Yesterday, Rep. Tim Briggs attempted to use a parliamentary maneuver to force the House to vote on a resolution calling for a review of Tom Corbett's shockingly lengthy investigation of child rapist Jerry Sandusky. Rather than follow procedure and debate HR 520, which Republicans have kept bottled up in committee for nearly a year, Speaker Sam Smith abruptly shut down proceedings and House Republicans fled the chamber.
Now with a solid majority in the House, Republicans have more than enough votes to defeat the resolution and maintain their wall of silence on the politics behind Corbett's inexcusable delay.
But despite trotting out their spokesman to make their lame excuses, Republicans don't have the courage of their purported conviction. If HR 520 is bad policy, as their spokesman claims, why not simply vote it down and move on?
Because Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Corbett handled the Sandusky case, and they desperately want answers to the questions behind the years-long delay.
The conundrum House Republicans now face is how to protect their party's leader from scrutiny that would reveal Corbett's shockingly self-serving and callous motivation for putting the investigation of a child rapist on the back burner, while still protecting themselves from consequences of an unpopular vote.
But, as the song goes: if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. A vote to kill the resolution probably would've made House Republicans appear slightly less ridiculous than fleeing the chamber in terror did.
In March 2009, when the original Sandusky complaint landed on Corbett's desk, the Office of Attorney General was reeling from the public revelation of a "smoking gun" email implicating House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese in awarding taxpayer-funded bonuses for campaign work.
Any examination of Corbett's actions at that point in history would inevitably lead to the reason why DeWeese had not been charged in the "Bonusgate" scandal - a shady "negotiation" between Corbett and DeWeese that resulted in DeWeese turning over thousands of documents and e-mails to implicate others while abandoning a legal crusade to quash subpoenas and exclude evidence in the case. DeWeese previously had vowed to fight "all the way to the Supreme Court" and the legal wrangling could've taken a year or more.
In 2007, Corbett made a political decision to spare DeWeese in the "Bonusgate" investigation so he could make a splashy indictment in time for the 2008 elections. In 2009, Corbett made a political decision to pursue DeWeese - instead of Sandusky - so he could make a splashy indictment in time for the 2010 election.
As a result of those political decisions, a child rapist remained on the street for years. Whether Corbett ever has to face the consequences of his craven self-dealing depends in part upon the willingness of House Republicans to continue to act as human shields.
Now with a solid majority in the House, Republicans have more than enough votes to defeat the resolution and maintain their wall of silence on the politics behind Corbett's inexcusable delay.
But despite trotting out their spokesman to make their lame excuses, Republicans don't have the courage of their purported conviction. If HR 520 is bad policy, as their spokesman claims, why not simply vote it down and move on?
Because Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Corbett handled the Sandusky case, and they desperately want answers to the questions behind the years-long delay.
The conundrum House Republicans now face is how to protect their party's leader from scrutiny that would reveal Corbett's shockingly self-serving and callous motivation for putting the investigation of a child rapist on the back burner, while still protecting themselves from consequences of an unpopular vote.
But, as the song goes: if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. A vote to kill the resolution probably would've made House Republicans appear slightly less ridiculous than fleeing the chamber in terror did.
In March 2009, when the original Sandusky complaint landed on Corbett's desk, the Office of Attorney General was reeling from the public revelation of a "smoking gun" email implicating House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese in awarding taxpayer-funded bonuses for campaign work.
Any examination of Corbett's actions at that point in history would inevitably lead to the reason why DeWeese had not been charged in the "Bonusgate" scandal - a shady "negotiation" between Corbett and DeWeese that resulted in DeWeese turning over thousands of documents and e-mails to implicate others while abandoning a legal crusade to quash subpoenas and exclude evidence in the case. DeWeese previously had vowed to fight "all the way to the Supreme Court" and the legal wrangling could've taken a year or more.
In 2007, Corbett made a political decision to spare DeWeese in the "Bonusgate" investigation so he could make a splashy indictment in time for the 2008 elections. In 2009, Corbett made a political decision to pursue DeWeese - instead of Sandusky - so he could make a splashy indictment in time for the 2010 election.
As a result of those political decisions, a child rapist remained on the street for years. Whether Corbett ever has to face the consequences of his craven self-dealing depends in part upon the willingness of House Republicans to continue to act as human shields.
