Gov. Tom Wolf has nominated Bruce Beemer, the current inspector general of Pennsylvania, to replace Kathleen Kane as attorney general.
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MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews had always been a big admirer of now-former Democratic Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, so he was naturally beside himself on Tuesday night as he gave a news brief on Kane being found guilty of nine criminal charges stemming from a series of leaks to a grand jury concerning a legal and political rival. She could have stayed in office until January 17, when a new attorney general selected by voters in November will be sworn in.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The former county prosecutor taking over for Pennsylvania’s convicted attorney general is a central figure in the Bill Cosby case, having chosen a decade ago not to charge the entertainer with sex assault and then saying the decision was binding when called to the witness stand this year by Cosby’s lawyers. Before dismissing Kane, the judge expressed her displeasure with Kane, while referring to trial testimony, bellowing that Kane left no one “minding the store” when Kane took a trip to Haiti in April 2014 with several other staffers. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported then Beemer had “earned a reputation for being an independent voice within the increasingly dysfunctional Attorney General’s Office”. John C. Rafferty Jr., a Republican, will face off in November for attorney general.
“I don’t know what the Commonwealth bound itself to and I don’t know whether the District Attorney of Montgomery County has the authority to bind the Attorney General of Pennsylvania”, Castor said during a press conference. “(Beemer) will provide strong leadership, and working with the good men and women of the AG’s office, (Beemer) will be able to get things back on the right track”.
Just last month, Wolf hired Beemer as inspector general.
Kane was convicted Monday of charges of perjury, obstructing administration of law, official oppression, false swearing and conspiracy.
The choice of Mr. Beemer was immediately hailed among prosecutors and agents in the office, many of whom viewed him as a stabilizing force during Ms. Kane’s tumultuous tenure. 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.
A spokeswoman for the Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele declined to comment on Morrow’s fate or Castor’s comments. In late 2011, he was appointed Chief of Staff for the Office of Attorney General of Pennsylvania under Attorney General Linda Kelly and in 2013, he was appointed Chief of Criminal Prosecutions under Attorney General Kathleen Kane before being named First Deputy.
Beemer openly clashed with Kane after the state Supreme Court suspended her law license last fall. Castor had said he would not serve as a rubber-stamp for Kane’s policies and that he would work to restore the integrity of the office. After joining that office as an assistant district attorney in 1996, he worked in the Crimes Persons, Narcotics and Homicide trial units where he tried over 100 jury trials and prosecuted over 75 homicide cases.
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“He’s obviously her man and obviously can not begin the process of healing”, Ledewitz said.
