Is it time for state Republican Senator Jane Orie to resign for using her state office resources to help her sister Joan Orie Melvin's campaign for State Supreme Court Justice? The answer is obviously you bet your ass!
There is no doubt that the charges filed against State Senator Jane Orie were valid from the start. I have been following this case from the beginning and the information given to the Allegheny County District Attorney by a former Senator Orie staffer has always been credible.
This case has nothing to do with politics between the democrat D.A. and the Orie family. Nor does it have to do with the staffer's accusations being politically motivated assisted by Orie's political enemies. Both are spin tactics used by Orie's lawyers to discredit the charges.
The truth is that this case has everything to do with a culture that seemed to outright encouraged the use of state resources for campaign purposes. But the fact that everyone in Harrisburg was doing it including then Attorney General Tom Corbett does not justify what she did.
The bottom line Senator Orie. You used state resources from your state senate office to assist your sister's campaign for State Supreme Court Justice. Thus, you broke the law.
The worst part of all this is that Jane Orie could have owned up to her mistake early on and took responsibility for her actions. I even think she could have cooperated with the D.A. and worked some kind of plea deal that may have included a fine and community service. But in true Orie family fashion, she threw a fit, had a tantrum, and then tried to lie and scheme her way out of the charges. Culminating in the forging of documents during the trial to set up another long time staffer to take the fall.
Should she resign? I say yes. And there are many more questions that I would like to see answered. How much did her Sister Joan Orie Melvin now a sitting State Supreme Court Justice know what was going on at her sister Jane's office? How much did her other sister who now works for Melvin's staff know?
This is hubris run a muck.
No comments:
Post a Comment