Lt. Gov. Mike Stack

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12, and Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mike Stack have exchanged testy public letters with each other over the past several days, after the Philadelphia-area Democrat on Monday declined to participate in a House hearing scrutinizing his spending habits.

Metcalfe, a Republican who chairs the House's State Government Committee, had scheduled a hearing for today to review Stack's spending habits, which have been a topic of scrutiny and criticism, and invited the lieutenant governor or one of his representatives to attend.

Stack, a Democrat who has also been under heavy scrutiny this year for his allegedly abusive treatment of state employees and the security detail charged with protecting him and his wife, Tonya, declined to participate.

In an open letter to Metcalfe on Monday, Stack struck a combative tone, referencing a 2015 incident in which Metcalfe was accused by state Democrats of inviting a white supremacist to testify at a hearing on a bill to make English the state's official language.

Metcalfe also came under fire from state Democrats last week, when the party called on him to resign and said he refused to condemn violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

On Tuesday, Metcalfe responded to both Stack and the state Democratic Party with a strongly worded letter of his own, calling assertions that he failed to condemn the Charlottesville violence a “fake news narrative,” and slamming Stack for his “libelous” refusal to participate in Wednesday's hearing.

A full report will appear in the Butler Eagle.