Grand jury investigating state Sen. Jane Orie (PA)

Pittsburgh Post Gazette ^ | 12/23/09 | Dennis B. Roddy

[Born Conservative]

An Allegheny County grand jury has opened a criminal investigation into State Sen. Jane Clare Orie, R-McCandless, the state senate's third-ranking Republican, and detectives last week seized computers from her district office.

The investigation, confirmed tonight by Jerry McDevitt, who is representing Ms. Orie, apparently began a day before the November election when an intern at the senator's district office in the North Hills complained to the district attorney's office that political calls were being made there on behalf of state Supreme Court nominee Joan Orie Melvin, the senator's sister.

On Friday, detectives executed a search warrant at Ms. Orie's district office at the La Casa Blanca Building on McKnight Road. Earlier in the month, detectives had placed Ms. Orie's office under surveillance, Mr. McDevitt said.

He also complained that, at one juncture, investigators had followed his client to church.

"It was pretty much a computer raid," Mr. McDevitt said. He said detectives seized computers assigned to office staff, several laptops and the office computer server, leaving Ms. Orie's own computer in place.

Sources with first-hand knowledge of the inquiry said the office has received complaints of fundraising and other political calls from the senator's district office. Additionally, a college intern brought complaints of improper political activity.

Last night, Mr. McDevitt, a high-profile criminal defense attorney who successfully fought back a massive indictment against former Coroner Cyril H. Wecht, said the investigation into Ms. Orie is itself a political act.

[penowa]

Regardless of whether Santorum actually owned the property...

So now, it doesn't matter that Santorum OWNED the house. Bought it when he was first elected to the Senate in '94, twelve years before you decided it was a "sham."

The house was too small for his family and they were only there on breaks. They lived in Virginia.

Any idea how many kids Santorum had in '94? Was the house too small for his family when they bought it? Do you know any Senators outside of MD, DEL and VA who commute and don't live near D.C. in a second home?

In 2006, I was accused here of causing his defeat.

News to me. All the accusations against you I saw were that you tried to persuade FReepers to vote for Casey, a faux pro-life Socialist, which would be no different or better than supporting a conservative, Santorum.

I take the NRA endorsement with a grain of salt.

You may be the only person who does. I live less than a half hour from Presto, PA and have never heard of FOAC or their PAC which claims to reach 5,000 people/mo. That sounds like the "Gold Standard" for firearms voters. LOL! As for GOA, I personally have no problem with them, but they are hardly considered mainstream or the place firearms owners check before casting a vote.

Are personal attacks and spurious accusations now permitted?

You post misinformation about Santorum on FR and then accuse me of making a personal attack on you because I called you on it?

[Badray]

The sham is that he did not live there. He lived in Va and the Penn Hills home was to cover his hypocrisy for slamming his opponent for doing the same thing. Why was it okay for him to live in the DC area, but not his opponent? THAT is the issue that underlies it all including how many kids there were in 1994.

You mean that you don’t follow all of my posts and the comments posted to me? I’m shocked. I thought that you were more dedicated than that. Yes, that accusation was made. Now, please find any post my me where I advocated voting for Casey and post it here with a link or apologize for lying.

Santorum was not and is not a conservative. He was a phony.

Have you never seen a thread on FR complaining about the NRA? There are plenty of people right here who do not trust the NRA. How can they be trusted if they endorsed Specter after his vote to ban assault weapons and promised to do so again despite (his words) that the ban was wrong and ineffective, all in one sentence.

Are you a gun owner? Are you active in protecting the RKBA? If you are and haven’t heard of FOAC, you might just be living in a cave. They have a good record of supporting pro gun candidates AND working to help them win. It’s a completely volunteer organization and the members are passionate about preserving our rights.

What does calling me a ;og cabin republican have to do with anything? How is that calling me on a lie? There were no lies from me and that comment (amongst others) was a personal attack.

Try as you might, you will not be able to goad me to anger. You have proven nothing about the claims you made about me. You make assertions and they are worthless. I don’t recall now the specifics of Santorum’s home ownership but that is a red herring to distract from the fact that he is not a conservative. Even there, I admit that I may have made a mistake, but I did not and will not lie to make a point. Apparently you are not guided by the same standards and principles.

[penowa]

What does calling me a ;og cabin republican have to do with anything?

Just guessing since the Log Cabin Republicans with Soros' financing were the ones who conspired to take down Santorum and ran the bulk of the local campaigns in PA since they could not tolerate his socially conservative views. Since you called such attention to yourself in '06 with your vehement determination to poison the minds of FReepers against Santorum and to have him replaced with a real phony claiming to be pro-life and pro-gun, if you weren't part of a Soros' financed group to elect another one of his puppets, then I would guess you have some personal grudge against Santorum.

NRA - My family are all life members, but that doesn't stop me from being critical of the process of endorsement. Still, it remains the only endorsement that has any mainstream political value.

FOAC - I have never heard of it and don't know anyone who belongs. I would like to meet someone who does to see if it participated in the scam run in PA to convince hunters and sportsmen by word of mouth that it was safe to vote for Obama. You are aware of what went on in the last election, aren't you?

Why would I want to provoke you? I'm just sorry that you continue to post misinformation about Santorum and I wonder which elected conservative you will next advocate should be replaced by a Socialist. Jane Orie?

[Badray]

What color is the sky in your world? I ask because you have such a distorted view of this world.

You accuse me of being a queer and a left wing operative without a shred of proof. Just accusations. You tell me to be a conservative by giving up my conservative values and by not voting for conservative candidates. How exactly does that work?

I am 100% pro life without the exceptions that Santorum says are okay. He believes that claiming rape or incest is enough reason to kill a baby.

You insinuate that FOAC is a Soros funded disinformation group working to elect Zero. I am 100% pro gun for free people. If you are not to be trusted with a gun, you should either be locked up or dead. Santorum agrees with ‘reasonable exceptions’ to our liberty and the ability to defend our lives with deadly force.

What is ‘mainstream political value’? Does it mean supporting the republican regardless of the positions of the candidate? Will you explain to me what value their endorsement has if an advocate of any kind of weapons ban can get their endorsement?

Santorum believes that the government should enforce sanctions on the private acts of free people who are consenting adults. I don’t. I don’t believe that God approves of homosexual behavior but he allows for the free will of the people. My problem with Santorum’s plan is in how to enforce the laws that he claims are good for society regarding such acts without violating the rights of everyone. Who monitors the monitors?

I am a social conservative and believe in God, but I also believe that the government is not that God or our nanny. Rick, otoh, believes in social engineering via the IRS. He admitted (or bragged) on national TV that he is a ‘big government conservative’. The terms are self nullifying. You cannot be for big government and a conservative.

Your tactics tell me that you are a student of Saul Alinsky.

I do not expect answers to my questions based on your history of not answering them. I do fully expect you to come back at me with more attacks and insults. If that makes you feel better about yourself, go for it.