John Morganelli

Attorney General Tom Corbett is fending off questions raised about his own campaign and criticisms from Democratic opponent John Morganelli in the wake of the "Bonusgate" bombshell he dropped two weeks ago.

The criticisms could potentially slow momentum for the rumored GOP gubernatorial candidate after he earned praise immediately following the charges.

A story from the Lebanon Daily News on Sunday detailed how employees of the attorney general's office have taken leaves of absence to work on Corbett's re-election campaign. Although this kind of campaign work is common and far from the accusations leveled Corbett level at the House Democratic Caucus, it did raise the specter of hypocrisy and whether the attorney general should hold himself to a higher standard.

Attorney General Tom CorbettThe campaign for Democratic attorney general candidate John Morganelli is accusing incumbent Tom Corbett of the same illegal politicking the Republican has charged occurred in the House Democratic Caucus during 'Bonusgate.'

Citing a Sunday newspaper article in the Lebanon Daily News, the campaign said some Corbett staffers have doubled as campaigners as the attorney general tries to fend off Morganelli in a race many have tagged as competitive. Although dual roles are not illegal, Morganelli's campaign alleges some of those staffers were reimbursed for campaign work with taxpayer money.

"During the period that they were doing the political work, they did NOT take a leave of absence, but still were on the state payroll," the campaign said in a statement. "It is the same conduct, in part, for which Senator Fumo is being prosecuted for."

Responding to criticism of an anti-gun advertising campaign, Attorney General Tom Corbett's spokesman this afternoon said John Morganelli "is just flat wrong on his facts."

The comments by the spokesman, Kevin Harley, came after Morganelli, a Democrat who is running against the Republican Corbett, accused the incumbent of using the taxpayer-funded advertisements as on-the-sly political self-promotion.

"It's unfortunate that he would use such an important program as the gun violence taskforce to take a cheap political shot," Harley said. "The fact is these are not political advertisements."

He defended the ad campaign, airing on radio stations in the Philadelphia area, as a necessary and appropriate way to educate citizens about the dangers of straw purchasing of guns.

"The funds for this have come out of the gun violence taskforce budget, which fro the beginning a public education component was always going to be a part."

Brian Nutt, who is managing Corbett's reelection campaign, said: "Mr. Morganelli has shown once again that he doesn't allow facts or truth to stand in the wy of any allegations he makes."

This article is by Alex Roarty in Harrisburg and Dan Hirschhorn in Philadelphia.

Democratic Attorney General candidate Tom Morganelli is accusing Republican incumbent Tom Corbett of using up to a million dollars in taxpayer money to fund personal political advertisements on-the-sly.

Morganelli, the Northampton County district attorney, focused his criticism on money that was allocated to address illegal gun trafficking. The money was entrusted to Corbett's office, which has been running radio advertisements that Morganelli said "do nothing about illegal guns."

"These are nothing but political advertisements disguised as 'public service announcements' saturating the airwaves of SE Pennsylvania in an election year solely designed to raise Mr. Corbett’s name identification," Morganelli wrote in an e-mail to reporters Sunday. "Mr. Corbett has decided, like those under investigation in 'Bonusgate' that our tax dollars, rather than his campaign funds, can be used for his re-election campaign."

With lawmakers in Harrisburg absorbed by the traditional budget squabbles, The Patriot-News reports that the Capital could soon be rocked by charges stemming from the long-running investigation into bonuses granted to legislative staffers.

People familiar with the investigation told The Patriot-News that Attorney General Tom Corbett's year-long investigation of House Democrats will soon yield criminal charges. What remains unclear is if current lawmakers or staffers will be implicated, or if the charges will be contained to those no longer in office.

Corbett, a Republican, is himself facing reelection this year against  Democrat John Morganelli.

Democratic Party committeewoman Sandy Wolfe will deliver a message at this weekend's State Committee meeting: It's not all about John McCain vs. Barack Obama.

"Yes, we want the national ticket, but we're the state committee," said Wolfe, a Mechanicsburg resident. "We've never won attorney general, and I think John (Morganelli) stands a good shot."

She was referring to the Northampton County district attorney's attempt to unseat the Republican incumbent, Attorney General Tom Corbett.

Northampton DA and democratic Attorney General candidate John Morganelli today hit Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett over election law reporting requirements.  “Because of Attorney General Tom Corbett's surrender in federal court in the case of Center for Individual Freedom, there is now no longer any reporting requirements for ANY person, committee, association or corporation who run tv ads, phone calls, direct mail, or any other type of communication with the voters and the public as long as the communication does not "expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate,"  said Morganelli.