Too much stuff in this country gets boiled down to party politics.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder we are circling the drain as a society.
When one party starts to put other party members in prison forv crimes all parties and candidates did, then expect blowback anytime and the time has come upon Corbett, the Prosecutors, and Senate Caucuses to be investigated.
Asked this in another thread but may have been buried...If Madiera had not had the conflict of interest with his wife's brother being adopted by Sandusky would this whole investigation have stayed within Centre County or would it have most likely gone to the AG anyway?
I'm not familiar with how the procedures work, but the smell is awful and at least a Special Prosecutor is needed now.
Madiera did not have to forward to AG - that was his choice.
ReplyDeleteHe cited the conflict as his reason, but he was not required to forward it; he could have investigated and prosecuted.
BTW, you skipped a step - the Clinton County CYS Office report and criminal case was originally forwarded to the Clinton County DA.
For unknown reasons, the Clinton County DA forwarded the case to Madeira (the Centre County DA).
This has never been investigated by Corbett's Investigators either, but once under oath, they cannot hide everything.
Given that the child went to school in the Clinton County School District and The Second Mile and its founder were in Central Mountain High School via a formal relationship with the Clinton County CYS Office (which that office severed on the same day they received and submitted V1's report of abuse), it is baffling why the Clinton County DA would forward the case anywhere.
He basically claims that he forwarded the case to Madeira because The Second Mile headquarters is in Centre County (downtown State College) and some of the victim's allegations took place in Centre County (but many of them took place in Clinton County and, in fact, took place right in Central Mountain High School).
In any event, Madeira did not have to forward the case to the AG if he felt there was CREDIBLE EVIDENCE supporting the allegations.
He claimed he did it because of "conflict", but had he looked into matters and seen how much credible evidence there was, that conflict is irrelevant to him prosecuting a crime.
There is no rule that says you should forward all prosecutions and investigations to the AG just because a DA has a tangential relationship with the suspect and knows him.
So if somebody robbed a bank and the bank has the suspect on video, Madeira couldn't prosecute the case if he recognizes the person and knows who they are???
I'm sure Madeira knows most of the successful people in State College associated with The University or The Second Mile, that doesn't mean he can't investigate and prosecute them when they commit crimes (especially when the Centre County DA's Office had a formal investigation in 1998 and it clearly was not as big a secret as Madeira claims).
In any event once Senate Staffers, AG Prosecutors, AG Staffers, and AG Investigator go under oath, the truth will come out especially with Immunity offerred to a few.
Then Corbett and some Senate Former Staffers and AG personnel will Lawyer Up, and the truth will come out.
This is what Stan Smith is trying to delay and cover up.
Wow, so Democrats aren't always wrong!
ReplyDeleteThey always pander to whatever special interest they think will get them elected.
But at least in this case they aren't wrong.
It's still a tough pill to swallow because all the negative a Democrat will do has to be balanced with the possible good.
Had a blurb about it on the news this AM, and seemed to focus more on the governor than anything else, which of course is accurate.
Their presentation is that the house speaker ran from the issue, and is afraid of something, and now an investigation should happen.
The heat is starting to build.
My fellow Republicans are covering for Corbett.
ReplyDeleteWhy?
We want the truth.
We've already gotten the BS version from Freeh, the BOT, Erickson and Emmert.
What is everyone trying to hide?
And what specific NCAA rule did Penn State violate that has never been named?
In a way, the Democrats had to know that the Republicans would do what they did when the Sandusky investigation was brought to the floor.
ReplyDeleteIt's the natural Republican Party reaction when their own kind is threatened with the meat grinder of an investigation.
Republicans are playing the party line to protect their own, especially Smith that got a break from Corbett's Investigators and Prosecutors when he signed the Illegal contracts.
That's part of the benefit of the party system--blind protection.
The representatives in the State House have to know that public opinion in this state is turning against the Corbett Administration because of the way the Sandusky case has been handled.
There are A LOT of PSU Alumni in this state, as to be expected, many of whom are fairly affluent and are not afraid to voice their opinions in state politics with their wallets and influence.
By politicizing the issue the way the Democrats have done, is want the public wants now too due to the NCAA Sanctions.
