Who turned in Rob McCord?

We may know soon who cooperated with federal investigators to expose Pennsylvania's former elected Democratic state Treasurer Rob McCord's illegal solicitation of campaign contributions. McCord told potential donors, as he admitted on resigning in advance of federal charges last week, that they

» READ MORE: "should not risk making an enemy of the state treasurer"

if they wanted to sell their services to the Commonwealth he had pledged to honestly serve.

McCord had portrayed himself as a reformer, though there were limits to the changes he wanted. For now, McCord's disappointed longtime friends and karmic enemies (I've heard from both) are speculating over whether he can avoid prison, and wondering who among the many people and groups routinely hit up to finance Pennsylvania political campaigns might have felt the most incentive to help turn in the now ex-Treasurer and cooperate with the Feds.

I'm not suggesting people named or linked in this item had anything to do with the case against the Treasurer. Just illustrating the breadth of the influences and institutions touched by his public career. So, a few speculative points:

1) How good a defense can McCord afford; how deep are his pockets? Though his former dot.com-era venture capital funds, which still invest state money, haven't done notably well for their public and private clients, one longtime friend of McCord's insisted the ex-Treasurer made "tens of millions" as a venture capitalist, mostly from two Philadelphia-area companies he personally backed in the 2000s: NutriSystem and Traffic.com.

2) As an ambitious Democratic candidate for higher office, McCord targeted many political figures, made many enemies and was close to many people who did business with the state:

  - As Treasurer, McCord had to fight his way into casino board meetings despite objections by other board members, who noted McCord had accepted contributions from backers of the failed Foxwoods and Trump casinos, as I wrote here.  

  - McCord also pressed for change at the Delaware River Port Authority

- He questioned Robin Weissman's appointment as lame-duck Treasurer for Bob Casey's unexpired term way back when Ed Rendell was Governor. Weissman, who is married to Ken Jarin, a longtime Rendell backer, has now returned to state government as Wolf's banking secretary with the Democratic recapture of the governorship

- On the board of the State Employees' Retirement System, McCord  called for the removal of Philadelphia lawyer-lobbyist and ex-State Rep Nick Maiale as chairman of SERS. Ex-Gov. Tom Corbett declined to reappoint Maiale, ending his 22-year service.
 
  -  While on the SERS board, McCord was close enough to some of the investors and their representatives who sought business with the board (including Democratic contributor Thomas Leonard's law firm) that he had to recuse himself from some votes, as I wrote here.

3) As Treasurer McCord got to sign off (or refuse to sign off) on many state checks. For example, as Treasurer, McCord reviewed grants to Pennsylvania developers ranging into the tens of millions of dollars for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. McCord's opposition could have doomed some big projects. See also his opposition to Tom Corbett's proposals for Pennsylvania Lottery privatization.

4) In his first campaign for Treasurer, McCord received ample funding from his peers, investment managers with state contracts, including Ira Lubert of Independence Capital (and the Lubert-Adler, LLR and other funds; subsequent lead owner of the Valley Forge casino; recently restored to the Penn State board), as well as Robert Keith of TL Ventures (which was later forced to return state and city investment fees after the SEC found his firm was ineligible for such fees because Keith had given Gov. Corbett and Mayor Nutter campaign donations.) More here.

Indeed, in the 2008 Treasurer primary, opponent John Cordisco criticized McCord for accepting what were then legal donations from state contractors, see story here:  McCord still won easily.

The 2010 ban on money managers taking fees from state and local governments whose politicians they contributed to, forced candidates like McCord to raise money from other sources -- from lawyers and developers, for example, as I wrote here.

But federal ban on money managers accepting fees from state and local governments whose elected officials they donate to has Not been applied to donations money managers make to federal PACs or national political campaigns. Indeed, in New Jersey, money managers contracted to the state have given generously to national Republican organizations tied to Gov. Chris Christie. See David Sirota's reporting in PandOdaily.com.

So money managers remain a source and a target for campaign contributions, conflicts of interest and strong-arming complaints.