PA Political Digest | Podcast Guru

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A stroll through the annals of Pennsylvania political corruption via a 5-episode podcast series. Listen as long-time GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas, along with two veteran reporters who have witnessed and written about politics and corruption here for decades -- John Baer and Brad Bumsted -- review the quirks and the nooks and crannies of some of the most absorbing political corruption cases, primarily from the modern era, here in Pennsylvania. In each episode (about 35-45 minutes) we will feature in a main story and a secondary story. A disgraced Attorney General whose twin sister also worked there, who went down for lying to the court. Two former House speakers shared the same prison cell for a time. Not one, not two, but three Republican sisters taken down, two of whom were elected officials and one was their campaign manager. An entire Philadelphia court system eliminated due to fraud and corruption. A powerful Philadelphia state senator with a vacuum fixation. Yes, a vacuum fixation, funded by OPM -- "other people's money," not his. Congressmen taking bribes from fake Arab sheiks. A GOP Attorney General who went down by what he did in his previous job, but still managed to finish second in the 1994 Republican primary for governor. Multiple state treasurers were indicted, and one who very tragically and publicly killed himself during a press conference live on TV. Even the Capitol building itself was christened with corruption during a scandal when it was built in the early 1900's that in today's dollars would equal nearly half a billion dollars. So, as you can see, we have lots to talk about on the Pennsylvania Political Digest podcast, a stroll through the annals of Pennsylvania political corruption.

Recent Episodes

DEC 6, 2025

Pa Political Digest Campaign 2026 look ahead

Join GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas, the publisher of PA Political Digest newsletter, as he offers a look-ahead to PA's 2026 races for governor and the state Legislature. He is joined by Democratic consultant Brittany Crampsie of Brit Crampsie Communications.

29 MIN

OCT 7, 2025

Election 2025 Preview with Christopher Nicholas & Brittany Crampsie

The PA Political Digest newsletter decided to do an Election '25 preview pod, with host Christopher Nicholas, a veteran GOP political consultant. His guest is one of his TV sparring partners. Democratic consultant Brittany Crampsie.

https://papoliticaldigest.substack.com for sharp analysis of PA politics and campaigns writ large.

Join them as they talk through the big races on the ballot in November 2025, especially the Retention races of 3 PA Supreme Court justices, which is garnering national attention. Enjoy.

16 MIN

DEC 18, 2023

Behind the scenes stories of top PA political corruption cases from the U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted them on Episode 6

Pa Political Digest bonus Episode 6 brings you behind the scenes of three top PA political corruption cases -- those involving Sen. Vince Fumo, Treasurer Rob McCord & Attorney General Ernie Preate -- from the U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted them.

Veteran political journalists John Baer and Brad Bumsted were given the day off, and GOP political consultant and producer/host Christopher Nicholas sat down with 3 former U.S. Attorneys with first-hand knowledge and experience prosecuting political corruption cases: Pat Meehan, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern DIstrict (Bush 43), Dave Freed, former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District (Trump-1), and David Barasch, another former U.S. Attorney for the Middle DIstrict (Clinton).

Here is an AI-assisted description of this episode:

62 MIN

SEP 8, 2023

Ep. 5 examines the horrific Cash for Kids scandal in Luzerne Co., a GOP Att. Gen. goes down + oddities

In the 5th episode of the PA Political Digest's pod, A Stroll through the annals of Pa. Political Corruption, we re-visit the horrific Cash for Kids scandal that rocked Luzerne County, look at a Republican Attorney General who had to resign -- and run through some oddities concerning a witch in the PA House, prostitutes and a serial per diem abuser.

This was the toughest episode for the three of us to record...

Thanks to Feedspot.com for ranking us as the #4 political pod in Pa. And thanks to all of our listeners for their support throughout our 6-episode jaunt through Pa political corruption. Enjoy...

49 MIN

AUG 8, 2023

Pa Treasurer Budd Dwyer commits public suicide so family gets his pension + more troubles for other PA Row Officers

Pa. Treasurer Budd Dwyer killed himself during a press conference the day before he was to be sentenced on his bribery conviction. That way his wife - his widow - could still get his $1 million+ state pension.

Plus in Episode 4 of the PA Political Digest podcast we examine three other state "Row Officers" who got in trouble for what they did in office and out: Treasurers Rob McCord, who went from Harvard to teaching yoga, and Barbara "The Hafe" Hafer who lied to the Feds...plus Auditor General Al Benedict.

Lost in all the controversy about Dwyer's guilt was the fact that he was quite an acommplished politician. Hailing from tiny Crawford County in the "great NW" part of the state, voters elected him to state-wide office when he was just 41. And he had already served 3 terms in the state House and was in his third term in the state Senate...

45 MIN