Posted: Friday, 24 April 2009 12:15PM
Keep Talking The Truth
Steve Corbett Reporting
Friday, April 24, 2009
The phone rang and rang and rang again this morning.
“Corruption Central, how may I help you?”
And that was just at my house.
Information about the continuing federal public corruption probe in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties just keeps coming.
The onslaught is actually too much to handle.
But I’ll do my best.
Although I apologize deeply for not being able to answer most of the emails you send me at corbett@wilknewsradio.com, I read every one closely. And I log into the deepest recesses of my mind the relevant tips that might one day help clean corruption from Northeastern Pennsylvania.
I do a lot of talking on the phone, too.
Cops, judges, reporters, elected and appointed officials speak with me in confidence.
I know how to protect a source.
Once I taunted a Luzerne County judge in a morning newspaper column to not waste taxpayers’ money and time by asking me under oath on the witness stand to identify a source.
I’d rather go to jail, I wrote.
That afternoon as I sat on the witness stand I looked into the eyes of some of those very sources. Sitting in the courtroom, they wondered if I might break my promise to protect their identities.
I set my jaw and got ready to clam up.
The judge knew I meant business.
So did the lawyer who prepared to question me under oath. He told the judge that he had no more questions.
At least one of the sources in the courtroom that day about 20 years ago is still a confidential source.
And he knows that my word is good.
That’s one reason why people talk with me and other journalists who are looking into the public corruption that has had a stranglehold on our communities and our lives.
So get ready to talk because we’re going to keep on looking.
In addition to phone calls, letters and emails, I even met a good citizen in the parking lot of a motel the other night after the show. He had information for me and was not in a position to meet me elsewhere.
I’m grateful that he took the time to care.
And I’m grateful that you take the time to listen and talk with me each weekday on “Corbett.”
The FBI is even listening.
Yesterday I handed them a solved crime that needs to be explored by federal agents who track the way federal money is spent by public agencies. The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority operates with millions of public dollars that include federal as well as state money.
I told the story on the air about a former WVSA employee who allegedly admitted to stealing money from the authority. The worker admitted the crime after being quizzed by administrators, board members and the authority solicitor, according to several sources inside the authority.
I confirmed the story with a high-ranking authority employee.
But the alleged thief was allowed to resign after paying back the money. The administrators decided not to alert the authorities. And nobody was the wiser. Most of the 17 WVSA board members still do not know about the incident, the high-ranking WVSA worker said.
Do authority members have the power to cover up a crime even when restitution is made?
The FBI needs to tell us.
Maybe a special agent will one day come on the show like one did recently after deciding to issue a plea for the public’s help in investigating corruption within our area school districts. The feds decided to issue the public plea after listening to “Corbett” and hearing allegations about buying jobs.
We all need to keep talking.
Words comprise one of the most powerful weapons in the fight against corruption.
And when words comprise truth, everybody benefits.
Keep talking.
Keep speaking truth to power.
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