"It's about powerful people taking the public's money and using it to expand and enhance their campaigns," Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina told the jury of six men and six women in Dauphin County Court.
Three people are facing trial, including former State Rep. Brett Feese and Brian Preski, formerly Perzel's chief of staff.
Once one of the most powerful people in Pennsylvania politics, Perzel was initially charged in the case but pleaded guilty this month to conspiracy and other charges. He is expected to be the prosecution's star witness, detailing how he and others allegedly conspired to tap upward of $10 million in public money to buy sophisticated computer programs that were then used to help win campaigns for Republicans.
The programs had catchy names, like the Edge and Candidate Connect. They allowed certain House GOP caucus members to mine specialized data on voters - everything from where they shopped for groceries to whether they owned a gun - to tailor campaign literature, Election Day tactics, and other campaign activities.
Attorneys for the defendants insisted that it was Perzel who drove the process, and that his hunger to amass power made him greedy and, ultimately, criminally responsible.
Perzel's attorney, Brian McMonagle, could not be reached for comment late Monday.
In his opening statement, Preski's attorney, Bill Winning, argued that the case was about Perzel and his "insatiable, never-ending quest for power."
"Brian Preski is not a criminal, is not a thief, did not steal any money from the taxpayers of Pennsylvania," Winning said. "And he is not criminally responsible for what happened."
Joshua Lock, Feese's lawyer, similarly contended that only a "select, secretive, almost manipulative group of people knew what was going on."
