DiGiorgio now out at law firm, too

Consider the world of Valentino “Val” DiGiorgio, Esq., in May 2019.

Well into his second year as the chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, he was placed to be at the center of the 2020 presidential election, participating heavily in the operation for Donald J. Trump in the Keystone State, among the most competitive and important battleground states in the nation and one the president won in 2016.

Pundits would seek out his thoughts. He would rub shoulders with the leaders of the Trump revolution and, depending on the outcome of that election, possibly enter the national political spot

light as a preeminent figure.

Too, DiGiorgio was safely ensconced at the respected Philadelphia law firm of Stradley Ronon, a mediumsized firm of 200 attorneys with offices across the state and region. Since 1999, the South Philadelphia native and longtime player on the Chester County political scene, had risen to a position of some influence in the firm, co-chairing the law firm’s public finance and banking and financial services practices, advising powerful clients on state and federal regulatory issues.

The married father of five seemed to have it all. And now it has all come crashing down.

On Friday, a spokesman for Stradley Ronon sent an email to the Daily Local News confirming that DiGiorgio, of Uwchlan, no longer is employed by the firm. His photo and information page had already been removed from the firm’s website.

Stradley Ronon Chairman William Sasso, who

observers said had acted as a mentor for DiGiorgio, provided the following statement through the spokesman: “Val DiGiorgio has resigned from the firm and we wish him well.”

The news of his resignation came less than one month since Sasso seemed to distance the firm from the scandal that shook up the state’s Republican Party when it was reported that DiGiorgio had been exchanging sexually provocative text messages with a woman who was running for Philadelphia City Council.

In June, when the news broke, Sasso issued a statement saying, “While unfortunate, this matter has nothing to do with either the firm or its clients.” But he refused to comment on DiGiorgio’s future at the firm, telling a reporter with the Philadelphia Business Journal that, “assuming anything could be at your peril.”

But then more bad news broke for DiGiorgio in July as the party was preparing to meet in Harrisburg to choose a new chairman following DiGiorgio’s resignation from the post — a choice that ultimately went

to Philadelphia attorney Lawrence Tabas, DiGiorgio’s opponent in the 2017 election for chairman and a favorite of his predecessor, Montgomery County businessman Rob Gleason.

The Associated Press reported that a fresh allegation emerged from the former chairwoman of the Young Republicans of Allegheny County. In a post on Facebook, the woman, Anissa Coury, said she was a victim of DiGiorgio’s “unwanted, wildly inappropriate sexual advances.”

“To make matters worse, when I approached Bernie Comfort regarding the situation, it didn’t seem to be of particular interest to her,” Coury wrote, referring to DiGiorgio’s second in command in the state party. Coury said Comfort “couldn’t have cared less,” about her concerns.

She told other media outlets that, DiGiorgio sent her a photo of himself in which he was clothed but was standing next to a bathtub, asking her to send him pictures of herself. DiGiorgio also suggested she could take a party job traveling the state with him and then insisted on meeting at his hotel while he was visiting Pittsburgh in 2017, near the end of his first year as chairman.

Coury said she resisted his repeated attempts to meet at the hotel and agreed instead to meet him at a local hookah bar. She brought along a male friend.

“I would never leave myself in a position where I looked like I was trying to get ahead by sleeping with a married man,” Coury was quoted as saying. “You just don’t do that.”

DiGiorgio, who contested what he called “gross mischaracterizations” in the initial report of his interactions with the Philadelphia council candidate Irina Goldstein, and who said at the time of his resignation from the party chairmanship that he intended “to rigorously defend myself against these assertions and protect my family” did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Digiorgio, 51, served as county controller from 2005 to 2011; and as chairman of the Republican Committee of Chester County until his resignation in 2018.