Monday, February 27

Is Josh Shapiro Part of the Problem?

Josh Shapiro's words and actions reveal that he is part of the problem -- not part of the solution


By
Ray Blehar

Shortly after newly elected Attorney General (AG) Josh Shapiro was sworn in he made the following statements in an attempt to show he was not corrupt and dishonest like some of the other elected AG’s that came before him. 

AG Shapiro stated:

"Let me be very clear, anyone who tries to roll back your rights will have to come through me. 

"And, I won't be afraid to stand up to anyone--whether it's the President of the United States, a multi-national corporation, or someone on the street corner." 

The statement was a smokescreen.


AG Shapiro’s decision to continue the prosecution of Penn State officials on trumped up child endangerment charges and to let his office petition for new conspiracy charges is evidence of the exact opposite.

There is no legal basis for the case to move forward – and anyone who can read the law knows it.  Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz, and Timothy Curley were not mandated reporters and were not supervising Jerry Sandusky and/or the unknown child in 2001.

The upcoming trial is yet another deflection by the AG as it continues to avoid bringing the true enablers of Sandusky's sexual victimization of children to justice.

Over the last five years, readers of notpsu.blogspot.com have come to learn that the Keystone State is run by a corruption network that uses the criminal justice system courts to shift blame onto honest citizens, while letting the corrupt go scot-free.

Josh Shapiro appears to be in their pocket -- just like Tom Corbett and the long list of Republican AG's that came before him.


Kathleen Kane


There is little doubt that Shapiro's tough talking statement was a veiled reference to his predecessor, Kathleen Kane.   

Kane was Pennsylvania's first elected Democrat AG.  However, it wasn't her party affiliation that caused her to become of target of the Pennsylvania Corruption Network (PACORN).   She was threatened -- then taken out -- when she followed through on her promise to investigate the Sandusky investigation.   

However, if you look at the media time lines (here, here, and here) of the Kane case, that threat from March 5, 2013 is conspicuously absent from all of them.

The omissions are not a matter of some odd coincidence.   

Kane's opponents and their media cohorts painted her as a vindictive leader who went after out anyone who crossed her.   The fact that anonymous prosecutors (e.g., Frank Fina and others) threatened her first doesn't fit the preferred narrative -- so it was omitted.

The threats didn’t stop Kane -- and her opponents carried them out.

Special Deputy AG Geoffrey Moulton's report criticized the Sandusky investigation for its "inexplicable" delays in taking the most basic investigative steps, obtaining search warrants, and searching for victims via The Second Mile.   

“….while the failure of investigators to contact The Second Mile until 2011 is indeed puzzling, there is nothing in the available documentary record or witness interviews to suggest that then-Attorney General Corbett or anyone else in his OAG executive office at the time gave any instructions about how to conduct the investigation of Sandusky, including what witnesses to interview or entities to contact or investigate.”

Kane referred to these delays as "inexcusable" and that there was "no urgency to get Sandusky off the streets."

Even though Moulton’s report failed to mention some of the most egregious failures, the report’s timeline told the story.



The Non-Investigation of Sandusky 

and The Second Mile 

After the investigation was turned over to Corbett in March 2009, the AG and PSP investigators failed take any actions -- beyond interacting with Aaron Fisher’s circle -- to move the investigation forward for 16 of the 21 months leading up the alleged anonymous email tip in November 2010.

Even though numerous individuals interviewed by July 2009 mentioned Sandusky’s association with The Second Mile (TSM), there was no movement in that direction until January 2011.  

The sad truth was the AG Tom Corbett's plan was to let the Sandusky investigation die a slow, silent death in the grand jury.

If there was a conspiracy to cover-up Jerry Sandusky’s crimes, Corbett’s AG office was a part of it. 


Spanier-Corbett Feud, Investigation Renewed

Jerry Sandusky would be a free man today had it not been for then AG and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett observing Spanier hob-knobbing with his political opponent, Dan Onorato.  Corbett became furious and told those around him that if elected governor, he would have Spanier removed as the president of PSU.

