Christopher B. Craig, one of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo’s most loyal aides and widely considered among the best legal minds in the Capitol, has resigned from the Senate after 16 years.

Craig, who is credited with writing the landmark 2004 law legalizing slot machines in Pennsylvania, said today that he resigned from his $158,300-a-year-post as a top lawyer for Senate Democrats to explore other job opportunities.

 
But several sources familiar with the matter said that Craig resigned after learning that he would not be continuing as the chief counsel to Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee and would be reassigned to a lower legal post. Still, after he submitted his letter of resignation recently, Craig’s allies tried to land him another top job in the chamber only for Senate Minority Leader Bob Mellow (D., Lackawanna) to block the efforts.

Mellow, through his spokesman, declined to comment because it was a personnel matter. But sources said that Mellow viewed Craig’s departure as a way for the caucus to distance itself from allegations that Fumo (D., Phila.) misused state resources and his staff for his own benefit.

Craig’s name has come up repeatedly in the corruption case against Fumo, now playing out in a federal courtroom in Philadelphia. In the indictment against the former 30-year senator, Craig is identified as Person No. 10. He has not been charged.

In one instance, prosecutors allege that at Fumo’s request, Craig helped create a nonprofit to oppose a proposed dunes project that threatened to block ocean views at Fumo’s shore home. In court, Fumo’s lawyers have said the effort was a legitimate attempt to stop a wrongheaded project.

Fumo decided earlier this year not to seek another term to focus on his legal defense. His last day in office was Nov. 30.

Since then, most aides in his large staff in Harrisburg and Philadelphia have found new jobs with Democrats on the Appropriations Committee that Fumo formally headed or with his successor in the senate, Larry Farnese.

Craig’s wife, Elizabeth, continues to work as a senate budget analyst making $108,987 annually.

Christopher Craig said that he had planned to resign four years ago but was asked by Fumo to stay on to help him and his staff “to get through a difficult federal investigation.”

“I did so at the best of my ability under very difficult circumstances,” he added.

Some view Craig’s departure as a major brain-drain for the senate’s minority party.

Bernard Kieklak, chief of staff to Sen. Lisa Boscola (D., Northampton) said Craig was “brilliant to the point that he scared people.”

“His mind was a lethal weapon,” he added. 
 

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Pennsylvania's new open records chief gets tapped to testify in the impeachment hearing of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Terry Mutchler, executive director of the state's Office of Open Records, is expected to testify before an Illinois legislative committee charged with determining whether to recommend the embattled governor be removed from office.

Mutchler, the former public access counselor for the Illinois Attorney General's office, said during her tenure there her office was "routinely" engaged in open records battles with the Blagojevich administration.

"The Blagojevich administration took a standard stance of denial" over the release of basic public records," said Mutchler, who was in Illinois earlier this month to meet with the impeachment committee staff. Among the records denied to members of the media and others were the subpoenas issued to Blagojevich and others in the federal corruption case.

"My understanding is that they are looking into the Freedom of Information Act rule and the denials to build a bigger picture of the case," said Mutchler. "It's a tiny piece in a bigger puzzle."

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Stop the presses, Gov. Rendell's point man for the General Assembly is staying put.

Steve Crawford, Rendell's secretary of legislative affairs, declined an offer from newly-elected House Majority Leader Todd Eachus to become his chief of staff.

Crawford, who has served as Rendell's secretary of legislative affairs since 2003, said he thought long and hard about the offer but decided with the new line up in legislative leadership and the tough budget year ahead, it would be best to continue in his current role. 

"I did struggle with it, but at the end of the day, I think the most effective place to be is where I am," said Crawford, who left a legislative post, as chief of staff for Rep. Jeff Coy, to join Rendell's team in 2003.

Crawford is among the dwindling number of original members of "Team Rendell:" the top tier of officials named when Rendell took office nearly six years ago. Also still on board heading into 2009: policy titans Donna Cooper and Roy Kienitz, Department of Public Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman, Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard, Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler and Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff.

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Politico.com is making a list - checking it twice - and Gov. Rendell is on it.

That list would be of the political personalities that are going to be sorely missed in 2009.

The governor made the list because, as the story points out, he was all over the airwaves and newspapers this past election season, showing off his trademark trait of speaking his mind (sometimes, putting his foot in his mouth) and getting into trouble.

Anyone remember the controversy he stirred during the presidential campaign when he said that there were some Pennsylvanians who would be loathe to vote for a black man for president?

Anyway, Politico.com apparently can't wait until Rendell finishes up his gubernatorial term here in Pennsylvania so he can get appointed to a cabinet position in the Obama administration and start stirring up all sorts of new controversies in D.C.

Check out Politico's complete list here.

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On this quiet day in the statehouse, where nary a creature is stirring - not even a mouse - The Associated Press is moving a pretty interesting story about how the House Democratic caucus has refused a request from their former #2 guy, Mike Veon, to have taxpayers foot his legal bills in the ongoing Bonusgate investigation.

