Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett says critics of the way his office is carrying out a wide-ranging legislative corruption investigation will, in the end, have to "eat their words."

Many people outside state government who have been watching the progress of the probe — people who have become increasingly troubled by the activities and course of their state General Assembly — are hoping so. It's been more than a year since the investigation resulted in the arrests of 12 people connected to the House Democratic caucus, including two former state representatives.

There has been considerable speculation that the wrongdoing that so far has been tied exclusively to Democrats also extends to legislative Republicans. And, with the passage of time, and no further major developments in the investigation, there have been understandable accusations that Corbett, a Republican, has allowed the probe to go easy on possible similar illegal actions by Republicans.

Corbett denies it, and he told the Associated Press in an interview Aug. 28 that time will prove his critics wrong.

Still, it's reasonable that many people have become impatient about the lack of further major announcements in the probe — especially now that Corbett has formed an exploratory committee for a possible campaign for governor next year.

Corbett might be reluctant to alienate members of his party. However, as attorney general — as long as he's attorney general — he has the responsibility to vigorously continue the probe toward a proper conclusion.

If ever he feels higher political ambitions might prevent him from doing that, he should resign, so someone else can responsibly lead the investigation.

It's important that the people of Pennsylvania feel fully confident that the probe has pursued every hint of wrongdoing that might have surfaced during the course of collecting evidence. They are not so sure at this point that that has happened, considering the passage of so much time since the first charges were announced.

Corbett disagrees. He told the AP that the career prosecutors working on the case never would allow the investigation to become politicized.

"If I were to all of a sudden say, 'I don't want you to charge this person' . . . these guys would scream bloody murder," Corbett said. "They'd go right to the federal government and say, 'Hey, there's something wrong here.' I know they would. I would expect them to."

Corbett evoked headlines and some criticism last year when he said he would not make any new arrests within a month of the November general election. Last year, General Assembly seats were on the ballot.

This year is a municipal election year.

Meanwhile, the current budget stalemate shouldn't be cause for further delay in charging any other members of the General Assembly or anyone else tied to it — if there is justification for charges. The lack of a state budget has nothing to do with the wrongdoing on which the attorney general's probe has focused — including state workers receiving taxpayer-paid bonuses for doing political work for lawmakers.

Those illegal payments are the reason Corbett's probe generally is referred to as Bonusgate. The probe began as an investigation into year-end bonuses, some as high as $20,000, paid to legislative staffers for what appeared to have been campaign-related work.

The investigation subsequently expanded.

With higher political ambitions, Corbett understandably is in an uncomfortable position, at least in terms of his relationship with his own political party. So far there is no evidence that he has in any way acceded to any political pressure from within the GOP.

But at the same time the people of Pennsylvania want results, not foot-dragging. Despite the probe's complexity, state residents are right in expecting that, with more than a year having passed since the first arrests, something more should have been forthcoming by now.

When the probe reaches a dead end, it should be closed. Corbett's interview suggests that cause exists for continuing it. He said he consistently tells those working on the probe "let's move, let's move, let's move."

That's exacty what many interested commonwealth residents are thinking and saying also.

— J.R.K.