The most common way to cover up government corruption is for Congressional leaders to form a "bipartisan" committee to investigate the questions raised by the public since most corruption is not limited to a political party.
In this manner, the facts examined and the questions asked can be effectively controlled by those who are actually a part of the corruption.
In other words, state and federal officials are really good at "Warren Commission-ing" the people and they make these self-regulated investigations a regular practice on the national and state levels to cover up for their iniquities.
My guess is that a lot of Republicans would be horrified by the extent our Governor is involved in a cover-up of Sandusky and the 2nd Mile's activities.
Will we ever find out?
The credibility of our state government is at stake, in my opinion.
If they form a committee and the issue is BS'ed away and disappears, then as far as I am concerned, that would be an admission that high ranking officials from both parties were involved in covering up the many, many failures of state and local governments and law enforcement officials to stop what was happening on Sandusky and Bonusgate and Computergate.
In fact, I will even go as far as to claim that any number of elected officials and the judicial and bureaucratic cronies around them are participants in pedophilia and pedophilia rings.
When you're corrupt and into politics, one becomes controlled by the most vile interests one can imagine in order to maintain power.
A LOT of heads should roll in our government over this entire affair...but do I expect that to happen?
LOL No. Look how slow teh AG is working on avoiding Spanier being indicted or never being indicted?
When you have the press and the upper hierarchy of law enforcement on your side, you can get away with just about anything.
But one thing that they cannot control is one revealtion that can bring them all down, and once that coems out, they will all go down, by running and asking for Immunity before others get it.
I was in session as an observer yesterday when this occured. And I must me honest;
ReplyDeleteSam Smith, instead of trying to sweep the mess under the carpet I ask that you do the right thing and remember that boy in the shower.
The democratic leadership introduced a resolution that had not gone through committee and had not been put on the calendar by the Speaker.
Don't become an accomplice in this cover-up.
If Paterno could be fired for 'not having done enough' shouldn't the same hold true for the then Attorney General in charge of investigating Sandusky?
I sat in that gallery anticipating a resolution to pass without a problem but Smith ended it in such a way, an investigation must take place now.
Why did Corbett drag his feet and why did he protect The Second Mile?
Was it because of campaign contributions?
I believe the answer is I do not know but it smells of a yes, and why an investigation will uncover the truth.
Tom Corbett sold out that boy in the shower for a price.
He needs to do the right thing and step down.
As a tax payer, they work for me, I expect the same from my elected officials and Smith is now covering up crimes that need to be investigated for betterment of the Commonwealth.
There was absolutely no reason for the investigation to take as long as it did.
ReplyDeleteIf this had involved an individual and an organization without such political connections, he or she would have been tried in 2008, 2009 at the latest.
And, during the interceeding period, Sandusky seemed to enjoy unfettered contact with children.
It doesn't matter if it was a screw up or something more sinister, the investigation and the investigators should be investigated.
If PA ends up electing David Freed, then that will be the last we'll hear of it, along with the dormant investigation of the Hershey Trust under Freed's father-in-law's, LeRoy Zimmerman, chairmanship.
Among other things..Vote Kane!!!...Odd how the republicans always work the hardest to keep the AG's office to the point of throwing away the other row offices.
It would not surprise me if there's alot more than this thats been covered up in that office. You have to laugh at Corbetts spokesman and his self righteous bullsh-t about 'playing politics'....
Corbett fooled me once, he won't fool me again. He has many many questions to answer. Let the investigation begin!...
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Constitution of Pennsylvania, Governors can be impeached for "Misbehavior in Office." The question is, has Corbett misbehaved in office?
ReplyDeleteAn investigation must be called to satisfy the alleged conflict of interest between Corbett's responsibilities as the chief law enforcement officer in the Commonwealth and his political ambitions.
Yesterday, Oct 3, appears that Speaker of the House Sam Smith viewed the Discharge Resolution as the first step in the impeachment process and chose to turn out the lights and run for cover.
Please talk to your elected Representative of the state House of Representatives and demand a vote on the discharge resolution.
The facts will eventually disclose that a 32 year run of Republican Attorney Generals has given the state an ingrained culture of law enforcement corruption.
The citizens of Pennsylvania are not safe tonight from the corrupt
arms of the Office of the Attorney General. Shocking, but true!!!
