Pittsburgh given subpoena in City Hall probe Investigators seek contracts involving Ronald A. White's firm. They also targeted Alabama records.

Federal investigators have demanded records from Pittsburgh and Birmingham, Ala., seeking contracts involving several firms linked to the Philadelphia City Hall corruption probe.

In a subpoena served on the City of Pittsburgh last week, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia asked for all contracts involving the law firm of Ronald A. White and RPC Unlimited, a firm owned by Janice R. Knight, whom federal officials have called White's mistress.

The Pittsburgh subpoena also asked for records of contracts involving Philadelphia's West Insurance Agency, which on Monday acknowledged that it had paid $10,000 to Mayor Street for a one-hour speech at a company get-together in 1998. West Insurance Agency has done work in Pittsburgh for three years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Schwartz said Friday he could neither confirm nor deny that a subpoena had been served on Pittsburgh officials. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a spokesman for the Mayor's Office there said the city was providing the requested information to federal prosecutors.

White and Knight were indicted in June in a wide-ranging felony corruption case. No charges have been filed against Mayor Street or anyone from West Insurance.

Street again refused to comment Friday on what he did for the money from West Insurance. He did not report any honorarium on the required government ethics report he filed for 1998.

Barbara Grant, Street's spokeswoman, said the mayor was holding to his policy of not commenting on West Insurance or the $10,000 payment. "He is feeling good about it, because he knows he's done nothing wrong," Grant said.

West Insurance president Kobie West said the agency received a commission of $55,000 for obtaining coverage for workers' compensation costs of Pittsburgh city employees.

In a statement, West said his firm had found the coverage in a difficult market. "Some municipalities are unable to obtain this most important coverage," he said.

The statement said the firm's contract with Pittsburgh dates to 2001, when it purchased another insurance agency that had been providing the coverage to the city.

West stressed his company "has never used Mr. White or any of his companies in any capacity for this account or any other account."

"Our firm has never had anything to hide, and has fully cooperated with the federal investigators and will continue to do so," West said.