On Friday, we learned that a former aide to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro allegedly verbally abused an anonymous woman over the phone until she “crying and shocked.”
Former employee Mike Vereb reportedly mentioned Shapiro’s name in the phone call and told the woman that “I would be worse off than nothing if he and Josh were done with me,” the woman, who did not want to give her name, said in an interview with ABC News.
“When Josh and I are done with you, you will continue to be nothing,” the woman quoted Vereb as saying, telling ABC News she was “shocked” by the way Vereb “candidly” referred to other powerful people. “What shocked me was obviously not only Mr. Vereb’s aggressive and relentless tone, but also how candidly he made it seem as though he was speaking above himself,” she said.
While Democrats and the media, always quick to invoke the “Republicans strike” rule, see this as yet another weapon to utilize against potential vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, there is a catch:
There is no evidence that Shapiro (then Attorney General of the Keystone State) had anything to do with it or even knew about it. However, Shapiro knew that Mike Vereb was a problem.
There is no evidence that Shapiro, who was then Attorney General of Pennsylvania, knew about Vereb’s alleged threatening phone call.
The 2018 incident is the second allegation of misconduct against Vereb – who was once one of Shapiro’s closest aides. After bringing him into the governor’s office in early 2023, the Shapiro administration settled an unrelated sexual harassment lawsuit against Vereb last September for nearly $300,000, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer
Weeks later, Vereb resigned.
Some caution is required here.
See also: Typical Democratic confusion over novel reports about Harris’ vice presidential pick and why it may not be Shapiro
ORWELLIAN: Josh Shapiro hides his pro-Israel past to appease Hamas supporters
First, it is not yet known whether Governor Shapiro will be Kamala Harris’ running mate. While he has a chance of winning a key electoral state, his Jewish background could cost Kamala Harris votes in Michigan, another key swing state. But that is beside the point in this context.
If Shapiro becomes Kamala’s running mate, there are plenty of issues for Republicans to pounce on. But this is not one of them. Statements from Shapiro’s people support the claim that the then-prosecutor knew nothing about this incidentwhich reportedly happened six years ago, and there is no evidence to the contrary – at least not yet.
Critics say the allegations against Vereb raise the question of whether Shapiro should have known about his alleged behavior and tried harder to prevent it.
Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro, claimed that the then-Attorney General was not informed of the woman’s complaint at the time and condemned Vereb’s alleged conduct more broadly.
“This incident occurred 6 years ago and was not reported to agency leadership at the time,” Bonder said in a statement to ABC News. “This alleged behavior would be completely inappropriate and would not be tolerated – and any use of the governor’s name in this manner is unacceptable.”
None of this should be construed as an excuse for Mike Vereb’s alleged behavior, which is despicable. But let’s look at the specifics and apply the “turn the tables” rule: Let’s imagine it was a JD Vance staff member who made some cruel and offensive statements to a constituent several years ago. Senator Vance knew nothing about it at the time and never found out about it until the unnamed constituent made an anonymous report. In the meantime, the staff member behaved unacceptably in other ways and was duly fired.
The Democrats would try to lump Senator Vance together and attribute the adviser’s behavior to him. And we would call it inaction.
As people of principle, we must also call this a nothing burger.
So let’s hold off on the patented Republican slugfest for a moment. There will be more critical and better issues to address.
