The Ories: Jane, Judith, Jack, Joan & Janine, but no Jerry...We just assumed that
all the Orie siblings turned up earlier this week to show their support for PA state Sen. Jane Orie (R) and Janine Orie who face criminal charges stemming from allegedly campaigning for their sister, Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, on the public's dime.
Turns out there's at least one more Orie sibling: Jerome A. Orie. He was a no show at the above presser -- guess he couldn't get off work.
Speaking of which, you'll never guess where Jerry works (OK, you will if you read the headline).
He's a deputy attorney at the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Section.
Yeah, that would be Tom Corbett's office.
The same Tom Corbett who is a Republican prosecuting Democrats for the same types of charges that the Orie sisters are facing --
but not facing from PA AG Tom Corbett -- even though complaints were brought to him.
As Michael Morrill from
Keystone Progress notes:
Why is no one reporting on the fact that Jerry Orie, the brother of Republican State Senator Jane Orie and Republican Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, works for Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett?
[snip]
Corbett is being accused of selective prosecution for not investigating Jane Orie's use of her Senate staff for her sister's 2009 campaign for Supreme Court. Corbett is running for governor this year, largely on the basis of his record in prosecuting mostly Democrats for using their staffs for political campaigns.
[snip]
We're not suggesting that there's a connection, but I'm surprised that this Orie relationship to Corbett hasn't been reported in any stories related to this issue. At least none that we've seen.
I certainly don't remember hearing about this connection which is interesting to say the least.
However, it appears that at least one news source has mentioned it:
The Pennsylvania Independent. Eric Boehm
reported yesterday:
Prior to her elected career, Sen. Orie worked as an assistant district attorney in Allegheny County and as a deputy state attorney general. Sen. Orie's siblings include Justice Orie-Melvin, Jack Orie, a former assistant DA in Allegheny County, and Jerry Orie, a deputy attorney general in the Insurance Fraud Section.
Neither Sen. Orie's personal history, nor the fact that her brother is employed by the Office of the Attorney General had any bearing on the office's decision not to handle the investigation, said Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office.
By the time the Attorney General's office became aware of the investigation, the Allegheny County DA was fully involved, and despite having concurrent jurisdiction in the case, it would be unusual for the Attorney General to get involved, said Mr. Harley.
Alrighty then!
We certainly know that the Office of the Attorney General would never do anything partisan or less than transparent. And, it's not like any other Orie could be facing any other charges down the line.
(Looks like we need to add someone to our blogroll.)
