You don’t really expect the state Attorney General’s race to be bizarre, certainly not over a year before Election Day. But this week brought a series of unusual factors to light.
The Democratic primary stage for the “state’s top cop” is likely to include a partial retread of the 2004 primary, with John Morganelli and Jim Eisenhower facing off for a third round. New to the mix is rumored candidate Chris Casey, the less famous brother of Senator Bob Casey and son of the late governor.
In a peculiar series of events over the last week, an email campaign let many insiders to scratch their heads. The anonymous emails, as reported by The Patriot News political reporter Brett Lieberman, attack both Chris Casey and John Morganelli. Simple logic would lead you think the attacks were from a Jim Eisenhower supporter, but in this case the logic may not be that simple.
Eisenhower is “our best choice,” according to the anonymous writer who describes himself as a Democratic volunteer who accuses the younger brother of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. of trying to “capitalize on his famous name despite the fact that he aided and abetted George Bush and Karl Rove” by working as an assistant U.S. attorney. Morganelli is described as a “2 time loser … and non-factor.”
Now here is the twist:
The email address used matches an address used in the past by John M. Morganelli Jr, the son of Northampton County District Attorney and Attorney General candidate John Moganelli. The younger Morganelli, who attended Democratic events with his father in Camp Hill this weekend, also used the same username for internet dating services and online networking groups. The younger Morganelli is a law student and has served as a paid intern in various State Government offices, including a summer spent with Senator Lisa Boscola and two years of employment in the district office of (now retired) Representative T.J. Rooney, also the current Democratic Party chair.
Candidate Morganelli told the Patriot News the account was recently transferred to his campaign, and about 10 people had access to it. “One of my volunteers, an overzealous volunteer, decided to send out this disinformation,” he said. “I forgot they were using this e-mail.”
And Who Runs John's Campaign?
Why it’s Tom Severson, whose penchant for anonymous smears is known far and wide. John does not need to be shackled to this “win at all costs” consultant.
Didn't Severson used to be a Republican consultant?
IIRC, he worked for Ken Smith when he ran for Congress.
Morganelli is done
And then there is this follow up over at the Pennsyltucky Blog: http://blog.pennlive.com/pennsyltucky/2007/09/if_y…
I want to know what the Democratic Party is going to do about this. And I would hope to think the Widener Law School has higher standards for their student body. Aren’t there some sort of criminal charges that can be filed against John Morganelli, Jr.?
And the one thing that Morganelli has yet to divulge is who did it. Why isn’t the press demanding the identity?
what charges
I don’t know what charges could be filed against Young John. If stupidity was illegal, Harrisburg & D.C. would be quite empty.
This really raises many questions about how Morganelli would handle the “top cop” for the state position. It will be interesting to see if Chris Casey ever bothers to respond or just lets Morganelli burn out on his own.
D.A. John Morganelli comments
Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli has sent the following message to our friend Bernie O’Hare over at Lehigh Valley Ramblings:
Charges can in fact be
Charges can in fact be filed against the individual who sent these emails under the “Can Spam” law.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-04-28-spam-...
They may not have been in the traditional solicitation form, they were soliciting support for a candidacy and are without a doubt fraudulant.
Aren't political e-mails exempt from Can-Spam?
Politicians usually exempt themselves from these laws. They did the same thing with phone solicitations.
Sounds like a job for Blackrobe
Do you think there could be a case?
Can Spam and politicians
It appears as though this question has come up before and it doesn’t look like they are fully exempt:
http://blogs.mediapost.com/email_insider/?p=457
Response to Morganelli e-mail posted by Cindy Snyder
If Facebook didn’t exist six years ago, how could young John have been using them?
Morganelli/Facebook
You can pick apart Morganelli’s story all you want, I know I have. But, the Facebook angle is the only part that holds water. Up until about a year ago a person could only get a Facebook account with a valid .EDU email account.
I can understand using the same login for multiple things (an old AOL account, myspace, dating service, etc), but there are several points where Morganelli doesn’t care to understand technology. Not really what I’m looking for in an Attorney General.
Confidential Police Report
When our child was 7 years he revealed that he was sexually assaulted by his first grade teacher. We filed a Police report with Colonial Regional Police and than were required to meet with Detective Hammer and Morganelli’s assistant DA. In confidence and trust our son made his statement in Morganelli’s Office. A bogus investigation followed along with a conflicting police report made by Detective Gary Hammer. This confidential Police report was than distributed through the mail. According to the Northampton Schools district response they stated they got a copy from Morganelli’s Office. This confidential police report by my son and many other than 6 and 7 year old children’s statements which included their full name and address has been made public. The Teacher was transferred when Detective Hammers son was placed in her first grade pod. When we confronted Morganelli he stated his office did not distribute this report and said there is no need for an investigation on how this confidential report was made public.
Through our experience our police report was not kept confidential! Answers are still left open and the cover-up continues.
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