Corbett’s Conflict Continues

By GERLACH FOR GOVERNOR

EXTON (PA) – Attorney General Tom Corbett continues to fail to acknowledge and resolve the ongoing conflict of interest between conducting investigations while running for governor and the huge ethical dilemma that creates.

The latest example of Corbett’s troubling conflict of interest came last week during a $1,000 per person fundraiser at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Turnpike Commission Vice Chairman Timothy J. Carson served as a member of the host committee for that event.

Corbett accepted Carson’s political support despite the fact that the Attorney General’s office recently confirmed that a state grand jury has been investigating conduct at the Turnpike Commission, which has earned a reputation as a haven for political patronage.

“It is shocking that Mr. Corbett still fails to acknowledge and resolve this ongoing conflict.” said Scott Migli, Gerlach campaign manager. “With this recent fundraising event in Philadelphia, voters can now reasonably raise the question of which comes first – the subpoena for Turnpike records or his invitation to join his campaign fundraiser. Either way, it’s an awful position for the Attorney General to put himself and his office in and it shows his lack of understanding how to put public interest above personal political interest.”

In August, Jim Gerlach, the only Republican candidate with proven results creating jobs, cutting taxes and cutting government waste, called on Corbett to either suspend his gubernatorial campaign or resign his position as Attorney General. Despite raising money and political support for his gubernatorial effort since March from within the same political circles as those he is supposed to be investigating, Corbett officially announced his candidacy September 14th and has refused to either step down as Attorney General or suspend his campaign.

In September, the Patriot News, which first discovered the illegal bonuses that led to Corbett’s investigation, raised further concerns about Corbett’s political ambitions while trying to run a full-time investigation. The editorial board called on Corbett to make a decision by October, stating that “too much is at stake for taxpayers and good governance to see this critical investigation be called into question by election politics.”

And while other editorial boards around the state have called on Corbett to drop his bid for Governor, the Chambersburg Public Opinion wrote that “it doesn’t bode well for the state’s highest office when a leading candidate seems to mix the pursuit of justice with his own ambitions.”

Former U.S. Attorney David Marston agreed and wrote in an April editorial for the Philadelphia Inquirer that Corbett “does us all a disservice” by trying to campaign and prosecute at the same time, and that he needs to choose one over the other.

He added that it raises too many questions: “if you were a state legislator under prosecutor Corbett’s microscope, would it not seem prudent to support Corbett for governor?” “Is he advancing the public interest in honest government, or his personal interest in becoming governor?” “Worse, the trials of cases brought in Bonusgate could very well take place during the heat of the gubernatorial race, presenting defense attorneys with a potent argument that it really is all about politics.”

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November 10, 2009 at 3:17 pm

--pa2010.com Staff