Sep 7, 2014 2 min read

PITTSBURGH – Gov. Tom Corbett said Saturday he was told several months ago about “inappropriate” emails shared among staffers at the attorney general’s office, which he once led.

Campaign manager Mike Barley told a Pittsburgh newspaper the governor was informed about them by Geoff Moulton, a lawyer brought in to review how state prosecutors and police handled the Jerry Sandusky case.

Corbett made the statement a few days after telling the paper’s editors and reporters last week he had no knowledge of the emails.

Barley said Corbett “does not recall exactly how the emails were described by Moulton, other than it was made clear to him that they were inappropriate.”

He said the governor had no knowledge of them when serving as attorney general from 2005 through 2010, and that he has not seen them.

“To clarify, the governor did not have any discussions with Mr. Moulton during the official interview regarding this matter,” Barley said in a statement. “After that interview concluded, Mr. Moulton told the governor that emails were uncovered during the investigation that may have been inappropriate.”

A judge is deciding whether to release the emails, and the Associated Press has requested them from the court as well as from the attorney general’s office.

“(If) he would have known about any inappropriate emails being sent, he would have put a stop to that type of activity immediately,” Barley said. “He would never condone that type of behavior, and if these reports are true, he will be very disappointed.”

Moulton’s report, issued in June, blamed police and prosecutors for long delays in the Sandusky case but found no direct evidence that politics affected the investigation.

The criminal investigation into Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant coach, began in late 2008, and the first charges were filed in November 2011. He was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and is serving a lengthy state prison sentence.