Gov. Wolf will not release report on Mike Stack

HARRISBURG — Gov. Wolf said Tuesday that he will not make public an internal report on whether Lt. Gov. Mike Stack and his wife had mistreated state employees, saying he did not want to compound the family's ordeal as Stack's wife receives mental health treatment.

"I'm not gonna release it," Wolf said. "My concern back in the summer was to make sure the employees, police officers, the staff of the residence were safe and were not in a bad job situation."

Wolf, a Democrat, said he felt that he "took care of that." The governor stripped the two of their State Police security details and scaled back staffing at the taxpayer-funded residence that Stack, a Democrat from Northeast Philadelphia, shares with his wife, Tonya.

"I don't think anything's to be served by piling on top of that, and also have a concern: I think I need to be fair to Mrs. Stack who, I think, is still undergoing treatment," Wolf said Tuesday after an unrelated news conference. "I don't see any reason to go any further than I did."

Stack, who typically has a tense relationship with the governor, issued a statement saying, "My family is grateful for the support from the governor, as well as from family and friends across Pennsylvania as we address this private family health issue."

Last spring, Wolf directed the Office of Inspector General to begin an inquiry into whether the Stacks verbally abused and mistreated the State Police troopers assigned to protect them and also abused the state employees who work at the lieutenant governor's official residence.

At the time, Wolf said he would consider making public the final report by Inspector General Bruce Beemer, but stopped short of committing to it.

As that inquiry unfolded, Wolf took the extraordinary step of stripping the Stacks of the State Police protection that Pennsylvania's lieutenant governors have been given for decades. The governor also sharply scaled back staffing at Stack's official residence, saying employees would be dispatched there only at prearranged times and only under supervision.

Amid the controversy, Stack held a news conference in his office during which he apologized, acknowledging that he sometimes gets stressed and angry and lapses into what he called a "Stack moment." But he declined to describe the behavior for which he was apologizing or to discuss in detail his treatment of employees.

In late spring, Stack's office confirmed that Tonya Stack had entered an inpatient facility to deal with a mental health issue.

Stack, a former state legislator, is running for reelection in a crowded Democratic primary that includes five other candidates. The controversy surrounding him has already been mentioned in the race. Kathi Cozzone, a Chester County commissioner running for the office, promised that if elected she would seek to have a better relationship with the governor than Stack has. And fellow candidate State Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Montgomery) has said that she would not take "perks" such as the lieutenant governor's mansion.

In Pennsylvania, voters select governor and lieutenant governor candidates separately during the primary, and the two run together during the general election.

Late Tuesday, Stack's campaign announced that "leaders and members of the Senate Democratic Caucus" planned to gather in the Capitol on Wednesday to endorse him.