He might be indicted, but John Perzel showed up to work in Harrisburg on Monday.

The former Speaker of the House participated in the afternoon’s voting session despite Attorney General Tom Corbett charging him with 82 criminal counts last week in connection with alleged misuse of more than $10 million in taxpayer money. The charges against Perzel and 9 others connected to the House Republican Caucus were the second wave of Corbett’s public corruption investigation, known as “Bonusgate.”

Perzel has not publicly said whether he plans to retain his House seat. He has denied any wrongdoing and accused Corbett, who is running for governor, of playing politics with his investigation.

State Rep. Gordon Denlinger (R-Lancaster) called Perzel’s presence “awkward.”

“Rep Perzel was on the House floor today,” Denlinger said on his Twitter account. “Awkward situation … but the business of the House moves forward.”

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Front Page Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.