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PA: Quarrel Between Republicans Hints at the Future
Last Updated on Monday, 8 December 2008 12:02 Written by rslcpol Friday, 5 December 2008 12:56
Lots of broken eggs in this law enforcement omelet. From Philly.com:
The closed hearing before Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Barry F. Feudale was prompted by an apparently frustrated Attorney General Tom Corbett. He thinks GOP caucus lawyers are not handing over all records sought through subpoenas, said four sources who asked that their names be withheld because of the matter’s secret nature.
Details of the hearing were sketchy, but several of the sources said the dispute centered on how the subpoenas were worded. Republican lawyers contend that they were written so broadly that it is difficult to determine exactly want prosecutors want.
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PA: Elections Aren’t Over
Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 November 2008 02:00 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 12 November 2008 02:00
From The Phoenix:
Aside from the Speaker, leadership questions abound in both caucuses. Bill DeWeese won a tough re-election battle on November 4th and has made it known he would like to return as Majority Leader. But, he operates under the shadow of the Bonusgate scandal. Although no charges have been brought against him, the question for Democrats is can they take a chance on re-electing DeWeese and then possibly being embarrassed if he is indicted?
DeWeese already faces strong opposition for Majority Leader. Representative Kathy Manderino of Philadelphia has thrown her hat into the race. Her late father, James Manderino, served as a powerful Majority Leader and Speaker several decades ago. Also running for Majority Leader is Representative David Levdansky of Allegheny County. And Todd Eachus, who steered the House Democratic Campaign Committee during the past election cycle also appears interested in a top leadership post.
Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
Philadelphia Inquirer Endorses GOP AG Corbett
Last Updated on Friday, 17 October 2008 10:16 Written by rslcpol Friday, 17 October 2008 09:51
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Attorney General Tom Corbett came into office four years ago with a long list of agenda items, including plans to crack down on child predators, drug dealers and abusers of the elderly.
He’s done a solid job on those fronts and in pursuing illegal gun crimes in Philadelphia. But Corbett has become best known for taking on political corruption in Harrisburg.
The attorney general’s wide-ranging probe, known as “Bonusgate,” is focused on whether top lawmakers awarded taxpayer-funded bonuses to staffers for doing campaign-related work – which is illegal.
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PA: AG Race Getting Ugly
Last Updated on Thursday, 16 October 2008 10:34 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 16 October 2008 10:34
From KYW Newsradio:
The Republican leader of the Pennsylvania House says he might consider a slander suit against Democratic attorney general candidate John Morganelli because of the candidate’s comments about the “bonusgate” probe of the state legislature.
Democratic AG candidate John Morganelli came to the capitol to reiterate his charges that incumbent Republican Tom Corbett (in photo above) has botched the investigation, claiming that at the outset, Corbett only seized records of House Democrats, allowing the other legislative caucuses time to destroy evidence:
“I know in my 16 years as an experienced prosecutor, the evidence isn’t going to be there, the case isn’t going to be the same.”
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
PA: More Barbs Exchanged in AG Race
Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 October 2008 01:52 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 15 October 2008 09:50
Question: Would John Morganelli be a 2008 version of Marc Dann? Talk amongst yourselves. We can tell you this – Tom Corbett deserves your support, and will win in November. From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
In an election year like this one, all politics feels national.
But in Pennsylvania, a campaign is unfolding for attorney general that has received scant attention though it arguably is the marquee statewide race this year.
At stake is who will become the commonwealth’s chief law enforcement officer. In the balance could be the fate of the wide-ranging investigation known as Bonusgate.
Republican Tom Corbett, 59, a former U.S. attorney from Pittsburgh, has run the Attorney General’s Office for the last four years. Though he has focused heavily on drug-enforcement and Internet-predator cases, he is best known for the 18-month probe into whether top lawmakers awarded taxpayer-funded bonuses to staffers for campaign-related work.
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PA: On the Trail – GOP AG Promises To Keep Fighting Corruption
Last Updated on Wednesday, 1 October 2008 04:01 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 1 October 2008 11:59
There’s not a more above board, honest guy in Pennsylvania politics than Tom Corbett. From The Times Tribune:
If re-elected, state Attorney General Tom Corbett said he would continue to file charges against drug dealers, fight for consumers and investigate public corruption.
“I think the last four years I’ve made promises, and I kept them,” the Republican incumbent said Monday at a Times-Tribune editorial board meeting.
Mr. Corbett, who is completing his first term, is running for re-election against Democratic challenger John Morganelli, Northampton County district attorney.
