"It Isn't a Federal Matter': Lou Barletta Dodges When He's Asked about Church Sex Abuse Report

By John L. Micek
Penn Live
August 9, 2018

https://www.pennlive.com/capitol-notebook/2018/08/it_isnt_a_federal_matter_lou_b.html

Just about any day now, Attorney General Josh Shapiro's office is expected to drop a bombshell report on clergy sex abuse within Pennsylvania's Roman Catholic dioceses that will have repercussions for years to come.

Pennsylvania's two candidates for United States Senate, Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Lou Barletta, both Roman Catholics, had very different reactions when a Pittsburgh television station asked them about the report's imminent release.

The station specifically asked the two candidates for their reaction to the abuse report and, critically, the role of government in handling the cases.

Barletta, the former mayor of Hazleton in Luzerne County, and a two-term congressman from the 11th Congressional District, told a reporter from WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh on Wednesday that the report wasn't a "federal matter" and offered no condemnation or criticism of the church for decades of sexual abuse against hundreds of children.

"It's not a federal issue, so my opinion doesn't really matter very much," Barletta told WTAE-TV. "I'm a Roman Catholic, 100 percent pro-life, man of strong faith. And I believe in my religion. And, you know, as far as that, it has nothing to do with the federal government."

Casey, while not directly addressing the question about the role of government, faulted the church for "what's been a cover-up for too long," and that he was "glad we're seeing to be seeing a lot more disclosure."

"Whether as a Catholic or not, as a citizen and a public official, I'm glad that we're going to be seeing a lot more disclosure," Casey told the station. "The kinds of abuses that took place over decades should be the subject of scrutiny, review and transparency. And I think that's finally what we're going to get.

"It never should have taken this long. And church leadership, not only here, but around the world, but especially here, bears a lot of responsibility for the abuse, obviously, but also, frankly, for what's been a cover up for too long," he said.

The rest of the day's news starts now.

The Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity is parachuting into the 2018 race for governor. In an email, the group told PennLive that it "will be mobilizing its permanent grassroots infrastructure (phone banking, canvassing, + paid media to supplement those efforts) to call for the defeat of [Democratic Gov. Tom] Wolf and [to] support [Republican Scott] Wagner in the race for governor.

A spokesman declined to say how much AFP might be spending in that effort. But he did note that the group knocked on 135,000 doors and called 2.4 million voters in the push to defeat Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Katie McGinty in 2016.

In case you missed it, Democratic LG candidate John Fetterman and DNC Chairman Tom Perez barnstormed in Reading on Wednesday