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Meehan, Lentz clash over Bonusgate

Republican U.S. House candidate Patrick Meehan issued a bold announcement to reporters Tuesday: He would reveal "newly uncovered information" that would call into question his Democratic opponent's "fitness for higher office."

Republican U.S. House candidate Patrick Meehan issued a bold announcement to reporters Tuesday: He would reveal "newly uncovered information" that would call into question his Democratic opponent's "fitness for higher office."

But the theatrics of Wednesday's event - in front of the white marble staircase and beneath the painted dome ceiling of the state Capitol - were quickly turned upside-down when Meehan's opponent, State Rep. Bryan Lentz, upstaged him at the microphone, tossing a Meehan campaign sign to the floor.

"If you drove up to Harrisburg for this press conference . . . you should ask him for gas money back to Philadelphia for this nonsense," Lentz said as Meehan, red-faced, walked away. "He has no evidence rendering me unfit for higher office. So he can walk away, and he can run away."

Expect the acrimony to continue: The two are facing off in one of the most competitive House races in the nation, for the Seventh District seat that Joe Sestak is giving up to run for the U.S. Senate.

Meehan, a former U.S. attorney from Drexel Hill, aimed to tie Lentz, of Swarthmore, directly to Bonusgate, a corruption scandal that involved state House staffers working on campaigns at taxpayer expense. Many have been investigated, and more charges may come. But Lentz has not been charged or even questioned about Bonusgate since the probe began in 2007.

Meehan, 54, whose campaign had been cautious in tone, attacked Lentz with uncharacteristic flair Wednesday.

"This is a crime scene," the former federal prosecutor said. "From inside this Capitol, a massive and illegal political operation was conducted on state time with taxpayer money."

His campaign said it had new information linking Lentz to Bonusgate, but Meehan's main assertion involved a House staffer who was connected to Bonusgate in 2007 but has not been prosecuted.

Ann Collis, part of the communications team in Harrisburg, worked on Lentz's state House campaign for about a month in 2006. She later received a $9,565 bonus funded by taxpayers for campaign work.

After the news conference, Meehan campaign staff said they had found more than 20 state workers who helped with Lentz's 2006 race and were later linked to Bonusgate.

"The fruit of that poisonous tree goes directly to a number of people, and one of the specific beneficiaries of that poisonous tree was legislator Bryan Lentz," Meehan said. "I want to know what he knew about the conduct of the people on his campaign in that cycle."

Lentz, 46, said his campaign had not paid Collis in 2006. He said he had assumed she was a volunteer or someone paid through the House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Lentz said he had no idea she received a taxpayer-funded bonus until the matter hit newspapers in 2007. As for the other alleged Bonusgate ties, he said he had not heard of the people mentioned by the Meehan campaign and did not know whether they had received bonuses or done campaign work on state time.

"I was sworn in in 2007. I learned about Bonusgate the same way most people did: through the newspapers," Lentz said. "I had nothing to do with Bonusgate, no knowledge of Bonusgate. . . . If I had been aware that anyone was being paid with taxpayer dollars or would later receive a bonus, I would've put a stop to that."

Lentz also hammered Meehan for forgeries and other irregularities on his nominating petitions, which state authorities are investigating. Meehan reported irregularities on his own petitions to law enforcement in March after a neighbor notified Meehan that his name had been forged. A number of forgeries and other irregularities surfaced when Lentz's campaign scoured the petitions.

"Of the two campaigns here today, his is the only campaign under active investigation by the Attorney General's Office for . . . fraud," Lentz said.