bonusgate

HARRISBURG -- Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett on Monday said the breadth of his office's "Bonusgate" investigation makes bringing additional charges before Election Day "physically impossible."

The attorney general, seeking re-election this fall against Democrat John Morganelli, had declared in September he would not present more "Bonusgate" charges from Oct. 1 to Nov. 4 to ensure it did not hold "undue influence" on the election.

That decision brought heavy criticism from some quarters, including Morganelli, who accused Corbett of playing politics. The attorney general's office indicted 12 former and current House Democratic staffers and lawmakers in July in connection with "Bonusgate," leaving critics to allege Corbett had unfairly singled out Democrats before the election.

But in a brief interview with PolitickerPA.com, Corbett said "forget the moratorium" -- his office couldn't bring charges this month even if it wanted to because it is following so many leads.

"It is unbelievable when you do an investigation like this how much documentation must be reviewed," he said. "Certainly, things come up, new developments take you down other roads."

Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett could only shrug his shoulders when asked about the near daily anonymous emails that call his office's "Bonusgate" investigation blatantly partisan.

"I can't let that affect me," Corbett told PolitickerPA.com Monday.

The attorney general pointed out several of the 12 former and current House Democratic lawmakers and staffers have waived their preliminary hearing, scheduled for Tuesday.

The e-mails, which each come from a different email address and are sent to an unknown number of recipients, have attracted attention from many in the Capitol.

Now that there are no charges coming against Republicans before the November election, will there be a backlash against Democrats over Bonusgate?

The Democrats hold a 102-101 lead in the House, but with many swing districts and the effects of Bonusgate unknown holding on to the House could be a challenge.

John Micek has a good piece this morning on the possibilities of Republicans taking the House back.

The Democratic challenger to longtime state Rep. John Perzel (R-Philadelphia) is criticizing state Attorney General Tom Corbett's decision to hold off on further indictments in his "Bonusgate" investigation until after the election, calling it a "failure to act" that is unfair to voters.

Rich Costello, a former northeast Philadelphia police officer who hopes to unseat the powerful Perzel in the 172nd Legislative District, said Corbett was shirking his duty to voters. Numerous news reports have indicated that Perzel is one of the Republicans under investigation by Corbett's office, specifically for a $1.8 million computer program purchased by House Republicans which was used for political purposes.

"The Attorney General has a responsibility to the citizens of Pennsylvania that does not take a break from October 1 to November 4," Costello said in a statement. "If Mr. Corbett purposely withholds evidence of corruption from voters, then he is himself guilty of misconduct."

Perzel's spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday morning, and Perzel could not be reached on his cell phone.

But a campaign spokesman for Corbett reiterated the attorney general's reasoning for delaying any further indictments.

Attorney General Tom Corbett has a secret admirer who happens to have a lot of GMail accounts. The anonymous emailer has been sending us and other media outlets regular updates on Corbett since August 29th. The emailer has sent a total of seven emails in the last month from seven different email addresses. The emails all center around Corbett and his handling of Bonusgate. The anonymous sender is no fan and spends much of his or her time in the emails regurgitating accusations against Corbett and calling his investigation partisan. Here is a list of the email addresses that have been used to date.

corbettislaughingatyou@gmail.com
corbettpartyhack@gmail.com
notaloneinquestioningcorbett@gmail.com
corbettperspective@gmail.com
corbettlipstickonpig@gmail.com
corbettbridgetonowhere@gmail.com
corbettseptember@gmail.com

Leave us a comment and let the sender know what you think their next email address should be.

Democratic attorney general candidate John Morganelli on Monday told PolitickerPA.com that his incumbent opponent, Republican Tom Corbett, avoids indicting his campaign donors before Election Day after announcing his office will not present any additional "Bonusgate" charges before Nov. 4.

Citing a 2007 report by Capitolwire.com, the Northampton County district attorney said Corbett in 2004 received $2 million from GOP-men such as state Rep. John Perzel (R-Philadelphia) and former state Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill.

But although Morganelli linked the absence of indictments with campaign contributions, he declined to label Corbett's investigation "partisan."

"What (Corbett's) motives are, I don't know," Morganelli said.

Brian Nutt, Corbett's campaign manager, said four- and five-year-old contributions do not have any influence over the attorney general.

"Tom Corbett took an oath of office to uphold the laws of the commonwealth and root out corruption," Nutt said. "He has done exactly that. It doesn't matter who he came in contact with and may or may not have taken contributions from."

A spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell declined Monday to criticize Attorney General Tom Corbett's announcement that his office will not make any additional "Bonusgate" charges before Election Day, although he emphasized the governor thinks the attorney general should share with voters all "relevant information" before Nov. 4.

"The governor has been consistent in his belief if the attorney general has information relevant to voters, then voters should have that information," spokesman Chuck Ardo said.

But he added the governor "understands the attorney general's office is an independent agency"  under Corbett's direction. Rendell doesn't want to dissect his investigation, Ardo said.

Attorney General Tom Corbett's announcement Monday that his office will not present additional "Bonusgate" charges before Election Day means the Republican official will have charged only Democrats in the matter when voters go to the polls.

The attorney general in July charged 12 former and current House Democratic lawmakers and staffers with misusing taxpayer money and resources, indictments Republicans have used this election season to paint House Democrats as rife with corruption.

House Democrats hold a one-member advantage, 102-101, over Republicans.

Corbett tried to preemptively deflect accusations of partisanship creeping into his handling of "Bonusgate" after the announcement.

"Some interested parties have accused me of partisanship since this investigation began and those accusations are wrong, but I accept the fact that they are inevitable, especially in an election year," Corbett said. "I can only respond by repeating what I have said so many times already -- I, and the career lawyers and career investigators in my office, are conducting this investigation as thoroughly, fairly, honestly and quickly as we can."

Corbett faces Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli this fall as he vies for re-election. Morganelli has consistently accused Corbett of mishandling "Bonusgate," saying the attorney general waited too long to investigate Republicans.

In a move sure to ignite buzz across the Capitol, Attorney General Tom Corbett Monday announced his office will not charge anybody else before this fall's election in connection with "Bonusgate," the wide-ranging probe into the misuse of taxpayer money by the legislature.

Corbett said earlier this month he will not charge anybody in connection with the probe from Oct. 1 to Nov. 4, an effort he said to make sure the investigation doesn't have "undue influence" on the election. That left only the last weeks of September for additional charges. 

"I know this investigation very well," Corbett said, speaking at the monthly Pennsylvania Press Club Luncheon. "I know that my office can not present to the grand jury in that one week (before October) all of the testimony and other evidence that will be necessary to complete the next phase of the investigation.

"So the bottom line is that the grand jury will not make any more decisions before the election," he said.

Attorney General Tom Corbett has said there will be no more charges in Bonusgate before the election.  Corbett has been taking heat for only charging Democrats and not Republicans. Corbett said if there were more charges they would be filed this month or would need to wait until after the election.  Today at the Press Club he said any further charges would wait until after the election. Speculation from insiders last week was running rampent that charges would be filed as soon as this week.