Many Pennsylvania residents old enough to remember the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages affair recall that a central point of the political scandal was whether President Ronald Reagan knew of the actions in which his national security advisers were engaged.

Reagan denied knowledge, and no evidence ever was produced that indicated otherwise.

But the Democratic-controlled Congress at that time issued a report on Nov. 18, 1987, stating that "if the president did not know what his national security advisers were doing, he should have."

As in the case of Reagan, many Keystone State residents now believe that, as the former state House Democratic leader, William DeWeese should have known about the scheme within his own party caucus to use state money to reward political campaign work. The bonus scandal, which is the target of an ongoing grand jury investigation, has resulted in 12 arrests to date, with the possibility of more on the way.

While no evidence ever surfaced to implicate Reagan in the illegal arms operation, DeWeese's denials of knowledge about the bonuses might be starting to unravel, if a report this week in a Pittsburgh newspaper proves to be accurate.

The newspaper reported that a trail of e-mail messages has surfaced suggesting that DeWeese might have known all along that taxpayers' money was being used to reward aides for work on political campaigns.

Copies of the e-mail messages were provided as part of the discovery process for one of the defendants in the bonus scandal who faces trial in Dauphin County Court. Messages from DeWeese's e-mail account to and from aides who received big, illegal bonuses paid for by the taxpayers were among thousands of documents that the Democratic caucus turned over to prosecutors in the state Attorney General's Office.

But no evidence has yet surfaced, or been made available to the public, at least, that conclusively reveals that DeWeese knew what was happening virtually under his nose.

Tom Andrews, a DeWeese spokesman, stressed that there is no such evidence.

"Prosecutors did not charge Rep. Mr. DeWeese. That's because of the overwhelming amount of evidence that he did not know of the political bonus scheme," Andrews said. "Of the many dozens of e-mails that discussed the bonus program in advance, Bill DeWeese was not copied on any of them. Prosecutors came to the same conclusion."

However, Mike Manzo, a former top Democratic aide and a defendant in the scandal, testified at a preliminary hearing last year that DeWeese was aware that state money was being directed to individuals who had engaged in campaign work — in reward for that work.

For the constituents of his home district, as well as for other taxpayers, there can be no assurance at this time that DeWeese is in fact "out of the woods" in this scandal.

There's also the troubling fact that most of the largest bonus checks — from the $1.9 million handed out — were given to staffers who were extensively involved in political campaigns of incumbents, including DeWeese and former House Whip Mike Veon of Beaver County, who was indicted in the scandal.

If DeWeese is in fact being honest in denying any involvement in the scandal, and it must be hoped that he is, considering that he continues to serve in the General Assembly, the fact remains that, like with Reagan and Iran-Contra, DeWeese should have known what was going on around him. His leadership position accorded him that responsibility. He should have been privy to anything of significance in which his party caucus was engaged — especially anything that could affect him.

The new cloud of suspicion hanging over DeWeese stemming from the e-mail messages is cause for Pennsylvania residents to ponder the demise of honorable public service that the suspicion seems to indicate. As with former state Sen. Vincent Fumo's conviction on corruption charges Monday, all aspects of the bonus scandal cry out for change in Harrisburg.