The keystone corruption state

By Ruth King

It appears that Pennsylvania is the state that ostensibly conferred enough votes to elect Joe Biden.

Now that count is being challenged amid an investigation of fraud.

The grandees at the networks declared rather stridently that there is not a scintilla of corruption in that state and quoted the secretary of state, Kathy Boockvar, the state's top election official, who denied impropriety and averred that "voter integrity and security are constantly followed by every county in the state."

Even the New York Post has accepted a priori that the allegations of corruption are overblown.

Well, on August 29, 2020 The New York Post had a headline: "Confessions of a voter fraud: I was a master at fixing mail-in ballots. "

The whistleblower — whose identity, rap sheet and long history working as a consultant to various campaigns were confirmed by The Post — says he not only changed ballots himself over the years, but led teams of fraudsters and mentored at least 20 operatives in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — a critical 2020 swing state.

Then there is the matter of ballot-harvesting, where volunteers can fetch completed ballots from the homes of absentee voters and deliver them to the polling stations. It is a bonanza for fraudsters.

While it is illegal in Pennsylvania, the laws are murky and permit drop boxes. In Philadelphia, a group called "The Committee of 70" launched a "Voteswagon" during the primary to collect and deliver thousands of ballots to polling stations.

Another problem in Pennsylvania is the fact that mailed ballots were accepted if they were received by 5 P.M. on the Friday after the election but were postmarked by Nov. 3. Justice Samuel Alito has ordered that those ballots be segregated, but there is real evidence that the dates were changed on many ballots.

It is certainly reasonable to investigate how President Trump's lead of almost 600,000 votes became a Biden victory.

However, the media and too many Republicans assure us that the Keystone State adheres to its motto of "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence," so let's just have a glance at the number of Pennsylvania state politicians who went to the slammer in the period of 2015 to 2019.

Bipartisan, huh? Out of 18, there was 1 Republican.

Pennsylvania

State Representative Movita Johnson-Harrell (D) convicted of felony theft. (2019)
State Representative Vanessa L. Brown (D) convicted of bribery. (2018)
Treasurer of Pennsylvania Barbara Hafer (D) convicted of lying to the FBI. (2017)
State Representative Marc Gergely (D) convicted of conspiracy. (2017)
State Representative Leslie Acosta (D) convicted of embezzlement. (2016)
Attorney General of Pennsylvania Kathleen Kane (D) was convicted of perjury. (2016)
State Representative Louise Bishop (D) was convicted of corruption. (2016)^[
State Representative Michelle Brownlee (D) was convicted of a conflict of interest. (2015)
State Representative Harold James (D) was convicted of corruption. (2015)
State Representative Ronald Waters (D) was convicted of bribery. (2015)
Treasurer of Pennsylvania Rob McCord (D) pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion. (2015)
Sheriff of Philadelphia John Green (D) convicted of bribery. (2019)
Mayor of Allentown Ed Pawlowski (D) convicted of corruption. (2018)
Mayor of Reading Vaughn Spencer (D) convicted of corruption, bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. (2018)
Upland Borough City Councilman Edward M. Mitchell (R) convicted of bribery, conspiracy, theft by deception, and restricted activities. (2018)
Assistant City Solicitor, Allentown (D) Dale Wiles convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. (2018)
District Attorney of Philadelphia R. Seth Williams (D) convicted of bribery. (2017)
Mayor of Harrisburg Steven R. Reed (D) pleaded guilty to theft of public funds. (2017)