It looks like the merit system investigation continues to get much worse as the grand jury moves on to other cabinets besides the transportation cabinet. Tom Loftus and Mark Pitsch put together a good article in the Courier Journal. Take a look!

Grand jury subpoenas 7 in various cabinets

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The special grand jury investigating hiring in the Transportation Cabinet has subpoenaed at least seven personnel officials from other areas of state government.

And at least one official was directed to bring documents related to the "Governor's Personnel Initiative," Gov. Ernie Fletcher's effort to train someone in each cabinet on state and federal personnel laws.

Sheryl Snyder, a lawyer who represents the governor's office, said during a Franklin Circuit Court hearing yesterday that subpoenas were served Thursday and yesterday to approximately seven people from various cabinets.

Snyder declined after the hearing to identify the officials or the records that were subpoenaed.

So far, the grand jury has focused on the Transportation Cabinet, and some Personnel Cabinet officials and records have been subpoenaed. The grand jury is investigating whether civil service jobs were filled on the basis of politics, not merit.

Spokesmen for four of the remaining seven cabinets -- Finance and Administration, Education, Commerce and Economic Development -- confirmed yesterday that their personnel officers were subpoenaed.

Spokesmen for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet declined to comment. The Health and Family Services Cabinet spokesman could not be reached.

Fletcher's spokeswoman, Carla Blanton, said, "I don't have any comment on whether or not the investigation is expanding."

The investigation began in May with a 276-page complaint delivered to the attorney general's office by the then-assistant personnel director for the Transportation Cabinet.

The complaint alleged widespread violations of the civil service law known as the merit system. It bans politics from being considered in decisions to hire or fire rank-and-file state employees.

So far, eight current or former Fletcher administration officials have been indicted on misdemeanor charges, and one of them also is facing a felony charge of witness tampering. All have denied wrongdoing.

The felony charge could bring penalties of one to five years in prison and a fine of $1,000 to $10,000.

Charges of political discrimination, criminal conspiracy and violating the rights of executive branch employees could result in penalties of 30 days to six months in jail, forfeiture of office, and a five-year ban on state employment for each count. Penalties for official misconduct include up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $500 on each count.

Scott Crawford-Sutherland, the prosecutor working with the grand jury, said in an interview yesterday that records previously filed by investigators indicated that the investigation had expanded beyond the Transportation Cabinet.

Crawford-Sutherland said six witnesses have been called to the grand jury Monday, and another nine Wednesday. He would not identify them or comment further.
Subpoena's order

John Farris, deputy secretary of the Finance Cabinet, said its chief of staff, Tim LeDonne, received a subpoena yesterday.

Farris said the subpoena asked LeDonne to bring records related to meetings and communications about hiring workers in the merit system. He also read part of the subpoena that directed LeDonne to bring "copies of all documents or writings, electronic or hard copy, reflecting contacts, communications meetings, discussions or appointments related -- - directly or indirectly -- to your participation to the Governor's Personnel Initiative."

Blanton said she did not know why investigators would be interested in the personnel initiative, which occurred last year or earlier this year.

"Basically, it set up training for a point person in each cabinet on a variety of issues such as merit system laws, EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) regulations, training opportunities available to employees -- the whole gamut of personnel issues," Blanton said.

In another development yesterday, court records of administration e-mails showed for the first time that officials in Lt. Gov. Steve Pence's office consulted Fletcher's office on personnel issues.

The e-mails were filed in Franklin Circuit Court as part of an affidavit supporting a search warrant executed yesterday on the Governor's Office of Local Development.
Computers seized

Kentucky Bureau of Investigation agents seized two laptop computers used by Mary Krol, formerly the Louisville representative for Fletcher's Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky office who also worked in Fletcher's office in early 2004.

In one e-mail, Randy Embry, a former aide to Pence, wrote April 5, 2004, to Krol seeking help in getting a woman a state merit job. Embry noted that despite being a registered Democrat, the woman worked on Fletcher's campaign and helped the Pence celebration on election night.

It isn't known whether the woman got a job. Her name was not in a June 2 Personnel Cabinet database of state workers.

Krol, now with the state Republican Party, was not in her office yesterday and could not be reached for comment. Embry also couldn't be reached for comment.

Pence and his top aides were in Eastern Kentucky yesterday and couldn't be reached.

The e-mails also show that Krol corresponded with Dick Murgatroyd, former deputy transportation secretary and now Fletcher's deputy chief of staff, about merit hiring issues.

Murgatroyd is one of those who have been indicted in the investigation, and has denied any wrongdoing.

He is not accepting interview requests, Blanton said.

Response

You know, this getting pretty rough. Fletcher's people have been getting in real trouble and now the emails start to lead back to Fletcher's office. If, by chance, criminal investigations are handed down against say both the governor and the lt. governor what happens then? Because it would seem just about the entire administration, including the governor, the lt governor and all their picked people might be in on this and one wonders when it becomes time to try to remove them from office. What type of measure are in place to remove the governor from office and if both of them were to be removed, who would take over. I think this would be a major loss to the national Republican part would something like that happen but I just can't help but think this might be the direction things are going in. What do you think?

posted by Stithmeister @ 12:11 PM
 
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