McCord probe far from over, despite resignation

For a public corruption case, the one against former Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord seemed to move at a breathtaking pace.

Over just a few days, McCord resigned, publicly confessed his crimes in a video, and agreed to plead guilty to extortion. The agreement, announced Monday, came less than two months after federal investigators first confronted him with recordings in which he shook down potential donors to his 2014 gubernatorial campaign with threats to their government contracts.

But people familiar with the inquiry said Tuesday that the case is far from over.

With McCord's confession in hand, investigators have turned their attention to the other side of Harrisburg's pay-to-play equation, said officials who had been briefed on the probe but were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

FBI agents have approached a small circle of McCord's donors, delving into what veteran prosecutors and political observers described as the underbelly of campaign fund-raising, the sources said.

The extent of the inquiry remains unclear, as does which donors have been approached.

Few would dispute that campaign contributions are often made on the unspoken hope that the candidate, if elected, will support the donor's business interest.

What stands out about McCord's case, former prosecutors and political veterans said Tuesday, is how brazen he was in acknowledging that arrangement.

"This is the way it works," said L. George Parry, a Philadelphia defense lawyer and former prosecutor. "McCord's big sin was saying it out loud."

Jim Burn, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said he believes McCord got desperate in his attempt to win the primary race, and made a fatal decision.

"The competition and the desire to win - this 'win at all costs' mentality - it drives good, smart people into stupidity," said Burn, adding that he frequently counsels candidates to use common sense and avoid saying anything to a donor that could create even the appearance of a threat.

In documents filed with his plea agreement Monday, McCord acknowledged that he attempted to strong-arm officials at two companies - one an unnamed Western Pennsylvania contractor, the other an unnamed Philadelphia law firm - for campaign contributions last spring.

Whether McCord, 55, a Democrat and former venture capitalist from Montgomery County, is playing any role in the continuing probe remains unclear. His agreement with prosecutors, filed in federal court in Harrisburg, makes no mention of whether he has agreed to provide further information to investigators.

His lawyer Robert E. Welsh Jr. said he could not confirm or deny whether or not his client was cooperating.

Welsh did say that prosecutors first confronted McCord about his fund-raising in December - six months after he was first caught on tape attempting to extort donations and a month after Tom Wolf was elected governor.

McCord, said Welsh, immediately confessed to "crossing the line," and is to plead guilty this month to two extortion counts.

Representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Harrisburg did not respond Tuesday to requests to discuss the case, or to answer questions about the time McCord remained in office between his recorded extortion attempts and his first meeting with investigators.

But veteran prosecutors not involved in the case said such a delay could stem from reasons ranging from a desire to bolster the case with more evidence to investigating allegations that have not yet yielded charges.

"It may be that they were looking for other people," Parry said.

What is clear is that federal prosecutors taped numerous telephone conversations as McCord went about raising money last April and May.

In one instance quoted in court filings, McCord threatened the managing partner of a Philadelphia law firm if the firm did not make a sizable contribution to his campaign.

He told the partner, a supporter of former Gov. Tom Corbett, that he could still do harm to the firm in his position as the treasurer, where he managed the state's money and investments.

"At the very least, I'm still gonna be the freakin' treasurer," McCord told the partner in a conversation apparently recorded by federal agents or cooperating witnesses, the court records show.

Around the same time, McCord directed one of his campaign "bundlers" - people who solicit contributions from friends, business associates, and others - to squeeze a Western Pennsylvania property management firm for $100,000.

In a telephone conversation with the bundler, McCord complained that the principals of the property management firm were "rich as gods," and urged the bundler to call them and say things that "I don't want to say."

The firm had received benefits and other incentives from the state that were approved in part by McCord.

The court documents say McCord counseled the bundler to "get them learning" that as treasurer, McCord was a "fiscal watchdog" - the inference being that he could stop state benefits from flowing to the company.