HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said Thursday he does not anticipate additional arrests in the legislative corruption investigation before year's end, but reiterated that more charges are likely.

Corbett cautioned that the timing of new charges could be speeded up as investigators continue looking into the alleged illegal use of public employees and tax dollars for campaign purposes.

"I am briefed every day, and I would say at least once a week I get a surprise," Corbett told reporters at a Harrisburg news conference to outline his second-term agenda.

In July, Corbett's office charged 12 people connected to the House Democratic caucus with conflict of interest, theft and conspiracy.

On Tuesday, he declined to provide a timetable for the investigation that has already taken nearly two years, and stressed again that Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate are being investigated.

"What happens is you get to a point and then all of a sudden here's a new nugget of information," he said. "There are so many rabbit trails that you have to go down. Some have something at the end, some have nothing at the end."

Five Democratic losses in Tuesday's legislative races were attributed, at least in part, to fallout from the investigation, and some Democrats have voiced bitter feelings that no Republicans were charged before the election.

Corbett, a Republican, was re-elected Tuesday with 52.5 percent of the vote. He said the results show public support for his handling of the probe.

"This investigation, other than the fact that we are investigating elected officials, is not an 'R' or a 'D' investigation," he said. "This is, did people take money that was taxpayer money to do political events, to do political work, to do efforts to enhance their political careers and not perform the work of the taxpayer?"

At a preliminary hearing for two of the 12 defendants last month, the former chief of staff to House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, said he believed DeWeese knew that taxpayer money was being doled out as bonuses to reward campaign work. DeWeese has denied that claim, which was made by former top aide Mike Manzo, and has not been charged.

On Tuesday, Corbett declined to say whether DeWeese has been exonerated.