District Attorney John Morganelli, likely Democratic nominee for state attorney general, is demanding incumbent AG Tom Corbett to return all monies contributed to him by casino owner, landfill owner, banker, auto and body parts dealer, and "businessman" Louis A. DeNaples. Oh yeah, he's a convicted felon, too. DeNaples, you might recall, has been charged with perjury for lying about his connection to the mob. He probably just forgot. Corbett is letting a county DA handle this major prosecution while he spends a few more months mulling over minor charges against political consultant Severson Scissorhands for disrupting a funeral mass."It is completely unacceptable to have the state's chief law enforcement officer financially tied to a person who is under indictment by a Pennsylvania grand jury for perjury, allegedly for lying about his ties to the mob and organized crime in order to obtain a gaming license. Mr. Corbett's recalcitrance compromises the integrity of the Office of Attorney General."
Although acknowledging that DeNaples is presumed innocent and entitled to due process, Morganelli is "astonished that our Attorney General sees no problem with the chief law enforcement officer of the state keeping large amounts of money given to him by a person who is now indicted for perjury, allegedly for lying about his ties to the mob and organized crime in order to obtain a gaming license which Mr. Corbett oversees as Attorney General."
In 2004 and 2005, Corbett received $40,000 in separate campaign contributions from D&L Realty, listed as an unincorporated association. Unfortunately for DeNaples and Corbett, blogger and journalist Dave Ralis made that connection. Kinda makes you wonder what Corbett's seven-lawyer corruption unit is doing, other than picking up a check every two weeks.
According to the Inky, DeNaples has greased Corbett with at least $55,000, although no one is certain. Morganelli questions the timing.
"The largest single contribution received by Mr. Corbett on April 15, 2004, was less than 3 months BEFORE the slots law was passed on July 5, 2004. The contribution to Mr. Corbett on January 20, 2005 was just 2 days after the day Mr. Corbett was sworn in as Attorney General and well after the slots law had passed giving oversight of gaming law to the Attorney General. Once Mr. DeNaples applied for a casino license, Mr. DeNaples was barred by law from making campaign contributions. But DeNaples was smart enough to make all the contributions BEFORE applying, gaining favor with Mr. Corbett, the chief law enforcement officer of Pennsylvania specifically charged with gaming enforcement."
Larry Sabato, political science professor at the University of Virginia, claims "There's only one good rule. Return the money by certified mail, immediately." But a Corbett spokesperson, Kevin Feeley, claims there was "nothing hidden" or illegal about these contributions when they were made.
Really? D&L Realty is an unincorporated association. But everyone knows that's Louis DeNaples. Nothing hidden there, eh? As Morganelli makes clear, it's bizarre that the state's top law enforcement officer would even think twice before returning money that just may be tainted by the mob.
"Clearly, the financial ties between Mr. Corbett and Mr. DeNaples has been and will continue to be troublesome for the integrity and independence of the OAG. It has in effect handicapped the Attorney General in his legal duty to oversee gaming. For example, Attorney General Corbett had authority to investigate Mr. DeNaples for perjury, but chose to permit Dauphin County DA Ed Marsico to pursue the matter. Mr. Corbett's spokesman has said that the large amounts of money Mr. Cobett received from Mr. DeNaples played no role in Mr. Corbett's deferral to DA Marsico. But how can the public be so assured? There is an appearance that the Corbett/DeNaples connection hampered the Attorney General. There is an appearance of impropriety. The public deserves to hear in detail, directly from Mr. Corbett, and NOT his spokesperson, on why he passed on the DeNaples alleged perjury matter. Was it the money he got from Mr. DeNaples? A friendship? Some other reason?
"Another question that needs to be answered is why the state police brought the DeNaples case to the DA instead of the AG. WHY? Or did, perhaps, the state police bring the case to the AG and he declined? The DA of Dauphin County Ed Marsico appears to be doing the heavy lifting on DeNaples and other gambling related matters. It has been reported that DA Marsico was asked to handle prosecutions of several individuals who ran afoul of the gambling act's provisions regulating political campaign contributions. Mr. Marsico reportedly said that these "minor" cases were settled with regulatory fines and without criminal charges. If this is so, why is DA Marsico handling these matters when AG Corbett is primarily charged with gaming enforcement and has a specific unit in the OAG to do so?
"The Corbett/DeNaples financial tie also hampers the OAG going forward. On Sunday March 9, 2008, the Pittburgh Tribune Review rightly called for an investigation into the clearly inconsistent testimony between state police officials and others regarding the issuing of the license to Mr. DeNaples. Unfortunately, the Tribune-Review's call for the Attorney General to investigate cannot occur until Mr. Corbett gives back the DeNaples money. Mr. Corbett cannot ignore the clear conflict of interest he has relative to any investigations related to the DeNaples license.
"It is perplexing why AG Corbett continues to fail to recognize conflicts of interest. Just like the BonusGate investigation where he is also severely conflicted and continues to jeopardize the ultimate outcome of any prosecutions, here again Mr. Corbett is allowing campaign cash to affect his duties. Mr. Corbett cannot have it both ways. He cannot continue to scoop up large campaign contributions from people he has an obligation to investigate. Mr. Corbett's non-recognition of the cloud that now hangs over the OAG is incomprehensible. If Mr. DeNaples is truly connected to organized crime figures as alleged, should the Attorney General also be so connected by a $55,000 campaign contribution? Again, I am not questioning Mr. Corbett's integrity. But I do again question his judgement in failing to recognize that he should give back all the money he received from Mr. DeNaples.