One day after Corbett was elected, an allegedly anonymous email tip was sent to the Centre County District Attorney stating that then-PSU football assistant Mike McQueary witnessed something between Sandusky and a boy in a locker room.

The investigation was now underway.  

But prior to that, Corbett most likely assured PACORN that he could prosecute the Sandusky case and take out Spanier without exposing anyone else with ties to TSM to any harm.

The evidence indicates that Corbett's plan was for the charity to survive the scandal unscathed and build its Center for Excellence  just a short ride away from University Park Airport.   

Does anyone really believe that location was chosen so that the kids could be flown in?
The Second Mile Center for Excellence -- does it look like a learning center or grand hotel?

That plan explains the “inexplicable delays” in the Sandusky investigation contacting officials from The Second Mile.  

It also explains the lack of charges against TSM officials.

It also explains why a red-faced Governor Corbett eventually had to rescind the $3 million dollar grant that he approved while Sandusky was under investigation

It also explains the inflammatory and false grand jury presentment claiming McQueary witnessed a rape on the PSU campus and the trumped up charges against PSU officials.  

The blaze set by Corbett's AG office on PSU's campus was big, but not big enough to overcome the charity's Founder with being charged with 40 counts of child molestation.

And the press corps needed Sandusky to be guilty to make the PSU story stick.

As it turned out, Corbett's plan backfired and it resulted in the charity collapsing and him becoming the first incumbent governor to lose a bid for a second term since 1854.

Corbett was another casualty of the Sandusky case -- which is the "third rail" of PA politics.


Is Shapiro Part of the Problem?

Is Josh Shapiro little more than Tom Corbett wearing a Democrat label?  

He’s continuing the sham case against PSU officials and refusing to talk about investigating Sandusky's charity.

When Shapiro asked whether he'd investigate TSM, he responded with "No Comment." 

Some people may want to give Shapiro the benefit of the doubt, much in the same manner that they did with PSU President Eric Barron.

But that would be a mistake.

The Sandusky case was very likely one of the most publicized serial child molestation cases in American history and the aftermath has left bloodied bodies strewn about -- the most notable one belonging to former AG Kathleen Kane.

Shapiro was quite comfy with the Montgomery County gang (i.e., Risa Vetri Ferman, Kevin Steele, et al) that convicted just Kane of being part of an alleged conspiracy to leak information to the press.

The co-conspirators were given passes for their cooperation -- and that's just another page of the PACORN playbook. 

Shapiro knows darned well that Kane wasn’t removed over signing a phony oath document or because of a CHRIA or grand jury leak to the media (that she didn’t even make).   

If grand jury leaks were such a terrible crime, then why hasn't there been an inkling of media curiosity about the Sandusky and DeNaples grand jury leaks?   (That was a rhetorical question) 

Shapiro knows that Kane was removed because she was beginning to expose the corruption and depravity that permeates Pennsylvania politics.  She exposed the exchange of pornography among investigators, prosecutors and judges causing several of them to lose their jobs.

Rumor has it that what Kane revealed was just the tip of the iceberg, despite Bruce Beemer's contention that there was nothing to the communications between judges and prosecutors.  

The media bought the story and went along that there was nothing else to the porngate matter.  Shapiro is apparently going along with that too.

Part of the problem.  Not part of the solution.

While it is difficult to predict what will happen in PA's corrupt criminal justice system, the best outcome for Shapiro is to get the Sandusky matter behind him. 

And the best way to do that is by throwing the case to ensure a not guilty verdict.

A guilty verdict would result in appeals for the foreseeable future -- keeping the case in the news. But a with a not guilty verdict Shapiro and PACORN "win" three different ways.

1. They can claim the defendants were guilty and were the enablers of Sandusky -- but got off on a "technicality."  It doesn't much matter to the media if the technicality is called THE LAW.

2. The Sandusky matter would then be in the rear view mirror -- and the media will compliantly move on.

3.  The true enablers of Sandusky will get off scot-free.

In summary, Josh Shapiro is part of the problem and does not figure into the equation for finding the truth about the Sandusky scandal.

