Friday, October 30, 2009
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said today it was cooperating with a demand for documents by state prosecutors, but the subject of the investigation was not clear.
Turnpike spokesman Bill Capone said records had not yet been turned over.
“We can’t provide you with any other details of when it came, or what it’s about or anything like that,” he said.
Kevin Harley, a spokesman for Attorney General Tom Corbett, declined comment.
Turnpike officials called the governor’s office Friday to disclose the receipt of a subpoena, and aides informed Gov. Ed Rendell.
“I talked to the governor, he said, ’Well, certainly they need to comply and cooperate fully with the investigation,”’ said Steve Crawford, Rendell’s chief of staff.
The existence of the subpoena was first reported today by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Capone said he “did not know anything official” about reports that a grand jury was examining possible corruption at the agency, which has been criticized as a patronage haven.
In September, The Morning Call of Allentown reported that a former turnpike employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had been questioned by a grand jury about patronage, campaign donations and contracts.
Turnpike chief executive Joe Brimmeier declined to discuss the investigation.