HARRISBURG -- When Bill DeWeese was House Democratic leader in 2002, he gave his Harrisburg aides $1,000 or $2,000 bonuses.

Six of the recipients contributed identical or nearly identical amounts to Mr. DeWeese's re-election and the House Democratic Campaign Committee that year or in 2003, records show.

Nine other recipients that year made lesser contributions to the two committees.

The bonuses and contributions came to light in the discovery phase of a criminal investigation into allegations that the House Democratic caucus used tax dollars to subsidize campaigns.

Two recipients of the 2002 bonuses told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that they did not recall being instructed or pressured to donate money to the campaign committees.

But the fact that 15 of the 16 bonus recipients also were contributors illustrates the close relationship between government service and political activity -- the sort of behavior that also figures in what is known as the Bonusgate investigation.

For example, staffer Susan Germanio received a $1,000 bonus. Months later, she gave $500 to her boss's campaign and $500 to the House Democratic Campaign Committee, which was controlled by Mr. DeWeese and former Whip Mike Veon, who represented Beaver County.

Gwen Miller did the same after receiving her $1,000 bonus.

During 2002, James Lovette -- a staffer and prolific campaign volunteer -- contributed $500 to Mr. DeWeese and $500 to the House Democratic committee. At the end of the year, he received a $1,000 bonus.

Former caucus counsel Michael Edmiston, who received a $1,000 bonus and made $350 in campaign contributions, said there was no connection between bonuses and campaign support.

"I can assure you I would remember if anyone ever insulted my intelligence by suggesting a linkage between a bonus I received and making a contribution to a campaign," said Mr. Edmiston, now a hearing officer for the Pennsyvlania Gaming Control Board.

"It's offensive to suggest that. There's no way on God's green earth."

Mr. DeWeese, who now is third in House hierarchy as majority whip, declined to be interviewed. But he asked a spokesman to relay that the 2002 bonuses were not related to campaign activities and that records collected by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggest no such pattern.

"It's a ludicrous and flat-out ridiculous inference that has no basis in fact," he said through spokesman Tom Andrews. "If your information is correct that six of 16 recipients contributed [their full bonuses back to campaigns], that speaks volumes."

One bonus recipient contributed nothing to campaigns and two others contributed just $100 each to Mr. DeWeese's re-election coffers in 2003, although they received $1,000 bonuses.

Mr. Andrews said there are no indications that bonuses were given in anticipation of campaign contributions.

"I've gotten bonuses and nobody ever told me that. I was never told to give the money back to campaigns and I never heard anybody else suggest that such a conversation ever took place," he said.

One recipient of a 2002 bonus, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said the House Democratic Campaign Committee sent mailings to employees' homes with lists of staffers who had contributed to various campaigns.

"I'd see the list and say, 'My name's not on it. I'd better give in case DeWeese or Veon is looking," the recipient said. "I made sure I gave at least something to Veon, DeWeese and the campaign committee, even if it was just $50, just to be on the list."

Government watchdog Russ Diamond said it raises questions when bonus amounts match campaign contributions to the same person who authorized the bonus payments.

"That's some coincidence," said Mr. Diamond, former head of PACleanSweep, which came together in 2005 to oppose incumbents who had supported the controversial legislative pay raise that year.

"Challengers have no recourse if there's a back-door way of funding incumbents with taxpayer dollars," he said.

Caucus employees who ran the bonus program knew to keep it quiet. In the e-mail message laying out the 2002 bonus amounts, former caucus director of staffing Scott V. Brubaker said the bonuses had been approved by Mr. DeWeese and needed to be "kept as confidential as possible."

He wrote in the Dec. 10, 2002 message, "We want these checks quietly delivered to me when they are ready. The fewer hands involved with this the better. We plan to deliver these to the individuals in person."

The checks were cut from the Democratic caucus payroll account 13 days later. Mr. Brubaker put himself down for a $2,000 bonus. The following year he and his wife, Jennifer, contributed $1,000 to Mr. DeWeese and $1,000 to HDCC. Mr. Brubaker's attorney, Robert J. Ridge, declined to comment.

Mr. DeWeese doesn't specifically remember approving those bonuses, but it's likely he did, Mr. Andrews said. He typically rewarded his Capitol staff at the end of a legislative session, he said.

"You have to remember that back in 2002 the word 'bonus' wasn't toxic. Special meritorious bonus payments were allowable under our rules then," Mr. Andrews said. "As for the specific reason for those bonuses, it's not clear. Obviously, it was seven years ago."

He said bonuses were always handed out quietly to prevent animosity among employees who didn't receive them.

"It's standard practice in any arena that you don't discuss compensation," Mr. Andrews said. "It's a morale issue."

That may be true, Mr. Diamond said, but if it is standard practice there would have been no need for Mr. Brubaker to reiterate the need for confidentiality in his e-mail message.

"You don't tell somebody to keep quiet unless there's something to hide," he said.

Cwo staffers who received bonuses spread campaign contributions throughout the two-year election cycle. For example, between 2002 and 2003, DeWeese policy analyst Ralph "Ed" Haines contributed a total of $2,100 to Mr. DeWeese, Mr. Veon and HDCC. He received a $2,000 bonus at the mid-point of the election cycle, bringing his compensation for the year to $35,477.

Similarly, over the two-year cycle, former Chief of Staff Mike Manzo -- also a recipient of a $2,000 bonus -- gave contributions totaling $1,650 to Mr. DeWeese, Mr. Veon, and HDCC plus $350 more to other Democratic candidates. He declined to comment.

Mr. Brubaker's e-mail message was sent to Earl Mosley, who worked in the personnel office, and copied to Mr. Manzo, who one staffer said, delivered by hand at least some of the bonuses that year.

That message is among documents on four computer disks turned over to defendants as part of a broader investigation into a corruption case that names 12 defendants, including Mr. Brubaker, Mr. Manzo, Mr. Mosley and Mr. Veon. Mr. DeWeese has not been charged.

Other e-mail messages previously uncovered by the Post-Gazette detail the development of a system to give campaign workers rankings such as "rockstar" and "super rockstar" -- and to award bonuses based on those designations.

Prosecutors have said that House Democrats paid more than a million dollars in bonuses to staffers who worked on campaigns between 2004 and 2006.

In some cases, staffers in 2006 received bonuses of more than $10,000 even though they spent months away from their state jobs doing campaign work. Similar bonuses also went to other Harrisburg workers who never went off state payroll but nonetheless spent large chunks of time, including weekdays, campaigning for Mr. Veon in Beaver Falls.

Mr. Diamond said the 2002 bonus program could have been a precursor to the wider scheme practice that evolved later and may have involved more than 300 staffers.

"These guys were like the Johnny Appleseeds of Bonusgate," he said.