"Lastly, Mr. Corbett may argue that Mr. DeNaples gave money to many officials of both political parties and that all contributions were, at the time, legal. Such an argument fails to appreciate the unique nature of the Office of Attorney General. Unlike other recipients of campaign funds from Mr. DeNaples, the Attorney General is the state's chief law enforcement officer. Also unlike the other recipients, the AG is uniquely and specifically charged with gaming oversight. Clearly, Mr. Corbett, as the chief law enforcement officer of Pennsylvania, must immediately give back all money received from Mr. DeNaples. He must disconnect the OAG from any relationship with a person who now stands indicted as associated with organized crime. And, Mr. Corbett must answer why he has declined to date to investigate the circumstances surrounding the issuing of the gaming license to Mr. DeNaples and the apparent conflicting testimony that has surfaced regarding same."
Good on John. I'll await his similar demands for ALL politicians from BOTH parties who've thrown in with the slimy DeNaples.
ReplyDeleteI'll second that. Morganelli has told me that all pols who got money from DeNaples should return it. But this applies especially to the state's top law enforecement officer. It is unseemlyt. I'm disgusted that Corbett's information minister claims nothing was hidden about these contributions while papers and bloggers are still trying to sort it all out and very few would connect D&L Realty to DeNaples.
ReplyDeleteLove the Don Vito pic.
ReplyDelete... apparently crony corruption doesn't really bother people, does it? One comment on this post .. that's all? And really it's 0. What is it ... do people feel there's nothing they can do about corruption and crooked politicians? Jesus. It must be awful to feel that powerless and little lamb-like ...
ReplyDelete"I'll second that. Morganelli has told me that all pols who got money from DeNaples should return it."
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he told you, Bernie. When will he tell the rest of us, using the same megaphone he used on Corbett? Likely not soon (or only as soon as Severson tells him to).
So why doesn't John point out that he is a candidate for the same office? (Micek reported that Morganelli yet again failed to mention that little tidbit).
ReplyDeleteDid he at least remember to use the right e-mail address this time?
1) Micek makes no mention of this at all on his blog today, so you must be dreaming, or more likely, hallucinating. Morganelli is already a publicly announced candidate for DA. Unless the earth opens and swallows him up, he will be the Dem nominee. It is as necessary for Morganelli to declare his intentions in every email as it is for Corbett to announce he plans to run for AG again and then for Guv.
ReplyDelete2) Morganelli thinks everyone weho got dough drom DeBNaples should return it. But he thinks it is most important for the state's top prosecutor to do so.
yeah, I'm a bit in the dough droms too, Bernie. It'll pass
ReplyDeleteI only know John wants ALL pols' DeNaples money returned because he secretly told Bernie (likely after requisite secret handshakes and high signs). John has only mentioned Corbett, but now we know why because Bernie has explained for John. I'd really like to hear from John on the other pols and their dirty money - not just a particular Republican. I know. I know. Bernie explained already for John. Good thing John has Bernie explaining and Severson coniving. He's a very clunky climber. Can't we do better than this fumbling, three-time statewide flop? Being from this area is not impressive enough for me.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:26,
ReplyDeleteIf you peruse this blog, you'll see that I can be very tough on John when I think he is wrong about something, including his use of campaign consultant Severson. But he has secretly told me nothing. My question to him about whether other pols should return the money was wide open. If it were so secret, I wouldn't be repeating it.
I'll take John Morganelli any day of the week over a blueblooded aristocrat who screws students, accepts possible mob-tainted money, and takes forever to decide a simple summary offense. Morganelli actually knows what it's like to try a capital murder case. He comes from the pits, from nothing. Yes, he's fallen on his face a few times. So did Lincoln.
Look around outside your gated community. It's a nasty world. Gangs and drugs are all over. We need a front line DA to deal with it, not some country club member.
When our child was 7 years he revealed that he was sexually assaulted by his first grade teacher. We filed a Police report with Colonial Regional Police and than were required to meet with Detective Hammer and Morganelli’s assistant DA. In confidence and trust our son made his statement in Morganelli’s Office. A bogus investigation followed along with a conflicting police report made by Detective Gary Hammer. Since they were not going to move forward in this case this Police report was supposed to be sealed and kept confidential, instead it was distributed through the mail. According to the Northampton Schools district response they stated they got a copy from Morganelli’s Office. This confidential police report by my son and many other 6 and 7 year old children’s statements which included full names and addresses have been made public. The Teacher was transferred when Detective Hammers son was placed in this Teachers first grade pod. When we confronted Morganelli he stated his office did not distribute this report and said there is no need for an investigation on how this confidential report was made public. Morganalli stated 6 and 7 year old children do not make good witnesses, even though he knew the school district withheld and gave false information.
ReplyDeleteThrough our experience this police report was not kept confidential! Answers are still left open and the cover-up continues.