Auditor General "Monitoring" Attorney General's Email Probe

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania's elected watchdog says he has concerns about the attorney general's plan to hire a Maryland attorney to review thousands of state employee emails and may decide to conduct an audit.

For one thing, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says he's concerned that the troublesome emails, minus those that may be subject to legal proceedings, have not been released so the public can have a full understanding of the scope…

"There could be a culture that is much wider than any of us know on basically piggish behavior on taxpayer time. And if there are that many people that have sent that many emails on taxpayer time, the public has a right to expect full accountability on that."

DePasquale says he's also troubled that the attorney general's plan would have a Maryland attorney who is not licensed in Pennsylvania essentially acting as the lead investigator for a potential prosecution. The auditor general says he does not understand the legal rationale as to how that is appropriate.>