Investigation Stinks of Political Football Over Gaming

The TimesTribune wrote an editorial about the cost of government elections. You can read the contents at that link.

What I found intriguing is that phrase what a small world it is. From that opinion piece.

Meanwhile, on Dec. 18 the Allegheny County district attorney's office raided a district office of state Sen. Jane Orie, Judge Orie Melvin's sister and the third-ranking Republican in the Senate. They seized computers and records in furtherance of an Allegheny County grand jury investigation that began Nov. 2, one day before the general election. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, an intern in Ms. Orie's district office complained to prosecutors that the legislative office had engaged in campaign work for Judge Orie Melvin.

Use of publicly paid legislative staffers and resources for political work is the basis of a statewide investigation being conducted by the state attorney general's office. The Allegheny County inquiry is separate.

Ms. Orie's lawyer cried foul, noting that the Allegheny County district attorney is Stephen Zappalla Jr. Mr. Zappalla is a Democrat and the son of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Zappalla, who has gone to work for the casino industry since his retirement as a judge. Ms. Orie, in the Senate, has been a vocal opponent of gambling expansion.

Stephen Zappalla is brother of Gregory Zappalla, former partner with Robert Powell and current owner of Gladstone Partners and PA ChildCare. Imagine if Stephen was District Attorney for Luzerne County? I guess the millions paid to the judges came only out of Powell's half of the profits.