Lt. Gov. Stack under scrutiny by Pa. inspector general

Updated: APRIL 11, 2017 — 6:09 PM EDT


By custom, lieutenant governors are supposed to keep a low profile.

The political intrigue surrounding Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, however, could rival a House of Cards episode.

The state’s inspector general is investigating complaints that Stack, a longtime political player from Philadelphia, and his wife, Tonya, verbally abused members of their state police security detail and household staff at their official residence near Harrisburg.

What makes the probe particularly notable is the driving force behind it. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Gov. Wolf initiated the scrutiny on Stack, who was expected to be his running mate in next year's reelection campaign.

Wolf acted after state troopers and employees at the lieutenant governor’s mansion at Fort Indiantown Gap complained that the Stacks often berated them, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss it. One state employee briefed on the allegations said the Stacks used “extremely graphic, profane language” and had threatened workers with their jobs.

Wolf’s spokesman has declined to comment, as did Inspector General Bruce Beemer, who was named to the job last year by Wolf.  Stack’s office confirmed a review was underway in a two-line statement Monday night. Late Tuesday, Stack's office announced he would hold a news conference Wednesday to address the inquiry. 

But the timing and disclosure of the probe – first reported Monday by LNP Media in Lancaster and Harrisburg television station ABC27 – underscored an unspoken but understood political reality in the Capitol.

Friction sometimes arises between governors and their seconds, but there hasn't been such a severe breach in the relationship in Pennsylvania, at least in modern memory. And it comes as  Wolf, a first-term Democrat, heads toward a re-election year with middling approval ratings in a state that last year swung Republican in a presidential race for the first time in nearly three decades.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/Brian-Stack-investigation-inspector-Wolf.html