A George W. Bush U.S. Attorney who is the Republican nominee for a House seat in northeast Pennsylvania now says he did not obtain written permission from the Justice Department to be a business reference for a man who federal prosecutors were investigating.
Tom Marino (Tom Marino for Congress)
Former U.S. Attorney Tom Marino of the Middle District of Pennsylvania told The Daily Item, a newspaper in Sunbury, Pa., that he did not request authorization from the DOJ to be a business reference for Louis DeNaples, who sought a casino license. Marino told a radio station in April that the DOJ permitted him to be a reference for DeNaples.
Marino told The Daily Item that there was an understanding that he could be a business reference for anyone as long as he didn’t promote his staffers or use his job title. He told the news website he allowed people to use him as business references “all the time.”
Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.), who is running against Marino, has made the former U.S. Attorney’s business reference a major campaign issue.
