Nukes over Harrisburg By J.D. Mullane | Posted: Sunday, March 23, 2014 1:30 am State Rep.

John Galloway entered his office, closed the door, leaned close and asked me, Why should I talk to you? Uh, because there is an allegation that you were a target of a government sting that involved Phillies tickets, I said. Galloway laughed. Bunk, he said. For an hour, he told me why in a story that reaches embattled Gov. Tom Corbetts office. Galloway, a Levittown Democrat representing the 140th District, said hes collateral damage in a battle between the sinking Republican governor and Pennsylvanias smug Democratic attorney general, Kathleen Kane. Galloway said he was harmed by allegations published by The Philadelphia Inquirer, which last week quoted anonymous sources saying he was targeted in a sting of state lawmakers on the take. Ive been railroaded, and I can prove it, he said. The Inky story alleges that, in 2011, Galloway received two free tickets to a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park behind home plate. The anonymous source alleged the seller was Tyron B. Ali, an undercover informant for the AGs office, which was then run by Republican Tom Corbett. Galloway said he paid $80 for the two tickets. The AG sting netted at least five state officials, four of them legislators from Philadelphia, and all of them Democrats, according to the newspaper story. They allegedly took cash, money orders and, in one case, a $2,000 Tiffany bracelet. No charges were brought because AG Kane deep-sixed the investigation upon taking office in 2012. She alleged the investigation was flawed and racially tinged, because the nabbed officials are black. Except for Galloway, whos white. Galloway cant say why his name was leaked, but a source in Harrisburg said one ver y plausible scenario is that it was designed to refute Kanes allegation that the investigation was racially based. The Inky reported the Phillies tickets were worth about $350. State law, the paper reported, requires disclosure of gifts of $250 or more. Not true, Galloway said. Disclosure is required for tickets worth $650 or more. (Bill Patton, the state ethics go-to guy for the Democratic caucus in Harrisburg, confirmed this for me.) Why would the Inkys Corbett-friendly sources malign a conservative Dem from Falls? Galloway figures it stems from an opinion piece he wrote for this newspaper questioning why

then-AG Corbett seemed to target only Democrats in Harrisburgs infamous 2007 Bonusgate corruption scandal. Galloway said Corbett was livid and made a public scene when he confronted the Levittown lawmaker after a House Appropriations Committee meeting. He started to explode, Galloway said. He was this close to my face. What do you know? Im gonna send agents. I said I dont know anything, I just have an opinion in my local paper. Later that day, Galloway said two agents came to his Harrisburg office. One sits here like this, focuses right on me, and hes asking me What do you know? Where did you come from? Why did you say what you said? Another guy starts walking around, looking at my family pictures. Is this your daughter? Is this your wife? What does she do for a living? Picks up papers, intimidating like you wouldnt believe. The idea was to scare the living (expletive) out of anybody who questioned Tom Corbett. Thats how things work out there. Theres a nuclear war going on between Corbett and Kane, Galloway said. The story about Kane ending the corruption investigation was leaked to blunt Kanes impending report on how Corbett handled (or mishandled) the investigation of the Penn State football scandal that landed then assistant coach Jerry Sandusky in prison on child sexual abuse charges. Kane is about to release an explosive document about the Sandusky investigation six months before a gubernatorial election. The lead prosecutor in that investigation is also the lead prosecutor in the sting investigation. So, the idea is to discredit Kathleen Kane before the Sandusky thing hits, Galloway said. Im just the roadkill along the way.