Ever since the Bonusgate scandal broke two years ago, questions have been asked about what state Rep. Bill DeWeese, who was then the leader of House Democrats, knew and when.

Mr. DeWeese, now third in the hierarchy as majority whip, has been consistent with his answers: He maintains that he knew nothing about any wrongdoing and that he initiated the investigation that led to political corruption charges against a dozen then and former House Democrats. He has not been charged in the investigation, which continues.

Time and again, though, information comes forward that seems to contradict Mr. DeWeese's assertions regarding his knowledge of taxpayer money being used to underwrite political campaigns. The latest development came in a Philadelphia Inquirer report, also published in the Post-Gazette yesterday.

Documents provided to the Inquirer show that, in the Fall of 2006 during a tight re-election race, Mr. DeWeese's campaign tapped a state-paid computer consultant, Eric Buxton and his Harrisburg firm Govercom Strategies, for political tasks, including crafting fund-raising invitations and sending out e-mail blasts to constituents. Prosecutors assert that Mr. Buxton, who testified before a state grand jury under a grant of immunity from prosecution, was paid with tax dollars but that he did work for political campaigns.

Although Mr. DeWeese only used his campaign account to correspond with Mr. Buxton, his legislative aides used their state accounts to give campaign work to the consultant, according to the documents. Last month, the Post-Gazette's Dennis B. Roddy reported that several brief e-mail messages suggested that Mr. DeWeese may have known public funds went to House aides for political work.

Mr. DeWeese calls the latest revelations "a desperate attempt by the criminal defendants to try their case in the media by cherry-picking documents they received in discovery and leaking them" and he points out that prosecutors interviewed hundreds of people and reviewed thousands of e-mails before deciding who would be charged, and he was not among them.

The trouble is, though, Mr. DeWeese was head of the House Democratic caucus when the scandal took place and, as long as this investigation continues, no matter how appropriate his actions may have been, questions about him will persist. That's why we've long argued that he should not remain in a leadership position.