Diamond, who founded PACleanSweep in the wake of the infamous 2005 legislative pay raise, asked Tuesday for people to write letters Common Pleas Court Judge Richard A. Lewis to make sure Veon gets the punishment he deserves, citing the relatively lenient sentence former state Senator Vince Fumo got last year.

“Every Pennsylvanian offended by corruption in Harrisburg or concerned about the Commonwealth’s future should pick up a pen and voice their opinion to Judge Lewis,” Diamond said in a statement. “We cannot have a repeat of what happened in the Vince Fumo case.

“I’m sure Mike Veon already has politicos writing favorable letters praising the alleged good deeds he performed with other peoples’ money,” Diamond added. “That must be counterbalanced by letters from his victims, the taxpayers and voters of Pennsylvania.”

In his own letter to Judge Lewis, Diamond wrote that the “nature of Mr. Veon’s crimes calls for a stern response from another cornerstone of a free society: Justice.”

Diamond is one of nine Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for Lt. Gov. Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley is the party’s endorsed candidate.

We’ve pulled together some of the highlights below. But what do you think? Make your voice heard by posting a comment.

The Inquirer says it’s a “relief” for Corbett supporters.

It was a setback for Corbett’s Democratic detractors who had suggested that his ambition to become governor in November had spurred his zeal in pursuing criminal charges against two dozen Bonusgate defendants.

Intimations that he was mismanaging the probe had bubbled up after the first of the defendants to go to trial in December was found not guilty.

“I think there was a lot of baited breath, and I think now you’re hearing an exhale on the part of the Corbett campaign,” said Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, who closely follows state politics.

PoliticsPA says the “imperfect” verdict is still “likely a boost” for Corbett.

The bottom line, according to GOP officials: The gubernatorial front-runner secured enough convictions against the criminal trial’s big fish—14 against Veon—to justify his reputation as a Harrisburg reformer. Whatever else happened Monday, they said, will be boiled away in campaign soundbites that emphasize the successful prosecution of a former Harrisburg power broker.

“(Veon) just got convicted of 14 felonies. I am not sure who would need to spin that,” said Republican strategist Ray Zaborney. “Veon will be playing basketball with a different group of people thanks to Tom Corbett, and Harrisburg is on notice that if you break the law and cheat the taxpayers you are going to go to jail for a long time.” … Said another Republican strategist, who wished to remain anonymous: “It’s enough to proclaim victory.”

But CasablancaPA, a blog that’s ever-critical of Corbett and his Bonusgate probe, notes just how many charges ended in acquittals.

It will be forgotten by tomorrow, as the Tom Corbett Gubernatorial Campaign spins his less-than-16% conviction rate as an enormous victory, but let’s pause for a moment and imagine how it felt for Team Corbett to hear the words “not guilty” 117 times in a row.

Three years, millions of taxpayer dollars, countless state staff man-hours ….only to hear again and again, “not guilty….not guilty … not guilty.”

And just think: he still has to try a dozen more defendants on similar charges … with similar evidence and similar witnesses.

But is that really the case?

Sure, Corbett has had to do little to garner media attention during his run for the state’s highest office, thanks to his now three-year long—with no end in sight—“Bonusgate” investigation, which purports to expose legislative corruption but which, to date, has seemed to target mostly Democratic office holders and staff, number of indictments aside. But accusations of partisanship by Corbett will only be strengthened by recent revelations that state Senator Jane Orie, the chamber’s third-ranking Republican, is being investigated for the exact same thing—asking staffers to work on state time to aid in the campaign of her sister, recently elected state Supreme Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin, the brightest of the lights in the state GOP’s November electoral victories.

Corbett’s office apparently missed Orie’s alleged misdeeds, however, as the investigation into improprieties in her office is being handled not by Corbett’s state-level grand jury but by an Allegheny County grand jury at the behest of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, Jr.

Add to that the fact that former state Representative Sean Ramaley was found not guilty just last month in the only trial that has resulted so far from the Bonusgate investigation after what is widely considered to have been a politically motivated case intended to knock a rising star of the Democratic Party out of what was, at the time, the only competitive race for state Senate in Pennsylvania.

And while it is common political wisdom that it is always better to have your nominee decided on and the other guys battling it out in a primary, I’m not so sure that wisdom is always on target. Both political parties are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, and both can promote their own candidates while at the same time gathering opposition research against the other team. That task is much easier when the other team has already made its choice, especially when its choice has painted a target on himself through partisan overreaching in an office that is supposed to protect the interests of all Pennsylvanians in a non-partisan way.

While the state GOP will be left spending the primary season making the generic—and tired—accusations of liberal taxing and spending, big government and elitism toward a not-yet-decided Democratic nominee, Democrats can go to work on Corbett’s record.

“Representative Eachus did receive Representative Lentz’s letter, and he will respond to him in the near future,” Eachus spokesman Brett Marcy said Tuesday. “Representative Eachus and the entire leadership team try to be inclusive and responsive to all members in the diverse Democratic Caucus. That means we’re going to continue to focus on the important legislation that we’ll be moving forward this year.”

While it places him in the reform wing of the party ahead of next year’s race for Congress in the 7th District, Lentz’s early call for Eachus’ ouster is not without political risk. After state Representative Josh Shapiro (D-Montgomery) emerged as an early reform advocate, served as Deputy Speaker and was one of the first in the caucus to call for former Majority Leader Bill DeWeese to resign last year, he later found some of his legislative initiatives stymied by Harrisburg infighting. Whether and how Lentz’s relationship with Eachus—who has been implicated in the Bonusgate corruption probe but not charged—is effected remains to be seen.

