Capitolwire: Carduff says Perzel hired him

to dig up dirt on Smith, Turzai, O’Brien Six.

By Peter L. DeCourseyBureau ChiefCapitolwire

HARRISBURG (Nov. 11) – Veteran Republican opposition

researcher Joe Carduff says Speaker Emeritus John Perzel,
R-Philadelphia, hired him early this year with Perzel
campaign cash to do opposition research into eight
Republicans and two Democrats.

Carduff wrote and said that those Republicans include

House Minority Leader Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney,
against whom Perzel is now running for that caucus
leadership post, -CLICK HERE for that story - and House
GOP Policy Committee Chairman Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny,
and the six House GOP members who voted against
Perzel for Speaker in January 2007, and with House
Democrats for Speaker Denny O’Brien, R-Philadelphia.
Two other Republicans were also assigned to Carduff for
opposition research, he said.

Perzel spokesman Marty O’Rourke said none of that was

true, “not at all, absolutely not.”

O’Rourke said Carduff was hired by Perzel at $2,000 per

month and paid that sum briefly – Carduff says for two
months’ work – to do opposition research on House
Democrats whom Perzel was planning to target in the fall
elections.

Other supporters of Perzel said Carduff had had trouble

with alcohol and spent time in jail and was getting
revenge for a fee dispute over $2,000 Perzel's campaign
staff would not pay him, because he did not do his
assigned work. Carduff conceded he did threaten to go
public with these charges for months because "they
didn't pay me what they owed me, then they had their
attorney send me a threatening letter, so I did go public
with it. Because what they were doing to their own
caucus was stupid and wrong."

Carduff said his jail and alcohol problems did occur, but
that he did the work and the Perzel high command then
did not pay him because he would not make up dirt on
their internal House GOP opponents: "I can't find stuff
that isn't there."

“That is all,” O’Rourke said. He also added that when

Carduff did no work for the money, he was told by Perzel
campaign operative Don Raymond and Perzel chief of
staff Paul Twohey that he would no longer be paid.

Carduff responded that that occurred not because he was

not working, but because he told Twohey and Raymond
there was no scandal or problems to use against the eight
Republicans. And Carduff said the only two House
Democrats he was asked to research were Reps. Mike
Gerber, D-Montgomery, who won re-election with more
than two-thirds of the vote, and Deputy Speaker Josh
Shapiro, D-Montgomery, who won a write-in bid in the
primary, and so had no GOP fall opponent.

Carduff also said Twohey asked him to do "oppo research

on Perzel," to mislead others into thinking someone other
than Perzel hired him. Carduff has worked for officials
ranging from former Treasurer Barbara Hafer to 2008
treasurer candidate Tom Ellis to former House Speaker
LeRoy Irvis and consultants linked to the House and
Senate GOP campaign committees.
Smith spokesman Steve Miskin said on Monday he did not
know Smith’s reaction to the allegations, but said Smith
knew nothing of Carduff’s hiring or Carduff’s assignments.

Rep. Curt Schroder, R-Chester, one of the so-called

“O’Brien Six” who defeated Perzel for Speaker in January
of last year said of Carduff’s allegations: “they certainly
do ring true to me so I would say I do believe them.

“And I can’t believe that we are paying, our caucus is

paying tax dollars so John has a private PR spokesman to
respond. John needs to address these allegations
personally to our members. And for John to do something
like this is certainly not out of character. Especially, given
the fact that he has done stuff like this in the past,
moving a bunch of Philadelphia money to try to beat
[Carlisle Republican lawmaker] Will Gabig in the primary
two years ago.

“You have to think that Richard Nixon must be looking on

this fondly that his kind of Plumbers Unit tricks still
survive into the 21st century.”

Other House members could not be reached by

Capitolwire as of presstime.

Carduff alleged in his letter and in an interview with

Capitolwire that Perzel planned to tell members that
Smith misused his position to give Rep. Kerry
Benninghoff, R-Centre, extra per diems, to help
Benninghoff through a difficult divorce.

Carduff said “everyone knows that is wrong, and only

Paul Twohey thought it was fact. First, I looked and Rep.
Benninghoff had an average number of non-session, no-
committee meeting per diems. Second, everyone knows
his financial problems come from having an ill child and
high medical bills, not a divorce. But Twohey was going
around saying he had the book on 10 members, based on
my research. And he didn’t. It was just him and John
trying to intimidate members. And they got mad at me
because I told them the facts they wanted me to
substantiate weren’t there.”

O’Rourke denied all of that, saying it was untrue.

O’Rourke also denied Perzel arranged and paid for robo-

calls into the district of another member of the O’Brien
Six, Rep. Brad Roae, R-Crawford, in the 2008 primary.

Schroder and others have said they think that Perzel did
back those calls, as is alleged by another victim of similar
robo-calls, 2008 primary legislative GOP candidate Lowell
Gates. O’Rourke also denied Perzel had any responsibility
for those calls.