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Disgraced Pennsylvania Attorney General Stepping Down After Conviction

In a state that has yet to elect a woman governor or U.S. Senator, many once viewed either office as being within Ms. Kane’s reach.

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Kane, the Pennsylvania attorney general whose aggressive investigation of her predecessor unleashed a scandal that ended with her conviction this week on felony and conspiracy charges, said Tuesday that she is resigning.

Cohen served as attorney general for about six months in 1995. He testified Kane told him it was no big deal.

Castor also has been a central figure in the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby.

Castor has said he had promised not to charge Cosby a decade ago when he investigated a former Temple University employee’s claim the entertainer had molested her at his home. The case against Cosby is still pending. Without offering specifics, Shargel said he planned to stay by Kane’s side and fight to the end.

Wolf said his office will consult with members of the Senate about a potential replacement.

Now, Kane is facing jail time and can not even practice private law after the suspension of her law license. “And many of them she brought on herself”.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

“The only issue I have with Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s decision to resign is that it is long overdue”, Rafferty said.

Kane’s exit completes a spectacular fall for the state’s highest-ranking female politician.

But in last week’s trial, prosecutors presented testimony from Kane’s former subordinates and associates to document her active involvement in plotting the illegal leak then trying to cover her tracks by framing a top aide.

After Kane’s conviction, the judge ordered she surrender the passport by noon Tuesday as a condition of the own recognizance bail that will allow Kane to remain free while awaiting sentencing. She even cited a series of “pornographic, racial and religiously offensive emails” she had received from the office of former Attorney General Tom Corbett as an example of the heat she was facing while holding the Attorney General position. Top state senators threatened a vote ordering her removal from office under a constitutional provision never used in modern history.

Her deputy, Bruce Castor, is scheduled to address the media later on Tuesday.

After Kane’s conviction Monday, Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason said it was “a bad day for the Commonwealth”. Her lawyers say she’ll appeal.

Kane’s descent began when the Inquirer published its story about the spiked investigation just over a year after she took office.

District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said it was “a sad day for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania” when an attorney general is convicted “of crimes involving an abuse of power and lying under oath”. Kane, who is not legally forced to relinquish her post until the sentencing, has no plans of stepping down.

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She lost her law license over the charges and is fighting pressure to step down.

Pennsylvania's attorney general found guilty in perjury case