The truth remains up to us.


26 comments:

  1. I agree with a most of this.

    I don't see how Shapiro adding the conspiracy charge less than a month before trial and opposing a defense appeal to the Superior Court are the actions of someone who is "throwing the case."

    You paint Corbett as some kind of puppet master pulling the strings of the Sandusky investigation to assure it died in the grand jury and then getting pissed at Spanier and targeting him. That seems contradictory if Corbett allowed himself to be thrown off his game by his petty revenge against Spanier.

    To me it is just as plausible that the Sandusky investigation lurched along because they didn't really believe victim 1 and/or the investigators were inept. Had the investigators done the logical thing and first talked to Sandusky's bosses, Paterno and Raykovitz, they would have found out about the 2001 shower incident in early 2009. The 2001 incident would quickly have led them back to the 1998 incident.

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    1. Yes. it does seem weird that investigators needed a tip from somebody who was in an internet chat room with McQueary's brother in order to find out about the 2001 incident.

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    2. Tim,
      Thanks for your readership and comment.

      Shapiro's actions to add the charges is one of the last ditch efforts on the AG's part to try to get some kind of plea deal. This is SOP.

      Next, you apparently did not read this post closely enough because Corbett is not painted as a puppet master. He understood Sandusky wasn't to be touched (no pun intended) -- and had to assure those with connections to TSM that they wouldn't be implicated in the mess. Judge Cleland also made sure that didn't happen.

      Ineptness can't explain what went down with the investigation. Once it got to the AG's office the investigation more or less stopped, save for Sassano & Rossman responding to various complaints by Fisher, Gillum, and Danilels.

      The evidence also shows that the police and Clinton County CYS believed Fisher. CYS filed the "indicated" report to DPW and the police contacted the Clinton County DA to initiate charges. That DA punted the ball to Centre County and that's when the case went into full stop.

      DA Madeira had a conflict of interest because of a family relationship (thru marriage) with Jerry Sandusky. Thus, it strains credulity that he did not recall his ADA Mark Smith, telling him about the 1998 investigation of Sandusky.

      Also, according to Mike Gillum, in June 2009 he was told (by Eshbach and Rossman) that they had become aware of an incident involving Sandusky in 1998.

      I'll cut to the chase -- the AG had the 1998 police report when the case was transferred to them in March 2009.

      The logical thing for the cops to do to find victims was go to The Second Mile -- not to Joe Paterno. Paterno had no clue about what Sandusky was up to.

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    3. Russian Eagle,
      Thanks for your prescient comment.

      Rest assured, Corbett knew about the 2001 incident well before that phone tip occurred. It is likely he was told about it in January 2009.

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  2. I agree 100% Tim. I do not, as John Ziegler believes, think Jerry Sandusky was completely innocent, but it is quite clear some of the victims were lying and Sandusky was overcharged. It is clear that Allen Myers is definitely "Victim 2" and that he was never molested in the 2011 shower incident or on any other occasion. The fact that Paterno notified Curley and Shultz, and that Curley and Shultz notified the 2nd mile and were even considering calling CYS shows that they were extra careful about doing the right thing concerning McQuery's report. Even though they knew it would be unfounded just as in 1998. The only contact McQuery witnessed, if there was any at all, was Sandusky grabbing Myers arm. Trying to blame Tom Corbett, or the 2nd mile seems extremely unnecessary.

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    1. The problem is that McQuery was totally unnecessary to prosecute JS, but it was needed to drag in Joe Paterno and the football program via the fraudulent presentation and janitor hoax.

      Strange a PA trooper sat at his desk reading "Touched", but never contacted SM or tried to locate the kids in the book...very, very strange. They did find a serogate investigator in Sara Ganim.

      Wasn't the executive director of SM, Bob Poole, a major Corbett supporter who held political fundraisers with SM children present?

      Kane was just plain incompetent and then obligingly walked into Fina's booby trap, after which she flailed like an animal in quicksand. She also seemed to have constrained Molton to stay away from SM not address any of the glaring irregularities in the narrative. There were more gaping holes in some of the stories than the surface of Yucca Flats, but neither Kane nor Molton filled any of them.

