DeWeese's credibility at stake over scandal

HARRISBURG - Every year, House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese painstakingly picks a subject not so much to study, but in which to immerse himself.

One year, it was Judaism. Another, it was Shakespeare. So intense is the personal course work that he has traveled to foreign lands and met with noted world experts.

Some say he should have devoted as much attention to the inner workings of the Democratic caucus, which he has led for 15 years. Now that caucus is embroiled in a major scandal alleging that millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on campaigns - and that government-funded bonuses were handed out as rewards for the political work.

DeWeese, 58, has insisted that he knew nothing about the bonuses and that they were the purview of subordinates.

But with details now laid out by a grand jury, many no longer believe him.

Eric Epstein, founder of RockTheCapital.org, a Harrisburg public-interest group, put it this way: "DeWeese is asking the public to buy into the I or I defense. He is either incompetent because he didn't know what was going on . . . or he is an idiot if he thinks the public is going to continue to buy his line of defense."

On Thursday, Attorney General Tom Corbett announced 289 criminal counts against a dozen Harrisburg insiders, including DeWeese's onetime protege, former Rep. Michael Veon, and DeWeese's former chief of staff Michael Manzo.

DeWeese was not charged.

When asked whether DeWeese was "in the clear," Corbett would say only: "Our investigation is still ongoing."

Since Corbett's announcement, at least two newspapers, including The Inquirer, have editorialized that the Greene County Democrat should leave his leadership post. The conspiracy, they and others argued, was so pervasive that the leader of the caucus had to know.

The alleged conspiracy is said to have involved hundreds of legislative workers on the House Democrats' payroll who did everything from stuff envelopes to run campaign phone banks out of government offices.

The indictments allege the caucus awarded nearly $1.3 million in government bonuses in 2006 alone - a year when Democrats regained control of the House - as rewards for working on campaigns.

Soon after "Bonusgate" broke in February 2007, DeWeese began distancing himself from the scandal.

He hired a former prosecutor to improve ethics policies in the caucus, and he traveled statewide to meet with editorial boards. In November, he also fired seven aides he believed were at the center of the scandal; five were indicted.

But since the charges were announced, DeWeese has largely been silent. He put out a four-paragraph statement saying he felt the same "outrage" as taxpayers and "a searing disappointment over the actions of those I trusted."

An e-mail to DeWeese's press secretary, Tom Andrews, to arrange an interview with the majority leader drew this response: "I'll add you to the list." Andrews later said DeWeese wouldn't be available to talk because he was "busy in his district."

In a February interview with KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, DeWeese said he had delegated much of caucus' inner workings to Manzo and Veon (D., Beaver), the second-ranking House Democrat. The indictments portrayed both as masterminds of the scheme.

"We have almost 1,000 people, and if seven or eight people decide that something is going to happen, then no leader can be involved at that tactical level, day in and day out," DeWeese said.

Jon Delano, a public-policy professor at Carnegie Mellon University who conducted the television interview, has known DeWeese for 30 years and said he was known as a delegator.

A Marine veteran, DeWeese "does very much believe in a military chain of command," Delano said. "So it is conceivable that he did not know as much as people expected him to know.

"But that still doesn't answer the question of 'How much did he know?' " Delano added. "I think it's a legitimate inquiry, and I think it's something the constituents who elect them and Democratic caucus he oversees will have to judge."

DeWeese narrowly won reelection two years ago, fending off political newcomer Greg Hopkins by 1,041 votes. Hopkins, a former Arena League football player, is running against him again in November in what is expected to be among the state's most closely watched legislative races.

Many House Democrats appeared to have given DeWeese the benefit of the doubt as Corbett's investigation unfolded largely in secret during the last 17 months. Now, with the charges in black and white, some in Harrisburg are privately speculating that DeWeese may face a challenge to his leadership from within the party before the election.

It's long overdue, said Gene Stilp, a longtime Harrisburg activist. DeWeese's insistence that he was unaware of the scandal reminds him of Sgt. Schultz, the German soldier from TV's Hogan's Heroes, whose trademark line was "I know nothing."

"It's just not believable," Stilp said. "He has no credibility as leader."

Pennsylvania Senate Republican leaders suggested yesterday that House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D., Greene) schedule votes on reform measures to stem a loss of public confidence amid the state's biggest public-corruption scandal in years.

The senators' letter came five days after the Attorney General's Office charged 12 current and former House Democratic lawmakers and staff aides.

"The events of July 10 severely threaten to further erode public confidence in the General Assembly," Sens. Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) and Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) wrote to DeWeese, asking him to press for action on seven Senate-passed bills.

A spokesman for DeWeese had no immediate response.

Some of the bills have sat in the House for more than a year.

One would ban bonuses for state employees. Another would require public consulting contracts to first undergo a review by the Attorney General's Office for conflicts of interest and legality, and to ensure they were bid competitively.

SOURCE: Associated Press

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