A watchdog group is calling for an independent-counsel probe after Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general dropped the prosecution of four Democratic legislators accused of taking bribes in exchange for votes.
The Committee of Seventy, a government ethics group in Philadelphia, urged the Pennsylvania legislature to create an independent counsel to conduct “a fair and non-partisan” investigation into the dismissed sting operation.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing sources familiar with the investigation, said prosecutors amassed 400 hours of audio and videotape documenting at least four Democratic state legislators from Philadelphia taking payments in cash or money orders, and in one case a $2,000 Tiffany bracelet. They reportedly were bribed by a lobbyist who wore a “wire” and tape-recorded the targets to win favorable treatment after his arrest in a fraud case.
