HARRISBURG -- Jurors heard intimate details of a key witness's sex life Tuesday as defense attorneys tried to call his credibility into question by grilling him about an affair with a woman he set up in a no-work state job.

Mike Manzo, a former top House Democratic aide, carried on the affair for years, even as he planned his wedding and celebrated his first weeks of marriage to Rachel Hursh Manzo, another caucus staffer.

Defense attorney Dan Raynak's cross-examination yesterday was aimed at showing jurors Mr. Manzo is deceitful.

"It's not a matter of him having an affair," Mr. Raynak told reporters later. "The issue was whether you're willing to be candid with the person you're closest to in the whole world, and second, if you're willing to be candid with a jury."

Mr. Manzo is widely considered to be a star witness in the criminal case against former state Rep. Mike Veon and three former legislative aides.

All are charged with using public resources to fund political campaigns. At the center of the case is an alleged scheme to distribute taxpayer-funded bonuses as rewards for campaign work.

Mr. Manzo -- former chief of staff to then-Democratic leader Bill DeWeese -- was a mastermind behind that scheme. He has pleaded guilty and is testifying against his alleged co-conspirators.

One charge against Mr. Manzo stems from his assistance in getting a state job in Pittsburgh for his mistress, Angela Bertugli. According to testimony, Ms. Bertugli, a former pageant queen, spent her days completing college homework assignments and helping with political campaigns.

Mr. Manzo had testified Monday that he had a sexual affair with her and that their "intimacy" ended around the time of his marriage in May 2005.

Tuesday, though, he conceded that the sexual relationship lasted until 2008.

He explained the discrepancy by saying that he and Ms. Bertugli had stopped having sexual intercourse because "I had some inability to perform." However, the two remained in a close relationship until 2008.

"It was intimate and it was inappropriate," he testified.

Mr. Raynak presented evidence including a string of e-mail messages in which the pair said they loved each other and missed each other. In e-mail messages filled with smiley faces and exclamation points, they call each other "love," "hot stuff" and "babe."

In one message, Mr. Manzo indicates he will use a state-provided Jeep to drive to Waynesburg. The purpose of the trip was "first and foremost to see you," Mr. Manzo wrote to Ms. Bertugli.

In an interview Tuesday evening, Senior Deputy Attorney General E. Marc Costanzo said Mr. Manzo's testimony about his affair was damaging.

"Sure, it affected his credibility," he said, adding that "he's not that vital a witness."

Prosecutors plan to call at least 20 others to the stand and perhaps as many as 60.

After Mr. Manzo wrapped up his testimony, prosecutors called Jeff Foreman, Mr. Veon's former chief of staff.

Mr. Foreman's testimony "was a highlight reel of exactly what we've been saying has been going on," Mr. Costanzo said.

Together, he and Mr. Manzo are "the two right-hand men of the leaders" and were intimately involved in the alleged crimes, Mr. Costanzo said. "They told us what they did, why they did it and who directed them to do it."

Mr. Foreman testified that Mr. Veon and his co-defendants were intimately involved in directing campaign work on state time.

Mr. Foreman was involved in the assignments, too, issuing staffers "very forceful invitations" to do campaign work, and then concealing their work by assigning them to back offices in out-of-the-way recesses of the Capitol.

He testified specifically about defendant Stephen Keefer, the former director of information technology, and P.J. Lavalle, a former aide who pleaded guilty to his role in the corruption scheme.

"The nature of their work was largely political," Mr. Foreman said. "Almost entirely."

He said Mr. Veon and defendants Brett Cott and Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink directed much of the campaign work done by staffers on work time.

Mr. Foreman said that even though he outranked Mr. Cott, he often took direction from him on campaign issues.

"Brett Cott was Mike's primary political person," he testified. "When it came to political matters, he was far more involved in putting things together than I was."

Mr. Foreman is expected back on the witness stand Thursday.

Court is closed today because of the weather.

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