The American Civil Liberties Union is helping two people who have posted Internet writings critical of Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett fight a subpoena seeking their identities.

ACLU attorney Vic Walczak said today he would file a motion to quash the subpoena if an agreement with the attorney general’s office can’t be worked out. Walczak says using courts to unmask political critics is unconstitutional retaliation.

Corbett is the Republican nominee for governor.

The subpoena issued to Twitter Inc. May 6 by a statewide investigative grand jury seeks information about Twitter users @bfbarbie and @CasablancaPA. Both users have been critical of the Bonusgate investigation by Corbett's office into the use of public resources to run political campaigns.

A Twitter attorney says it discloses user information only in "limited circumstances."



A phone message left for Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley was not immediately returned.

Grand jury secrecy makes it difficult, if not impossible, to know why the identities of bfbarbie and CasablancaPA are being sought.

But in an interview with the AP last year, Corbett said he was aware of anonymous critics of his investigation, and mentioned by name Brett Cott, one of three people who were convicted of public-corruption charges in March after a trial that lasted nearly two months. "We know people like Brett Cott are on the blogs all day, making stuff up," Corbett said.

Cott was an aide to former Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver, who also was convicted of multiple counts. Veon's sentencing is scheduled for next month.

Cott's sentencing is scheduled for Friday, and Walczak said the deadline for Twitter to respond to the subpoena was recently moved up from Friday to Thursday, further suggesting to him it may somehow be connected to Cott's sentencing.

Cott and his lawyer both declined comment about CasablancaPA — the blog or the Twitter user — on Thursday.

This story has been updated from an earlier version.