As most people reading this already know, Veon, a former state representative from Beaver County, was indicted this last summer with 11 others on charges that he participated in a vast conspiracy to use taxpayer resources and money for campaign purposes.

According to the AP story, Veon's attorney, Bob Del Greco, sent a letter to House Democratic leaders earlier this month demanding that the caucus pay Veon’s already accrued legal expenses and “all future attorney fees and related expenses consistent with its custom and practice of paying legal fees for House members and staff over the last two decades.”

But Majority Leader Todd Eachus (D-Luzerne) quickly nixed that idea, telling the AP: "It’s a slam dunk. “I think people expect me as a leader and the House Democratic caucus to be stewards of their tax dollars. Paying for liability exposure or legal exposure for former members of the House would be an unwise way to spend their tax dollars.”

Translation: Get a job.

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OK, before you go and get any crazy ideas, we mean Miss Piggy singing her over-wrought line of "Five Golden Rings"  in the Muppets' version of the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

At least that's what it sounds like to us here at Commonwealth Confidential - all two of us working here today. And our poll was unanimous, so there.

Judge Rendell, renowned for having a strong, clear voice, sounds a bit over-the-top - if not downright shrieky - as she belted out the "five golden rings" line this past Saturday night at Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal's annual holiday party (the guv was there too, singing along, although we're glad we can't hear him well. His voice? Not so strong).

Anyway, check it out for yourself below. Surely we're not just having a Simon Cowell moment.

The only way we can explain it is that she was channeling Miss Piggy's rendition, which always guarantees a round of laughs (if not some cringing). Take a listen to Miss Piggy here (although you may need to turn your volume up to the max to hear it well).

(via Philebrity) 

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OK, so here's the winner of the press release containing, possibly, the best government spin of 2008 ANYWHERE ON THIS PLANET.

Drum roll please....

Hands down, it's the one sent out yesterday by the Pennsylvania Department of Education regarding Auditor General Jack Wagner's audit of the Rendell administration's "Classrooms for the Future" initiative. (That's the program that provides laptop computers, high-speed Internet access, software, teacher training and support to high schools in the state's 501 school districts).

Wagner's audit, for those who read it, takes a nice little whack at the program. Among other problems, auditors found inadequate public disclosure, inconsistent grant funding, and insufficient review of equipment purchases and program results. (Read The Inquirer's full story on the topic here.)

But you would never know that reading the Education Department's press release. "INDEPENDENT AUDIT CITES BENEFITS OF ‘CLASSROOMS FOR THE FUTURE’ EDUCATION INITIATIVE," blares the headline on the release that landed in reporters' inboxes.

“This audit confirms what so many high school students and educators already knew: Classrooms for the Future is a cutting-edge, cost-effective way to help challenge our students and better prepare for success beyond high school,” it quotes Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak as saying. 

Uhm, and what about that stuff about the program's inadequate disclosure, inconsistent grant funding and insufficient review of equipment purchases and program results??

Here's how the press release addresses it: "The secretary also said the Department of Education will review the audit's suggestions for minor administrative changes aimed at helping schools districts better understand the process and protocols for securing Classrooms for the Future funding. 

Bravo. Well done.  
 

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Potential Pennsylvania Senate candidate and talk show host Chris Matthews gets mentioned in two of Politico's Top Ten Media Blunders of 2008. 

Leading the list was Matthews and his fellow pundits' premature dismissal of Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.

Writes Michael Calderone: New Hampshire primaryPundits predicted a campaign-ending, double-digit loss long before the polls closed, and some networks, perhaps disbelieving the results, didn’t call the election until after Obama had already conceded. "I will never underestimate Hillary Clinton again,” Chris Matthews said on MSNBC's Hardball.

Coming in at Number Three was MSNBC's decision to pair Matthews with Keith Olbermann on Election Night.

Writes Calderone: Having MSNBC stars Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann co-anchor Election Night and convention coverage drew the public ire of conservatives (and many Clinton supporters), and internally network journalists grumbled that the pair tarnished NBC's established journalism brand.

Meanwhile, the buzz around the Web is that Matthews may make public his decision on whether he will challenge Sen. Arlen Specter in 2010 sometime before Inauguration Day. 

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U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. did not miss a single floor vote during his first two years in office, putting him in a very exclusive club within one of the world's most exclusive clubs. Only seven senators made all 657 votes during 2007 and 2008, the two-year term of the 110th Congress.

"Public service is a privilege," Casey said in a statement.

Fellow senators on the attendance honor roll: Olympia Snowe (R.,Maine); Susan Collins (R., Maine); Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold (both D., Wisc.); Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa); and Ken Salazar (D., Colo.), designated last week as President-elect Obama's nominee for Secretary of the Interior.

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