By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

Shortly after announcing the next wave of his office’s “Bonusgate” indictments, Attorney General Tom Corbett reiterated Thursday that he will not resign his position to become a full-time gubernatorial candidate despite telling reporters the investigation will continue with no immediate end in sight.

“I’m not running against any of these individuals,” Corbett said, referring to the men and women his office has filed charges against. “I’m not running against any member of the House or the Senate. I have a job to do, and we’re doing that job.”

Some Democrats, Republicans and newspaper editorial boards have called on Corbett to step down as the state’s chief prosecutor because of the conflict it might present with his gubernatorial campaign, or at least suspend his campaign until the investigation is finished. Some critics have said “Bonusgate” has already been politically motivated.

Corbett countered on Thursday that his office will prosecute anyone the investigation finds committed wrongdoing.

“I was elected to go after people if they’ve done wrong,” he said. “Even if they’ve helped me, if they’ve done wrong, we’re going to go after them.”

Corbett faces Congressman Jim Gerlach and state Rep. Sam Rohrer in the GOP gubernatorial primary, but the attorney general is the clear front-runner for the nomination.

Gerlach has sharply criticized Corbett’s dual roles in recent months, but his campaign issued a muted response to Thursday’s news.

“This is an unfortunate day for taxpayers throughout the Commonwealth if these allegations are true,” a Gerlach campaign spokesman said in a statement. “No one is above the law and anyone guilty of violating the public’s trust should be held accountable, regardless of party. The prosecution of this case should be handled solely on the basis of facts and the law, not based on the political motivations or interests of anyone involved.”

Rohrer’s campaign manager, James May, said Rohrer “fully supports” the attorney general’s efforts but added he hopes the investigation continues.

“We remain confident that the Attorney General will not leave anyone out and is still looking closely at Senate Republicans and the remaining questions about possible misuse of taxpayer funds for political campaigning,” May said in statement. “The attorney general’s work is important, and has Representative Rohrer’s unqualified support.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Knox issued a statement calling for Corbett to resign immediately. The attorney general is “choosing headlines over ethics,” said Knox, who cited Virginia governor-elect Bob McDonnell’s resignation as attorney general at the start of his campaign early this year.

In most ways, Thursday was an undoubtedly good day for Corbett’s gubernatorial aspirations.

Last year’s presentment includes charges against 12 Democrats part of or connected to the House Democratic Caucus, but it did not indict any Republicans, a lopsidedness that led to accusations of partisanship.

But Thursday’s indictments of 10 Republicans will likely silence that criticism, according to Chris Borick, a political analyst at Muhlenberg College.

“That charge as of today is dead,” Borick said.

The pollster added that the latest round of indictments also increases Corbett’s “bona fides” as a reformer, a position that will be advantageous to any candidate trying to take office amid historically low approval ratings for state government.

“He can claim state government is a mess, and I’m doing more than anyone else to clean it up,” Borick said.

But the attorney general also indicated his investigation will continue into the foreseeable future, in part he said because of a lack of cooperation from some House Republicans detailed in Thursday’s presentment. Corbett added that an 11 percent cut his office took because of the state’s multi-billion dollar revenue shortfall will also slow down the ongoing investigation.

The delay means “Bonusgate” could continue into the teeth of Corbett’s gubernatorial campaign. Extra exposure given to Corbett as a campaigner will likely lead to more questions about his perceived conflict of interest.

Corbett received a taste of those questions during Thursday’s press conference, when reporters asked him about a campaign meeting he had with the now-indicted John Perzel in October of 2007 and a fundraiser held on his behalf by Perzel’s former Chief of Staff Brian Preski, who was also charged Thursday. The Daily News published accounts of each meeting just hours before Corbett’s press conference.

Corbett said the information unveiled Thursday about each man hadn’t been uncovered at the time of either meeting.

“There has been very little contact with these individuals since that period of time once we understood where everything was going with this investigation,” Corbett said.

Although his opponents might say the conflation of prosecution and politics will eventually force Corbett to step down, Borick disagreed. He predicted Corbett could continue his dual roles through the general election despite the perceived conflict of interest.

“It’s a perpetual annoyance for him,” Borick said, “but not a fatal blow to his campaign.”