Translate

Monday, December 31, 2007

What did Bill DeWeese know and when did he know it?

Bill DeWeese, Democratic Majority Leader in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, has been making the rounds to various newspapers in recent weeks attempting to distance himself from the growing "Bonusgate" scandal.

DeWeese main argument is that his aides were behind the apparently illegal effort to use taxpayer dollars to pay for political work done on behalf of Democratic legislators.

This reminds me of the Nixon cover-up during Watergate. Nixon insisted that he didn't know what his top aides were doing. That was until tapes surfaced proving that the cover-up went right to the Oval Office.

Brad Bumstead takes a look at where things stand with the "Bonusgate" investigation as we close 2007. What will 2008 bring for Bill DeWeese and other top Democrats? Criminal indictments? You can bet on it.

"How could a $2 million-plus bonus scheme take place under DeWeese's nose without him knowing about it?" Bumstead asks

"It defies all logic and tradition in the General Assembly to think that aides acted unilaterally," Bumstead continues. "One of the guys allegedly at the heart of the e-mail string on bonuses was Mike Manzo. He was close to (former Democratic No. 2 House leader Mike) Veon. But he (Manzo) was DeWeese's chief of staff. He never mentioned the bonuses to his boss?"

Read Bumstead's full column at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Web site, www.pittsburghlive.com

No comments: