Kane claimed she did nothing wrong and has implied the charges were part of an effort to force her out of office because she discovered pornographic emails being exchanged between state employees on state email addresses.
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The top deputy to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane will assume her duties now that she’s resigning following her perjury conviction in a grand jury leak case.
“I have been honored to serve the people of Pennsylvania and I wish them health and safety in all their days”, Kane said.
On Tuesday, ABC, CBS, and NBC’s morning newscasts, along with CNN’s New Day, all failed to cover a jury convicting Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general, Kathleen Kane, on two felony charges of perjury and seven other criminal counts.
Castor could lead the attorney generals office up until next January – when a newly elected AG takes over – but that is not guaranteed.
Calls for Kane to resign had mounted soon after the verdict was delivered late Monday. Her lawyers say she’ll appeal. She was the first woman AG in the state.
Kane, who has lost her law license, is not running for reelection.
Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy warned she would jail Kane if there was evidence of retaliation against witnesses who had testified against her, including two of Kane’s former aides.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who was among the first to join bipartisan calls for Kane to resign after her arrest last August, applauded Kane’s decision.
“It’s just a matter of how to really gauge your time, focus your interests and give direction to the staff all at the same time”, he said. “I am hopeful that they can now refocus on the important tasks of combatting the drug epidemic, protecting children and enforcing the law of the commonwealth”.
Sentences imposed in 77 percent of the 600 cases she handled past year were within the standard range set out by the guidelines. Her manipulation of the Attorney General’s Office only added to the belief of many that government, particularly law enforcement, too often doesn’t work for the people. Once considered a rising star in Pennsylvania politics, Kane was the first Democrat and first woman elected as the state’s top lawyer.
The grand jury sent the case to then-Montgomery County DA Risa Vetri Ferman with a recommendation that she charge Kane with perjury and official oppression.
“It helps (her attorneys) make the case that she’s suffered enough through the ignominy of this case” and, theoretically, she’s also stripped herself of any opportunity to take similar actions in the future. She won more votes in Pennsylvania that year than President Obama.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler County, who had been trying to get Kane impeached long before she was charged in the grand jury case, was unequivocal.
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If Kane is a victim of anything, it is her own misguided understanding of her role as a public official.
