Perzel comment irked Fumo in '03/He called for 'attack,' trial is told

In December 2003, former state House Speaker John Perzel publicly questioned how Vince Fumo had gotten a utility to pony up millions for a charity linked to the former state senator.

Later that day, Fumo suggested to top aides in an e-mail that Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, should "launch an unprecedented attack" against Perzel if he began investigating $17 million in donations from Peco Energy to the Fumo-linked nonprofit, according to an FBI agent who testified yesterday at Fumo's federal corruption trial.

Then, sometime in 2004, Fumo had Frank Wallace, a Senate contractor, investigate Perzel's links to other nonprofits and political contributions he got from Peco, according to testimony from Vicki Humphreys, the FBI agent who helped the feds bring the case against Fumo.

Wallace investigated Perzel's alleged connections to six nonprofits and later turned over a report to Fumo's chief of staff in Philadelphia, Humphreys testified.

Perzel's comments came a day after after the Daily News and Inquirer published stories on Dec. 20, 2003 about Peco's donations to Citizens Alliance, a nonprofit Fumo created. (Fumo had intervened in Peco's deregulation in 1998 and helped broker a settlement at the Public Utility Commission.)

Humphreys said yesterday that Fumo, in an e-mail to his political consultants and some top staffers on Dec. 21, 2003, was worried that Perzel may have the House investigate the Peco deal with Citizens Alliance.

In the e-mail, Fumo suggested that if Perzel went ahead with an investigation, Citizens should "launch an unprecedented attack" on Perzel with direct mailings to Perzel's district to highlight Peco's political contributions to Perzel, whom he called "a little p---k."

Humphreys also told jurors how she pieced together a paper trail showing that Fumo had spent at least one of every four days outside Pennsylvania for several years.

As Humphreys explained it, Fumo spent 268 days - or 23 percent of his time - outside Pennsylvania between 2001 and early 2004, most of it in Florida.

She said the time outside Pennsylvania did not include time Fumo spent at homes in Ventnor and Margate at the Jersey shore.

Humphreys also testified that during that time period, the state Senate paid more than $9,800 for overnight shipments to Fumo's home in Jupiter Island, Fla.

Fumo's defense has argued that Fumo worked on state business while he was in Florida and that overnight shipments, which sometimes included items for official business, permitted him to be a more efficient senator.

Fumo is charged with defrauding the state Senate, Citizens Alliance and a maritime museum of $3.5 million and then trying to cover up his actions.

Defense lawyers are expected to begin their cross-examination of Humphreys this afternoon. *