At Monday’s meeting, Mr. Corbett said he expects more charges to be filed in the “Bonusgate” investigation — the probe of the Legislature for illegally using government resources for political activity.
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PA: Stakes are High in House Races
Last Updated on Monday, 15 September 2008 09:51 Written by rslcpol Monday, 15 September 2008 09:51
From The Times-Tribune:
In some ways, the battle this election year for control of the state House of Representatives is being fought on traditional grounds with many incumbents unopposed and a handful of open seats up for grabs.
In other ways, party caucuses are venturing into new territory in the way they conduct campaigns. The catalyst for this change is the ongoing “Bonusgate” investigation into whether House employees broke state laws by doing political work on public time.
No one disputes the stakes are high. Democrats hold a slim one-seat majority in the 203-seat chamber. They have run the chamber since January 2007 by striking a tactical alliance with Republican Speaker Dennis O’Brien of Philadelphia.
Posted under Attorney General News, State Legislature News | No Comments
PA: Dem AG Candidate Morganelli Rants Some More, Confuses Facts
Last Updated on Thursday, 4 September 2008 10:15 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 4 September 2008 10:15
From The Bulletin:
Mr. Corbett cited the expiration of Pennsylvania’s Independent Counsel Authorization Act in 2003 as making it legally impossible for the appointment of a special prosecutor in Bonusgate.
But the Democrat contradicted the Corbett statement by citing several cases from the mid-1990s for which he said Pennsylvania law “recognized the express power of the attorney general to appoint special investigative counsel or special deputy attorney generals” to avoid a conflict of interest on the part of the attorney general.
Mr. Morganelli stated that he himself was appointed by Mr. Corbett to act as a Special Deputy Attorney General in 1996 and 1997 due to such conflicts on the part of Mr. Corbett. “This was before the passage of the ‘Independent Counsel Authorization Act’ which Corbett now contends is necessary to give him such authority,” Mr. Morganelli said.
Kevin Harley, spokesman for the attorney General, rebutted Mr. Morganelli’s assertions as baseless, stating that there is simply no legal authority in Pennsylvania to appoint a special prosecutor. ”
Morganelli doesn’t know his facts,” he said. “John doesn’t know the difference between an ‘Independent Counsel,’ which is not authorized under state law, and a ‘special deputy attorney general,’ which is the position he was appointed to in the 1990s.”
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | 1 Comment
PA: Taxpayer-Funded Lawyers Help Dems; Dems Refuse to Say Who
Last Updated on Tuesday, 2 September 2008 02:12 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 2 September 2008 10:37
Yet ANOTHER legitimate hit on Pennsylvania’s state Democrats. This is the type of behavior that drives taxpayers and voters nuts. Taxpayer funds should not be used to defend people who are being investigated for committing crimes that involved abusing the public trust using taxpayer dollars to fund political activity. The cycle appears to never stop. From the Herald Standard:
The House Democratic Caucus spent $677,284 on taxpayer-funded lawyers during the course of the attorney general’s investigation of the Bonusgate scandal – but it refuses to release the names of 110 caucus employees who benefited from the free legal advice.
William Chadwick, a consultant hired by House Majority Leader Rep. H. William DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, said attorney-client privilege and a sealed order from the presiding grand jury judge prohibits release of the names.
“It’s the right of a person to seek the advice of council without saying you have sought the advice of council, and without fear that getting help is going to be used against them,” said Chadwick, a former Philadelphia prosecutor whose firm was paid more than $800,000 to aid the caucus during the investigation. As part of that representation, Chadwick oversaw hiring free legal representation for caucus employees.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly, State Legislature News | 1 Comment
PA: GOP AG Corbett Fires Back
Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 August 2008 09:25 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 27 August 2008 09:25
From the PolitickerPA.com:
Check your math, governor.
That was Attorney General Tom Corbett’s (R) response Monday when asked about Governor Ed Rendell’s (D) complaint that “Bonusgate” has, thus far at least, yielded charges against only Democrats.
“I don’t understand why after two years you only could make your decision on Democrats,” Rendell said in early August. “If there was chicanery by all of the caucuses, (the voters) have the right to know that before the election.”
But the attorney general’s office started investigating allegations of illegal bonuses in February of 2007, Corbett said, noting that only 18 months had passed since then.
“His math was off,” Corbett told PolitickerPA.com as took a quick break from a fundraiser at the Dauphin County Bar Association in downtown Harrisburg. Corbett was there to raise money for his campaign against Democrat John Morganelli, who he faces this fall in an election most have pegged as competitive.
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments