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Tells court he drove senator’s sister, a state Supreme Court justice, in her 2003 campaign.
Orie
PITTSBURGH — A former staffer for Republican state Sen. Jane Orie testified he spent at least 20 days on state-funded time driving Orie’s sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, to political appearances during her initial unsuccessful 2003 bid for a seat on the high court.
Jason Davidek worked for Orie as an intern and then as a full-time staffer from mid-2002 until he was fired in January 2004.
Davidek, testifying in the second day of Orie’s trial on theft of service, conflict of interest, and evidence tampering charges, said he worked at Orie’s Pittsburgh-area office when he drove Melvin, then a Superior Court judge, to campaign stops in cities including Philadelphia, Reading, State College, Wilkes-Barre and Harrisburg.
The 49-year-old senator is accused of illegally using her state legislative staff to do political campaigning and fundraising for herself and Melvin at various times from 2001 until an Allegheny County grand jury began investigating in late 2009 the allegations of a whistleblowing intern, Jennifer Rioja, who has yet to testify. A third sister, Janine Orie, 56, who is suspended from her $67,000-a-year job as Melvin’s aide, is charged with conspiring to use the senator’s staff to work on Melvin’s 2009 election to the high court — but not the failed 2003 campaign Davidek testified about Friday.
Davidek estimated he spent 30 percent of his state-funded time doing campaign work, but not much on Orie’s behalf.
The linchpin of Orie’s defense is that such work done by Orie staffers was done on a volunteer basis or using comp time.