Corbett campaign: Castor¶s latest filing raises questions.

Text of April 19 press release.

Montgomery County DA accepts $500,000 from repeat offender he prosecuted

HARRISBURG ± Tom Corbett¶s Campaign for Attorney General questioned MontgomeryCounty District Attorney Bruce Castor¶s most recent campaign finance report in which Castor received $502,500 from Drew and Marilyn Lewis.According to the report, the Lewises made two $250,000 campaign contributions, the first onMarch 29, 2004 and the other on April 6, 2004. Sandwiched between the $500,000 was a $2,500contribution on April 1, 2004.³Why would someone give an Attorney General candidate over $500,000?´ asked Brian Nutt,Campaign Manager for Tom Corbett¶s Attorney General campaign. ³Is it because they areexpecting something in return? Or is it in return for a favor already performed? Votersthroughout Pennsylvania and the nation are increasingly concerned about the powerful influenceof major contributors like the Lewises and the political ± and apparently in this case the legal ± favors they expect in return.´Castor¶s campaign says that, ³Lewis and Castor are longtime friends´. Bruce Castor says that theLewises were longtime friends who, ³have always been there for me in the past, and I have everyreason to believe they will continue to be there for me not just now, but in the future as well.´(Allentown Morning Call, April 17, 2004)In July 2001, Lewis flipped his SUV at the driveway entrance to his home. Lewis was attemptingto get out of his overturned SUV, which was partially on the street and in the entrance to hisdriveway when he handed a police officer a bottle of vodka and told the officer that he hadconsumed about three ounces of vodka and that, ³I need help getting out, I¶m too drunk.´ Lewis¶ blood alcohol content was .30 percent, three times the state¶s legal limit to drive. (NorristownTimes Herald, 1/9/02)If Castor and Lewis were long time friends, then it was inappropriate and unethical for BruceCastor to prosecute Drew Lewis¶ Driving Under the Influence (DUI) case, negotiate a pleaagreement with no jail time, and have his ³longtime friend´ Drew Lewis check himself into a posh resort in the Berkshire Mountains in Connecticut that most people would consider avacation.Bruce Castor¶s expense reports show that Drew Lewis had also contributed to Castor¶s campaignone month before his second DUI arrest. (Friends of Bruce Castor Campaign Expense Report,10/22/01)³This was an obvious conflict of interest and Bruce Castor should have recused himself, butinstead he decided to take it easy on his µfriend¶, a repeat offender, and send him to a resort thatmost people would consider a vacation. Now, Castor receives over $500,000 from the same