      Shapiro?? He seems like a pure politician top me. Did he ever prosecute a case? The "rule" in PA politics as my mother's boss, Senator George Wade, told me, is to take your piece of pie, go eat it somewhere, do not make waves, do not rock the boat. You have to be careful, though, when trying to forecast the political winds, because, as the old proverb says "he who walks down middle of road gets hit with truck going both ways".

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    2. Russian Eagle.
      I respectfully disagree on the identity of the unknown Victim #2. If AM was indeed that person, why didn't Sandusky say so immediately?

      Sandusky waited until after AM agreed to come forward and say he was in the shower before Amendola made the public statement that they knew who V2 was. Moreover, nothing he said put him in the shower on that night.

      Sandusky could have been charged with 100s of counts had the prosecutors charged by incident instead of course of conduct. That said, I agree that some of the witnesses stretched the truth, but some of them soft-pedaled it as well.

      The Second Mile admitted to endangering the welfare of children, so I'm not blaming them.

      As for Corbett, he was a vital part of ruining PSU's reputation and smearing Paterno. If you haven't learned that by now, then you haven't been paying attention.

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    3. Gregory,
      Thanks for your comments.

      I must agree that Kane should have done the right thing and dismissed the charges. She didn't because of the optics, but politically she might have won a 2nd term. At the time she resigned, he led Shapiro 30% to 18% in the primary.

      Based on his bio, Shapiro has not practiced law but has been a career politician. One of his stops was as the head of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Tom Corbett's old stomping ground -- and the office responsible for handing out PSU's NCAA fine money to charities. The PCCD granted money to another "friend fitness" type program in the Philly area that was under the mentorship of Bruce Heim.

      Bob Poole was the President of the Board of TSM. I am aware of one fund raiser he held at his home, but he also threw quite a few parties at his home where the TSM kids got to swim in his swimming pool (I would guess ol'Jer was in there groping around too).

      Kane really didn't know the extent of the corruption she was walking into and her keeping anyone from the former AG staff was a big mistake. Some of those guys were involved in the Moulton investigation and in constructing the report. They pulled a lot of punches.

      Sen George Wade is right. If you rock the boat in PA, you pay the price.

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    4. Ray - Shapiro was never a prosecutor but Shapiro's bio on the AG website says he was in private practice for 10 years but doesn't say what 10 years. Wikipedia says he worked for the law firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, and Young when he served as Chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

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    5. Thank you for the correction, Tim.

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    6. Ray,
      You are correct in that it doesn't make sense why Amendola did not call a press conference right away when Myers came forward, but considering how he allowed Sandusky to do the Bob Costas interview immediately instead definitely calls into question his competency. Still, it does not make sense to me that Myers, a sergeant in the Marine Corps would conspire with Jerry to claim to be Victim 2. He may not be the brightest guy, but if Jerry had asked him to claim to be the shower victim, wouldn't Myers' natural response be "if you are innocent, then why don't you find the real boy". Finally, I do not see why Sandusky would claim he was with a different boy rather than the real boy McQueary witnessed, unless McQueary really did witness a brutal sexual assault. And if McQueary really did witness a brutal sexual assault, you cannot claim that Penn State (at least Curley and Schulz) are innocent. Even through Curley did inform Raykowitz, he admits that he only told him about horseplay. I don't see how the Second Mile could be guilty and Penn State be innocent in a situation like this.

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    7. Ray,
      What post-arrest accusers do you find credible. The only ones the state chose to bring to trial are Victims 9 and 10. Both gave statements which seemed to be patently false. Victim 9 claims he had lunch several times with Jerry and Joe Paterno in Beaver stadium, even though no one ever saw Joe and Jerry eat together after his retirement. Victim 10 claims he was assaulted in a silver convertible, which Jerry does not own. I would think the accusers who were not brought to trial are even less credible, such as the infamous 1970 accusers.

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    8. Russian Eagle - You are correct that victim 2 could have been Myers.

