Wagner? Was he involved with Second Mile, AG or Governor's Office?
Wagner was a former state employee who was an unmitigated failure…he was a key player in Bonusgate, but was never called to testify due to his protruding mandible.
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