In 2010, when he was still attorney general of
Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, now its Republican governor, launched a
corruption investigation targeting politicians in Philadelphia. The
operation caught at least four of them, all Democrats, allegedly
accepting bribes of cash and gifts adding up to at least $18,000.
But after Democrat Kathleen Kane was elected attorney general in
2012, she reportedly shut down the investigation.
Via The Inquirer of Philadelphia:
In a statement to The Inquirer on Friday, Kane called
the investigation poorly conceived, badly managed, and tainted by
racism, saying it had targeted African Americans.Those who favored the sting believe Kane killed a solid
investigation, led by experienced prosecutor Frank G. Fina, that
had ensnared several public officials and had the potential to
capture more. They said they were outraged at Kane’s allegation
that race had played a role in the case.
According to The Inquirer, prosecutors collected
hundreds of hours of audio and video tape of the Democrats
accepting bribes in the stings that the attorney general’s office
ran. Sources close to the investigation also insist that the sting
targeted both Democrats and Republicans, but that only Democrats
were interested in learning more about the opportunity for
corruption.
The investigation relied on lobbyist Tyron Ali, who reportedly
agreed to wear a wire after being arrested for fraud. When Kane
nixed the investigation, the attorney general’s office secretly
dropped charges against Ali. The four politicians reportedly caught
taking bribes were state representatives Louise Bishop (District
192), Vanessa Brown (District 190), Michelle Brownlee
(District 195), and Ronald Waters (District 191). A now former
traffic court judge, Thomasine Tynes, was also accused of accepting
a Tiffany’s bracelet and not reporting it. According to The
Inquirer, Waters said he may have gotten something for his
birthday (the tape reportedly shows him accepting cash from Ali on
his birthday), Brown declined to talk about the allegations,
Brownlee claimed she couldn’t remember whether she took a bribe or
not, while Bishop denied the allegation. The Inquirer has
more on what the four said
here.
It’s not just a race card Kane played. She appears to have
played the gender card too. A statement from her office claimed
reporting on the kyboshed investigation amounted to “nothing more
than the Good Ol’ Boys club playing political games to discredit
me.” It sounds like Kane’s fitting right into that club. Read
The Inquirer’s whole report
here.
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/Ootgz6
via IFTTT