Pa. AG Subpoenas Twitter to ID Two Subscribers

Image via Wikipedia

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pennsylvania Atty. Gen. and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett has subpoenaed Twitter for information concerning subscribers @bfbarbie and @CasablancaPA, whose tweets have attacked Corbett's oversight of the "Bonusgate" legislative corruption cases.

Twitter has yet to respond to the subpoenas, which were issued May 6 and posted this week on casablancapa.blogspot.com. The Pa. ACLU chapter is assisting CasablancaPA in its defense.

"Bonusgate" refers to 25 former and current state lawmakers accused of using taxpayer money for campaign purposes.  The Tweeters under fire allege that Corbett is wielding his prosecutorial power to stifle political opponents.

It is expected that the anonymous Twitter accounts will move to quash the subpoenas, leaving it up to a judge to balance the Tweeters' First Amendment interests against the prosecutor's purported justification for requiring the identifying information.