Allentown – U.S Senate candidate and former small business owner Pat Toomey called on Congressman Joe Sestak to come clean about his latest earmark scandal and release all documents relating to his request for a $350,000 wind turbine project for a Philadelphia-area atheist group.
Over the past couple of days, Congressman Sestak has offered vague statements and hollow excuses to try to cover up his attempt to skirt Congressional rules against earmarks for for-profit companies by funneling $350,000 for a wind turbine project to an atheist group by the name of the Thomas Paine Foundation. The Morning Call recently uncovered that the $350,000 was never really intended for the Thomas Paine Foundation but for a for-profit corporation called New Way Energy LLC.
It is time for Congressman Sestak to come clean and answer the following questions:
1) Congressman Sestak says he was misled about the nature of the earmark, but the earmark recipient, Drew Devitt, told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review “I don’t believe I misled them.” Who is telling the truth?
2) Congressman Sestak told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review he did the “appropriate due diligence” but what exactly did that “due diligence” entail? How could “appropriate due diligence” have missed something that is so obviously against House rules?
3) Does Congressman Sestak do any research on earmark requests or does he simply throw taxpayer dollars at earmark requests regardless of House rules and the project’s worthiness?
4) Why did Congressman Sestak think this earmark project was worthy of spending taxpayer dollars on when Senators Casey and Specter rejected it?
Most importantly: 5) Will Congressman Sestak release the documents surrounding the Thomas Paine Foundation’s earmark request, including the request submitted by Drew Devitt and the request Congressman Sestak submitted to the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee? Such disclosure might shed light on who is telling the truth.
“This is Congressman Sestak’s second earmark-related scandal and it raises serious questions about the reckless way in which he treats tax dollars,” Toomey Communications Director Nachama Soloveichik said. “If Congressman Sestak breaks his own ethics pledge and violates Congressional rules in the House, why should Pennsylvanians believe he will act any differently in the Senate?”
Allentown – U.S Senate candidate and former small business owner Pat Toomey called on Congressman Joe Sestak to come clean about his latest earmark scandal and release all documents relating to his request for a $350,000 wind turbine project for a Philadelphia-area atheist group. Over the past couple of days, Congressman Sestak has offered vague statements and hollow excuses to try to cover up his attempt to skirt Congressional rules against earmarks for for-profit companies by funneling $350,000 for a wind turbine project to an atheist group by the name of the Thomas Paine Foundation. The Morning Call recently uncovered that the $350,000 was never really intended for the Thomas Paine Foundation but for a for-profit corporation called New Way Energy LLC. It is time for Congressman Sestak to come clean and answer the following questions: 1) Congressman Sestak says he was misled about the nature of the earmark, but the earmark recipient, Drew Devitt, told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review “I don’t believe I misled them.” Who is telling the truth? 2) Congressman Sestak told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review he did the “appropriate due diligence” but what exactly did that “due diligence” entail? How could “appropriate due diligence” have missed something that is so obviously against House rules? 3) Does Congressman Sestak do any research on earmark requests or does he simply throw taxpayer dollars at earmark requests regardless of House rules and the project’s worthiness? 4) Why did Congressman Sestak think this earmark project was worthy of spending taxpayer dollars on when Senators Casey and Specter rejected it? Most importantly: 5) Will Congressman Sestak release the documents surrounding the Thomas Paine Foundation’s earmark request, including the request submitted by Drew Devitt and the request Congressman Sestak submitted to the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee? Such disclosure might shed light on who is telling the truth. “This is Congressman Sestak’s second earmark-related scandal and it raises serious questions about the reckless way in which he treats tax dollars,” Toomey Communications Director Nachama Soloveichik said. “If Congressman Sestak breaks his own ethics pledge and violates Congressional rules in the House, why should Pennsylvanians believe he will act any differently in the Senate?”