      Another possibility is that Sandusky had just been in the showers with Myers at another time(s) in 2001. Sandusky may have named Myers because he was close to him and hadn't done anything questionable with Myers.

      If it wasn't Myers, maybe the actual victim 2 died, forgot or never saw McQueary. We likely never will know for sure, which is reasonable doubt for the defendants.



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    9. Tim, I have thought about these possibilities. If Sandusky named Myers because hadn't done anything questionable with him, that would mean Myers is lying about his abuse. While I acknowledge that just because one or a few accusers are lying doesn't mean Sandusky is innocent, it seems anyone who even questions one of the stories is labeled a "pedophile enabler".

      Also Dottie claims Jerry told her the incident was with Myers right after it happened. I do not see how Dottie would stay with Jerry if she knew he was cheating on her via homosexual encounters with teenagers. I do not buy the "Dottie knew" theories. It seems people knew the Sandusky's knew Dottie as a strong serious women compared with her "goofball overgrown child" husband.

      Finally, if a child/young man who had spent much time with Jerry Sandusky had died tragically between 2001 and 2011, I would think the media would have found out and made a huge stink about it.

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    10. Do you have a source for Dottie saying Jerry told her it was Myers in the 2001 shower incident back in 2001?

      Jerry's story was that the boy in 2001 turned on all the showers and was sliding on the floor, slapping the shower walls and they were slapping towels at each other. That fits his goofball, overgrown kid persona and explains the slapping sounds.

      The trouble for Spanier, Curley and Schultz is that Sandusky probably won't be at trial to testify to that. Maybe the defense can get that in via Sandusky's TV interview.

      The prosecution and media may not know of all the boys Sandusky dealt with. The real victim 2 may have wanted to stay out of the media frenzy or could have quietly collected a settlement from Penn State without mentioning that he was part of the 2001 shower incident. Maybe the actual victim doesn't even know that McQueary was there. McQueary didn't announce himself, say anything and has told differing stories. McQueary is also contradicted by Dranov.

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    11. I recall hearing Dottie talk about it during one of her interviews with Ziegler. Should be on youtube. I know Ziegler's probably the not the most well liked guy on this blog, but some of his conclusions are certainly hard to refute and I have no doubt he honestly believes in Sandusky's innocent (rather than just saying it for attention).

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    12. I never saw it in the headlines, such as "Sandusky's Wife Identifies Victim 2" so the mainstream media apparently decided not to report it.

      Ziegler does have an article in which he claims Dottie and Jerry both confirmed victim 2's identity to him after he independently figured it out. He also reported that neither Jerry or victim 2 realized it was Mike McQueary in the locker room.

      I doubt that victim 2 will testify at the CSS trial given that the prosecution claims he was never identified and his testimony at Sandusky's appeal was not very helpful.

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    13. Another possibility is that AM was a child prostitute who had been providing services to ol' Jer and who could be relied upon to back his story whenever necessary. He may not even be V2 but only Sandusky's 'go to boy' whenever he got made. He may even have been recruited into the business by Jerry himself. Whatever the background, once he saw that Jerry was going down, he decided to jump on the gravy train. That would explain his betrayal.

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  3. I think Kane was railroaded but I think she was just as much a part of the problem as Shapiro in the Curley-Schultz-Spanier prosecution.

    Kane could have dropped the criminal case for very valid reasons and put the blame on Fina and his cronies. Instead she fought it all the way. It was only after she lost her law license that her Solicitor General, Bruce Castor, decided not to appeal the Superior Court decision that threw out most of the charges.

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    1. Thanks, Tim.

      Concur with comments -- see my answer to Gregory (above).

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  4. Thank you Ray for recognizing that Josh Shapiro is a continuation of the problem with political corruption in Pennsylvania. Also, thank you for pointing out his cozy relationship with Risa Ferman and the Montgomery County cabal that "crucified" Kathleen Kane.

    I think the people of PA are waking up to the fact that there is a concerted effort between PA mainstream media and corrupt factions of our government to portray the corrupt as good and the good as corrupt.