“Representative Eachus respects the members of the House Democratic Caucus and he strives to represent the will of the majority of the caucus,” Marcy said. “That’s not going to change.

“The bottom line here,” he added, “is that the focus of the House Democratic Caucus is not on the internal politics that may or may not go on. It’s on the business of trying to move Pennsylvania forward.”

The conservative candidate for governor responded to Corbett’s latest charges Tuesday by reiterating the importance of the investigation and his belief that more work remains to be done in looking at potential misdeeds in the state Senate. But for the first time he recommended a time-frame, saying in a statement that he hopes the investigative “process can be completed before the political season begins in earnest this January.”

Those comments came just a few days after Rohrer said of the first Bonusgate case ending in an acquittal that “there can’t be too many more like without bringing into question the entire investigation.” And the signaled that Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) won’t be the only one of Corbett’s primary opponents to look for things to criticize in the long-running probe that has drawn cries of conflict of interest as Corbett prosecutes by day and campaigns by night.

Still, Rohrer’s words Tuesday were nothing if not measured.

“It’s my hope that these revelations will be the beginning of the end of abusive power politics in Harrisburg,” he said.

Speaking to reporters after he announced his run for governor here Tuesday night, Rohrer did say that Corbett faces “at least a perceived problem.” But he stopped at that. And he seemed to think Corbett’s “Bonusgate” investigation shouldn’t be finished, implying that there’s corruption to be found in the state Senate, not just in the House where indictments have been made.

“The Attorney General needs to continue doing what he is duty-bound, by law, to do,” Rohrer said. “IF he stops too early, the job isn’t done. The assumption that inappropriate actions are limited to the House is probably a long shot.”

And Rohrer said he wouldn’t be hitting Corbett on the issue, now or later.

“I’ve never run a campaign attaching an opponent,” he said. “This campaign is going to based on forward-looking issues.

“There is inherently built in at least a perceived problem,” Rohrer added of Corbett. “He’s got to deal with it. I’m not going to tell him how.”

End of story on partisan politics, maybe, but not the end of charges of conflict-of-interest and political gain. On Monday, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney told The Patriot-News that Corbett should not measure the drapes of the Governor’s Mansion too soon.

“At the end of the day, there’s little tolerance for public officials who did wrong, but people also get spurred to action when they believe someone’s freedom was used as a bargaining chip,” Rooney said.

“If it’s proven or shown that there was a political calculus behind this, there will be a tremendous price to pay,” he added. “Anyone who thinks that story is written and closed is mistaken. There are many pitfalls. Sometimes your greatest strength can become your greatest liability.

Rooney also said that state Democratic Party insiders are more afraid of having the Democratic nominee facing Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6) in the governor’s race.

Gerlach has experience, a voting record and a history of tough races, which is part of the reason why Gerlach seems unfazed that Corbett has the headlines now courtesy of Bonusgate.

“I am very determined, as I declared in July, about taking my experience and my record to the people,” Gerlach said Monday. “I would imagine that [Democrats] would make that comment about me because I am battle-tested. They spent $7 million against me in one of the most contested races in the country.”

Gerlach continues to call into question Corbett’s role as prosecutor during a statewide election.

“I have not criticized the investigation,” he said. “He needs to go where the evidence takes him. But I have commented on my serious concern that he has a very significant conflict of interest. How can you prosecute by day and fund raise in those same circles by night?”

As for whether Rooney will get to swing away at Corbett during a general election campaign or face Gerlach? The congressman will not give over to the perception that Corbett is the defacto nominee.

“The average rank-and-file voter doesn’t care want a few party insiders do to clear the field for an anointed candidate,” Gerlach said. “We’re going to provide them a choice of a candidate who has better ideas and experience.”

“All doubt must be removed from the mind of the voter that the investigation is political,” said activist Gene Stilp, noting that Oct. 21 will mark 1,000 days since the Bonusgate probe came to light. “As long as Tom Corbett is the Attorney General while he is running for governor a cloud of suspicion hangs over his campaign as to his motives for indicting or not indicting certain individuals.”

By itself, Stilp’s challenge may not post much of a political obstacle to Corbett, considered by many party insiders to be the early GOP front-runner against Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-6). But it underscores how, as the campaign and the investigation drag on, Corbett’s chief political asset—his crusade against corruption—could also become a political headache.

Corbett’s campaign manager referred comment to a spokesman at the Attorney General’s office, who declined to comment. Corbett has said repeatedly that the investigation is not being influenced by his political aspirations.

Back in April, we reported on the political double-edged sword that is Corbett’s crusade against corruption, one whose outcome could paint him as a heroic public servant, a partisan law enforcement official, or anything in between.

Now, we learn that Dauphin County Judge Richard Lewis will rule any day whether there’s weight to defense claims that Corbett, a Republican, is selectively prosecuting Democrats and not his fellow GOPers.

“It’s something I need to think about,” Lewis was quoted as saying in The Tribune-Review.

Corbett has indicted a dozen Democrats and no Republicans, though reports continue to surface that members of the House Republican Caucus could be next. He has repeatedly denied any political influence in his investigation.

“You have to wait until the entire investigation is done before you make an allegation like that,” he told us in April, “and I don’t believe anyone will be able to say that when we’re done.”

But keep an eye out for this ruling. For him or against him, right or wrong, this one could be huge.

•Also on pa2010.com: Corbett’s ‘Bonusgate’ investigation comes with political promise—and peril