HARRISBURG — Driven by a hunger to expand their power base, top Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives illegally used millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money, employees and equipment to compile databases of information about state voters to boost the potency of GOP campaigns, the lead prosecutor said today as the corruption trial of three former officials opened.

The trial “is about powerful people taking the public’s money and using it to expand and enhance their campaigns,” Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina told the Dauphin County jury of six men and six women in his opening statement.

Fina identified former House Speaker John Perzel as the moving force behind an alleged scheme that initially tapped tax-paid computer specialists in the House GOP caucus but eventually widened to including the hiring — mostly at public expense — of out-of-state consultants to develop customized computer programs and provide data about voters’ political preferences and lifestyles.

Despite Perzel’s guilty plea last month, Fina said responsibility is shared by others including the three defendants: former Rep. Brett Feese, a one-time House GOP whip and former head of the House Republican Campaign Committee; Brian Preski, Perzel’s former chief of staff; and former Feese aide Jill Seaman.

Perzel, who lost his Philadelphia House seat in last year’s election, and five other officials who have pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the case are all expected to testify, Fina said.

By The Associated Press