Did anyone hear Corbett's press event today? TC sounded like Gary Hart, challenging anyone to provide evidence of his lengthy Sandusky investigation. Let's count the ways:
ReplyDeleteFirst. One investigator on the job for 18 months.
Second. TC stated publically he took a chance that Sandusky would not commit additional child abuse crimes during the period of the investigation.
Third. TC broke all ethical standards by interacting with and accepting donations from the Second Mile and PSU BOT while he was investigating Sandusky. He was acting as a politician and not an Attorney General.
Fourth. TC publically announced a grant to The Second Mile for several million dollars and then rescinded the approval.
Fifth. Corbett ran for Governor. There is no way an Attorney General can do his job while traveling around the state shaking hands and listening to issues that have no bearing on his job.
Sixth. TC had to raise millions of dollars while on the job for the state. How much time was spent daily to accomplish this requirement.
Seventh. Corbett stated the addition victims came forward after he became Governor. Could it be that the victims did not come forward until the case had a full compliment of investigators and prosecutors who were actually doing an investigation.
Corbett's disdain for the Democrat candidate for AG proves she is the only person willing to investigate the Sandusky prosecution and expose the political influence from TC.
If Corbett's prosecutors presented the above evidence to a Central Pennsylvania Jury, as he has done so many times in the past few years, Corbett would be guilty and the House of Representatives could start impeachment proceedings.
Thanks Tom for proving that the state needs Kathlene Kane as AG.
Right up until win # 409, PSU and the other co-conspirators were covering up this mess trying to find ANOTHER way to stop the crime from being exposes.
ReplyDeleteYes, Corbett is in the middle of this mess.
Any person in his position at state attorney general would have placed the PROPER amount of resources to pursue this case.
They assigned one person and that was after they had evidence which would have put any person behind bars.
Corbett allowed this to continue until he got into governors office.
He knew if he indicted PSU, he would lose the election.
The former President of PSU is also hiding some evidence or other transgressions.
This is not over. If Corbett thinks heb can just give out statements now with Harley his Monkey mocking everyone, he is mistaken.
I hope the Paterno's keep up with thier claims of innocence.
CULT? Conspiracy? Cover-up? Corruption?
This has it all........And it is not over by a long stretch.
This whole mess could so easily come back and involve him, it's not even funny.
ReplyDeleteOne reporter or investigator does about 4 hours of research and Corbett and many others get mixed up in this.....Can't believe it hasn't happened yet.
Corbett says let them have an investigation but on the other hand he and his allies block it.
This is all real dirty. None of them realized how bad Jerry was.
It was politically expedient to just throw it all under the rug.
No amount of Glade Air Freshener shuffling, or "THON") will stop the stench.
Sadly, with Jerry's sentencing, the much of the media appears to have moved on.
Hopefully that fearless and inspired reporter from Harrisburg will dig in her heals.
This whole story is far from over.
I don't pretend to be a lawyer or a DA, but the most recent victim that wrote that book stated how frustrated he and his mom were at the lack of progress and how the AG's office simply said to hold tight as they were gathering more evidence.
ReplyDeleteThen you hear other DA's state that that kid's testimony alone would have been enough to put Jerry behind bars.
Regardless of what Corbett, Fina, Kelly, or Harley say that is normal to wait to gather every single fact of every single case before you file charges?
They could have charged Sandusky immeidately, and then added more charges as they found more evidence?
And let's not kid ourselves; the Ticklemonster doesn't just stop one day in 2009 when this kid started this whole process.
Hell, I bet up unitl the Grand Jury released its presentment, Jerry was still having his way with kids at PSU.
The whole thing is sickening and everyone that knew and hid behind PSU or politics should pay dearly...this is why the US Attorneys need to step in and investigate the entire investigations created by Corbett Teram not just Sandusky.
Corbett used this Office for political revenge and political step building and once people are put under oath, he will have to lawyer up to stay out of jail.
His re-election is over in any case!
And my view is ... it's a total coincidence that the shi* hit the fan after he was safely in the governor's office???
ReplyDeleteAnd charges brought after vacated win 409....purely coincidental???
I also have a bridge in Brooklyn I am trying to sell.
Yeah, thats what it is-a coincidence.........ha !
I find it amusing that many of those in Happy Valley who now seem to hate the governor probably voted for him. I did not and shale not.