Powerful Law Firm Gave Corbett Thousands in Sweet, Suspicious Gifts

Last week, Tom Corbett found himself subject to an ethics complaint after taking thousands of dollars in gifts from powerful lobbyists and businesses. Just call them the gifts that keep on giving. According to an analysis by StateImpact/NPR, since 2007, Corbett and his wife have received $15,447 from the law firm Blank Rome LLP, which is a member of the Marcellus Shale Coalition and “whose clients include oil, gas, and chemical companies fighting state and federal environmental regulators.”

Though Corbett didn’t break the law, these goodies, which include tickets to Phillies games and concerts at the Academy of Music, would seem to constitute a violation of the state’s Code of Conduct. (Hence the earlier ethics complaint.) Corbett, confronted last week over the finding, did not seem to care: “We’ve been following the law. Code of conduct is not law.”  [StateImpact]