Agent Who Bugged Street’s Office Speaks Out

John Street

Good morning, Philadelphia, and National Indian Pudding Day. Here’s what you should know today:

The former FBI agent who bugged John Street’s office in a “pay to play” investigation in 2003 is speaking out — and he has some regrets about the bug being found.

“What’s probably more disappointing to me personally than the actual device being found is the effect it had on the mayoral election,” J.J. Klaver tells NBC10. “I wish it had never been found. If I could go back in time and do it differently, I would.” At the time the bug was found, Republican Sam Katz says he was leading incumbent Street his campaign’s internal polls, though other public polls showed Street leading, albeit by a narrow margin; Street’s campaign blamed the Bush White House for the bug and Katz ended up losing. “I knew it was preposterous to say the White House ordered us to bug a sitting mayor’s office,” Klaver says now, “but I couldn’t come out and say it was preposterous.” Street was never charged in the investigation.

Students from Drexel and Penn marched against racism Thursday, adding their voices to the national movement that exploded this week at the University of Missouri.

The Triangle reports: “The students, predominantly women of color, met at the intersection between Market and 33rd streets. They marched toward Center City with a police escort at 3:00 p.m., chanting slogans including ‘Whose streets? Our streets! Whose schools? Our schools!’ and ‘Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!’” They shut down Market Street traffic for about 20 minutes. The Daily Pennsylvanian adds: “At the end of the march, protesters gathered outside of Amy Gutmann’s house and read off a list of demands they felt would make the University a better place for minority students. “

Sarah Creato made a video about a toddler that goes missing and dies. That’s how her nephew died in New Jersey last month.

And that may be the reason Sarah Creato was called to testify Thursday before a grand jury investigating DJ Creato’s Oct. 13th death in Haddon Township. But her attorney, William Brennan, says the video is an “uncanny coincidence.” “This appears to be a terrible tragic accidental death,” he told NJ.com. Investigators have said there were no signs of forced entry at his the apartment where DJ Creato lived, nor signs he had been abused, and toxicology reports also came back negative. “We want answers more than they do,” Brennan said of investigators.

A new study of the 50 states gives Pennsylvania an “F” for integrity.

The Keystone State has “an entrenched culture of malfeasance,” the Center for Public Integrity reports, ranking Pennsylvania 44th of the 50 states. “Veteran Pennsylvania political observers were not surprised at the state’s abysmal integrity rating. They describe a culture of casual acceptance for corruption that has become a self-sustaining force in the Keystone State: It has bred such broad voter cynicism that there is little effective public pressure for reform.”

Mayor-elect Jim Kenney will embark on a listening tour of the city after Thanksgiving.

““It’s interaction with the public. They’re paying your salary and for the government. It’s their tax money involved, and they should have a say in what’s going on,” Kenney tells CBS3. The meetings will be 6 p.m. Nov. 30 at Central High; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at South Philadelphia High; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at Mayfair Community Center; and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at Strawberry Mansion High.

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