Travelgate: Bill DeWeese (2005-2007) v. Georgina Zogby (2011)

Posted by By Eric Epstein at 24 July, at 12 : 40 PM Print

Source: Rock the Capital

Georgina Zogby: 2011

Rep. Bill DeWeese (D., Greene) drew similarities between the trooper’s actions and theft-of-services charges filed against lawmakers and legislative staffers accused of doing personal and political work on state time. DeWeese was among those charged. His case has not yet gone to trial.

DeWeese pointed to charges that were filed against former State Rep. Brett Feese (R., Lycoming) and his former secretary, Jill Seaman, by the state Attorney General’s Office in 2009, when Corbett was attorney general. The pair offered another staffer Feese’s four-wheel-drive state car so she could get safely from Harrisburg to a campaign event in Bloomsburg during a snowstorm.  (Pittsburgh Post Gazette, July 23, 2011)

Bill DeWeese: 2005-2007

“Among state lawmakers, no one uses the planes more often than Rep. Bill DeWeese, (D-Greene). He flew on them 11 times last year and twice this year — at a total cost of nearly $24,000.” (Tribune Review, December 1, 2005)

Mr. DeWeese also accessed a $13 million “special leadership account” to fly to Santa Barbara, California, pay a personal driver, and spend $149,105 on advertising or $254,722 on consulting fees. (Herald-Standard, May 12, 2006)

Bill DeWeese decided to drive himself to work. “According to media reports, DeWeese spent $32,000 last year on a driver from Donna Hertig Enterprises. A Herald-Standard review of DeWeese’s legislative spending shows that in October 2006 Donna Hertig Enterprises received four payments totaling approximately $4,074 for driver services.” (Herald-Standard, February 17, 2007)

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This post was written by:

Eric Epstein - who has written 107 posts for Rock The Capital

Eric J. Epstein is RocktheCapital‘s coordinator and a community advocate for good government for over 25 years. Mr. Epstein is also Chairman of the Three Mile Island Alert, Inc., a safe-energy organization founded in 1977; President of EFMR Monitoring Group, Inc., a non-profit economic development corporation established in 1977, and Chairman of the Stray Winds Area Neighbors (SWAN), a smart growth association organized in 2005. Mr. Epstein was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Humanities at PSU-Harrisburg (1992-1999) and co-authored the Dictionary of the Holocaust, which was released by Greenwood Press (1997) - Email Eric Epstein

Featured Pennsylvania Issues Political Bill DeWeese, Georgina Zogby, travel expenses, travelgate