100 DAYS LATER, CORBETT REMAINS SILENT ON POLITICAL ALLY’S POTENTIAL ELECTION FRAUD

By ONORATO FOR GOVERNOR

PITTSBURGH: Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett yesterday marked the 100th day of silence since announcing his investigation into fraudulent petitions in a Republican ally’s campaign.
The Attorney General’s office under Tom Corbett has exhibited a pattern of looking the other way when abuses by Republicans are discovered, including exonerating Corbett himself just days after he was elected in 2004.
On March 29, the Attorney General’s official spokesman said that Corbett would take over a Delaware County case alleging that GOP Congressional candidate Pat Meehan’s nomination petitions contained fraudulent signatures. The Delaware County DA had contributed to Meehan’s campaign, and therefore referred the case to the state level.
Even though Meehan has endorsed Corbett for Governor and made a $2,000 contribution to Corbett’s campaign, Corbett said there was no conflict of interest and agreed to take the case. “We can investigate an allegation of whether somebody fraudulently signed petitions,” Corbett’s spokesman said [Delaware County Daily Times, 3/30/2010].
And when it turned out that the same Republican officials who circulated petitions in Delaware County for Meehan also did it for Corbett, the Attorney General’s official spokesman, Kevin Harley, didn’t see a problem: “The campaign for governor is completely separate from the office of the Attorney General” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/3/2010]. Harley subsequently left Corbett’s official office to move to his campaign.
“Which Tom Corbett is investigating these allegations of fraud, the Attorney General or the Republican gubernatorial nominee?” asked Onorato Communications Director Brian Herman. “And where does the investigation stand 100 days after Corbett first agreed to look into these potentially serious crimes?”
Corbett has a history of questionable election law judgment. Weeks before the November 2004 election, Corbett collected $480,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee for his tight race for Attorney General. Corbett refused to reveal the source of the money – his attorney at one point argued that “the fungibility of money” made it impossible. The month after Corbett won office as Attorney General, campaign finance filings were released that revealed that the bulk of the money was from Aubrey K. McClendon, the chief executive of an Oklahoma based oil and gas company [Associated Press, 10/30/2004 and 12/4/2004]. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office exonerated Corbett days after he was elected. [Associated Press State & Local Wire, “AG’s office clears $480K donation to candidate,” November 6, 2004]

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