IT LOOKS AS if Kathleen Kane’s tenure as Pennsylvania’s attorney general is about to reach a new low.
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“No one is above the law, not even the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Pennsylvania”, added Ferman.
Kane said she gave the media information but the 2014 memo she provided had nothing to do with 2009 secret grand jury information she is accused of leaking, said Lanny Davis, an attorney who represents Kane. Stay with WTAE.com for updates and a livestream of the news conference via our sister station in WGAL-TV in Harrisburg. She argued in her statement that “a resignation would be an admission of guilt”, while her spokesman said, “The last time I heard a call for a sentence before a verdict was delivered was in Alice in Wonderland“.
The grand jury report issued in December says the attorney general engaged in a cover-up and was not “truthful” about her role in the alleged unlawful leak of material from a 2009 investigation.
Kane’s descent from possible presidential contender to probable arrest later this week is a tragic tale of a political grudge taken to extremes – as the Philadelphia Inquirer characterized the charges, a story of “a Nixonian figure bent on political revenge, angry at her staff, and eager to spy on judges, reporters, prosecutors, and her own aides”.
Kane said in the statement that she does not plan to step down as Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement officer despite Gov. Tom Wolf and other Pennsylvania lawmakers asking her to.
A grand jury in Texas indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging he profited from soliciting investors in a local company without properly registering. Her decision to bring charges is therefore the latest compelling evidence that the attorney general’s apparent unfitness for office is real, not orchestrated.
The arresting affidavit states that interviews with several witnesses led investigators to conclude that Kane had lied to the statewide investigating grand jury.
Kane, 49, will be charged with obstructing the administration of law, official oppression, perjury, criminal conspiracy and false swearing. “It seems like every week there’s a new scandal involving the alleged corrupt activities of Democratic elected officials such as Kathleen Kane, Rob McCord, and Chaka Fattah”. Ernest Preate resigned as Pennsylvania’s attorney general in 1995 and served a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud related to a campaign contribution.
Patrick Reese, a member of Kane’s security detail, was also charged Thursday with accessing grand jury files in violation of a judge’s order.
“I think in this instance her failure to listen to any of her most trusted people is what did her in”, Cohen said.
“I will not allow them to discredit me”.
When Kane’s private lawyer sought the NAACP documents, King wrote an email to say that was prohibited, the grand jury said. But she can not very well carry out the duties of one of the state’s most important offices while mounting a complex criminal defense.
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“The office is bigger than the attorney general”, he said. Prior to her election, she worked as an assistant DA in Lackawanna County, which provided experience as a prosecutor.
