11/18/2007
DeWeese insists he's not a target
If your current image of Bill DeWeese is of a man in a panic throwing staffersoff his sled to distract pursuing wolves, he will assure you that's far from thetruth. In fact, he insists he is not part of the problem but a voice for reform.In an interview with the editorial board of the Observer-Reporter last week,DeWeese said he had been cooperating with Attorney General Tom Corbett'sinvestigation of legislative practices "since Day One" and that as far as hecould determine, he was not a target. Additionally, he said he provided allthe documents that were used to bring charges that Rep. Frank LaGrottahired his sister and his niece as "ghost workers" on the legislative payroll.LaGrotta was charged on Thursday. Two days before, DeWeese, Housemajority leader, fired seven top aides to the House caucus including his ownchief of staff, Mike Manzo.DeWeese said he could not be specific about many points because of Corbett's ongoing investigation. It is known that the attorney general islooking into the propriety of some $4 million in bonuses that were given tolegislative staffers in both parties at the end of last year. Critics have impliedthat the bonuses rewarded work on legislative campaigns rather thanperformance of state duties.DeWeese said when he learned of the bonuses last winter, he was told thepayments to House Democratic employees totaled $400,000, a figure heused in a television interview. The next day, he said, he learned that theactual amount was $1.9 million. DeWeese said he called in WilliamMcCormick, who was the inspector general for the late Gov. Robert Casey,and Walter Cohen, a former state attorney general, to study Houseoperations and recommend a code of conduct.
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