Kane, 50, a first-term Democrat, faces charges of perjury, obstructing administration of law, abuse of office and false swearing in connection with allegations she orchestrated the illegal disclosure of confidential investigative information and secret grand jury information to the media and then engaged in acts created to hide and cover up her conduct.
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Testifying as a prosecution witness under a grant of immunity, Morrow said that he and Kane, after learning that there was a grand jury investigation into the leaked material, met in August 2014 and “conspired” to put together a story alleging that neither knew how the leaked materials got into the hands of a Daily News reporter who used it as the basis for a story.
Under withering cross examination, Kane defense lawyer Seth Farber accused King of having rehearsed his answers. Miletto’s testimony differed slightly from Beemer’s because Miletto claimed Beemer and Peifer were trying to resurrect the 2009 case.
With all the attention on grand juries this week, it’s worth remember what they do and why their deliberations are kept secret: They help determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to pursue criminal cases and, until the 1970s, often also indicted criminal defendants.
Scheib had notarized a grand jury secrecy oath for Kane – one that the criminal complaint said Kane had told a grand jury she never signed. “This is a problem”, he said he told her.
The third day of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s trial is underway. Fina, who had also led the investigation into child sex abuse allegations against Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, had been a frequent target of Kane during her election campaign.
During another tense exchange in October 2014, Beemer said Kane told him: “If I get taken out of here in handcuffs, what do you think my last act will be?”
Kane faces perjury, making false statements and obstruction in connection with the leaked information.
Still, Mr. Morrow admitted, he did not tell the entire truth in subsequent appearances before the grand jury and in an interview he had with Montgomery County detectives after he testfied. Beemer acknowledged that Kane never directly said she had sought revenge against Fina.
News 8’s Barbara Barr is at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown.
A political consultant for Attorney General Kathleen Kane says her security agents took him to a parking garage, seized his phone, wallet and keys and searched him for a recording device before he had lunch with Kane at a luxury hotel.
“I’m not concerned because that’s not what happened”, King replied. But he came to fear something worse after talking to Kane.
“Kathleen called me today and she’s like, ‘Adrian has documents for you to leak out, ‘” he said in the call.
In a weird twist, the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained evidence of Morrow discussing the plot to leak the material just moments before he made a decision to do it via a tapped phone call between Morrow and his friend John Lisko.
Beemer concluded his testimony, which began Tuesday. “She said, ‘Don’t worry about it”.
He said Kane asked him to file a court challenge to the outside investigation ordered by the state Supreme Court. It’s not a big deal.
“The first thing she said was this material that was released, it was not grand jury material”, Beemer said.
From the witness stand Mr. King accused Ms. Kane – a few times – of trying to set him up and pin a crime on him. Today, they serve a mostly advisory capacity as so-called “investigative grand juries”.
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The reason for that level of secrecy, Beemer said, is that the subjects of investigations-including Mondesire-are not always charged.
