The resignation by Kane, a 50-year-old Scranton-area Democrat who was the first in her political party as well as the first woman elected to serve as the state’s attorney general, followed her conviction Monday night by a Montgomery County jury on charges of perjury and related offenses.
Advertisement
At a news conference Tuesday, Castor said he believed he was the right person to take over from Kane, following two years of turmoil in the office. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Kane’s attorneys on Monday indicated they will argue she did not get a fair trial because she was barred from arguing that she was targeted by state officials who wanted to stop her from revealing they exchanged pornographic emails.
Earlier today, Mr. Castor, a Republican, issued a news release in which the office referred to him as “attorney general”, dropping the acting or interim prefix.
Tom Wolf is nominating Kathleen Kane’s former top deputy to step in as attorney general for the remaining months of her term.
Before she announced her resignation Tuesday, Castor advised Kane that it would be “very difficult” for her to continue in her position as attorney general, given her conviction, he told reporters.
Kane, who refused to step down as attorney general when she was indicted previous year, announced Tuesday that she was resigning as required under state law.
Though Beemer was Kane’s hand-picked top deputy, their relationship turned icy after it became know that he was to testify against her at her trial.
The driving force in Kane’s case are the perjury counts, which have a standard guideline range of probation to nine months in prison for each count, D’Andrea said. Morrow said at the time he was trying to protect her.
After major broadcast networks CBS and NBC had ignored the story and hours before ABC buried it on ABC’s Nightline, Matthews devoted just under 30 seconds to fretting “w$3 hat a downfall” for the “rising star” Kane who was adored by former President Bill Clinton as he played a key role in fundraising and cutting ads for the 2012 Attorney General race.
Castor, who a classmate called a good student and a good golfer, focused on American history and global affairs, his LinkedIn says.
Kane, a first-term Democrat who had never held elected office, enjoyed a brief honeymoon period in 2013 before her agency descended into chaos as she feuded with officials inside and outside the department.
NORRISTOWN One day after a jury labeled her a convicted felon, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Granahan Kane learned her fate will be sealed come October.
“I will do all within my power to see that the Office of Attorney General is in the best possible shape for whenever the next attorney general arrives”, said Castor.
Advertisement
She also threatened to jail Kane if she retaliated against the once-trusted aides who testified against her. From there, it was a steep, self-imposed decline which led to this week’s guilty verdict on leaking grand jury proceedings to a reporter, then lying to cover it up. She already has lost her law license over the charges.
