The other day, I asked the following:
Dumb question but election season means whatever happened to Debbie Bookman the former prothonotary? She resigned under a cloud, and I will note unfriended me on Facebook sometime when that happened which kind of made me laugh, but then we’ve heard nothing haven’t we? Are the Democrats burying this? Or is there some kind of investigation going on that they can’t talk about but maybe they want to say that there is an active or not active case?
Now maybe when that cloud broke, she simply exited Facebook, that would also make sense. Don’t know. All I do know is I voted for that woman so when the news broke in October, 2024 I was gob smacked and as a voter felt in a sense, betrayed.
Don’t know where that person went. So this was who I thought she was:
Here she is in a Melton Center video from 4 years ago:
Then this from a year ago with something sone by the Chester County Community Foundation:
And something State Senator Carolyn Comitta put out after visiting CYWA in Coatesville:
Then came the headline no one expected, let alone people who voted for her in October, 2024:
WEST CHESTER — Debbie Bookman, who made history in 2019 by becoming the first Democrat to be elected prothonotary in Chester County and then by winning a second term in 2023, has abruptly resigned from her position, citing personal reasons.
“It has been one of my greatest honors to serve the public as your prothonotary,” Bookman said in a statement sent to the MediaNews Group on Thursday evening. “However, this year has been extremely difficult for me on a personal level and I honestly can no longer give my best to this position.”….Her decision, however, comes in the wake of an investigation by the county Controller’s Office — the county’s elected financial watchdog — into financial irregularities in the Prothonotary’s Office. Bookman alluded to those matters in her statement. She acknowledged that she had made purchases of a personal nature using the credit card issued to the office for official business.
Then came this article:
WEST CHESTER — The Chester County chief financial watchdog confirmed on Tuesday that her office had some months ago referred the matter involving potential misuse of a county credit card by the former county prothonotary to the District Attorney’s Office.
Controller Margaret Reif said in an email that she had sent word of her office’s investigation to the D.A. in late August after she had uncovered potential wrongdoing by Debbie Bookman, who was in her second term as the elected official responsible for civil court case documents and filings.
“As required by county code, our office is obligated to report any potential instances of fraud to the District Attorney’s office,” Reif wrote. “In compliance with this requirement, we reported the personal use of county credit cards to the District Attorney’s office on August 28th.
Then this appeared in the spring of this year:
WEST CHESTER — An error by officials inside Chester County government has resulted in the now vacant office of county prothonotary being left off the ballot in the May primary election, leaving the county’s political parties without candidates who would go before the voters until November.
The mistake was discovered Wednesday and reported by commissioners’ Chairman Josh Maxwell to the media that day, as well as by the commissioners and their staff to the county’s two main political party leaders.
One of the county’s so-called “row offices,” the prothonotary is in charge of overseeing the filings for civil and family court cases. It has been vacant since October, when Debbie Bookman, who had held the office since 2020, resigned after it was discovered that she used a county credit card for personal expenses.
Of course this whole thing was described in the media as a “good faith mistake” by the Chester County CEO, and at the time Charlotte Valyo, head of Chester County Democrats (still and oh grandma please, but I digress) I do not recall commenting at all.
But until this morning all that has been heard about Debbie Bookman is motivational speaking stuff. Yes there is a website:
https://leadingfromtheinside.life/about-me
https://leadingfromtheinside.life/gallery
https://leadingfromtheinside.life
Yeah ok, I bet she is good at that. No digs, truly.
But hey now some watchdog lovelies from Coatesville sent me news through someone I know this morning that answers (for now) the question of what happened with the whole exiting the prothonotary’s office of it all last October and wowza:
Well damn, BOOM there it is. The PA Attorney General has charged her. Her formal arraignment is September 18, 2025 unless it moves. I do not see an attorney listed yet as of this morning.
She seems to be facing 1 charge:
M2 04/21/2023 1 1 18 § 4113 §§ A Misapply Entrusted/Govt/Fin Inst Prop
Original Offense Date: 04/21/2023 K 1013764-3
What really and truly blows my mind is this started in 2023.
Bet that anonymous poster who posted in some random Facebook groups will be posting again soon… and yeah before the incorrect rumor mill starts, not my posts don’t know who posted, don’t care.
But now there is an update.
(Hey traditional media? You are very welcome! And it’s now your story to flesh out. This was just a dusty curtain raiser.)
End screenshot is from Rep. Pielli. Wonder what he will be thinking now? Not being snarky, as I just can’t believe all of this myself, yet here we are, right? And you have to wonder if Chester County Democrats will be holding onto county row? Time will tell.