    Just some quick observations and opinions to help those that are interested in identifying these corrupt "politicians" through the use of their symbolism: As I've pointed out before, the use of numerology and symbolic formations are something these materialistic, holier-than-thou criminals like to use as a means to communicate with each other. It's a childish means to have a "secret" that makes them feel special as they infiltrate and undermine the integrity of our nation. Risa Ferman's "Last Supper" formation at her press conference announcing charges against Kathleen Kane was quite simply, arrogant. And in my opinion, it was a mockery of Christianity and its values.

    I'll also point out the tremendous differences between the two swearing-in ceremonies of Kathleen Kane and Josh Shapiro: At Kane's ceremony it was brightly lit with those standing around her, gathered in a spontaneous grouping. And they seemed genuine in their happiness and expressions. By contrast, at Shapiro's, it was dark and rigidly ceremonial with a stage full of seated and unemotional attendants arranged in a very symmetrical manner. There are also two overpowering groups of 7 blue beams of light fanning out on either side of the stage creating a sort of religious or ethereal feel. A little research will show the enormous significance of the number 7 in Judaic mysticism. The whole thing just had the feel of a secret society initiation. And of course, Josh's bright blue tie against his crisp white shirt can be seen as representing the colors of the Israeli flag---remember Louis Freeh's bright blue "power tie" when he "crucified" PSU and Paterno on national TV?

    Justice David Wecht seemed to almost grovel with praise for Montgomery County and Josh Shapiro at the swearing-in. It was both humorous and sickening to watch. In general, the whole Josh Shapiro swearing-in appeared to be very stiff and contrived. Whereas, Kane's was obviously cheerfully spontaneous and felt very genuine.

    Shapiro's swearing-in video is hard to find for some reason. But I was able to view the clip on wensilver's twitter page.

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  5. Somehow, it bewilders me that over 1000 people didn't hear the 2001 story by May 2001. It would mean that Raycovitz, Heim, Poole, the Paternos, McQuerys, Dranov, C/S/S, etc. never mentioned anything to their spouses and friends. Even a little tidbit would spread like a California wildfire in a town like State College. I'd be amazed if Poole never mentioned it to Corbett.

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    1. I don't see that it is that strange. The 1998 investigation was kept under wraps and lots more people knew about that.

      Sandusky had a reputation as a touchy-feely kind of oddball hopelessly devoted to helping disadvantaged children. Perhaps those who knew him thought he was compensating for not being able to have children of his own.

      Heim and Poole talked Raykovitz out of taking it to the Second Mile board in 2001 so they wanted to keep it quiet. Any kind of rumor of child abuse would have hurt donations to Second Mile.

      Paterno was obsessed with football, so I doubt he would be talking about ex-assistant coach Sandusky, who he didn't really like.

      The McQuearys didn't want to talk about it. It seems obvious that Mike McQueary didn't want to report it to police because it could have hurt his career whether it was determined to be a false report or resulted in Sandusky's arrest and a huge scandal.

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  6. Something else to consider when looking at Josh Shapiro's "connections": Why would a newly-elected state Attorney General be already cast into the international limelight with a trip to the White House? And of course, it all revolves around supposed antisemitism in the form of vandalism and threats. And Josh actually meets with Trump who plays the emotionally imbalanced leader that dismisses Josh's concerns over the "hate crimes" as false flag events. See where this is going people? We are being played by these showbiz actors that feign adversarial relationships portrayed as reality in the complicit MSM. We are being manipulated and lied to on a grand scale and they sit back and laugh at our supposed stupidity. But is it stupidity, blind trust, fear, or denial that keeps us from seeing the deception?

    Josh Shapiro is a farce. Risa Ferman is a farce. Michael Bloomberg is a farce. Bush and Obama were both farces with the same objectives, and Trump and his entire cabinet is also a farce. Anyone with even the smallest inkling of intuition can feel what I'm saying is true. Trust your feelings, something just doesn't feel right with our "reality" that is being scripted and played out by these criminals.

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  7. I WOULD SAY YES. JOSH SHAPIRO IS PART OF THE PROBLEM

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