By Kevin Zwick
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Sept. 21) – The state Supreme Court temporarily suspended the law license of Attorney General Kathleen Kane as she awaits trial on criminal charges.
In the unanimous ruling issued Monday, the court said, “This order should not be construed as removing Respondent from elected office and is limited to the temporary suspension of her license to practice law.”
“While I am disappointed in the court’s action I am grateful that the court recognized my constitutional rights both as a democratically elected official and as a citizen of the Commonwealth,” Kane said in a statement. “The court, in specifically recognizing my continuing authority as Attorney General of the Commonwealth, today allows me to continue the good works of this office: work which has transformed our war on sex crimes and fraud; work which will also root out the culture of misogyny and racially/religiously offensive behavior that has permeated law enforcement and members of the judiciary in this Commonwealth for years.”
Kane, the first woman and Democrat elected Attorney General, is facing criminal charges brought by Montgomery Court District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who alleges Kane leaked confidential grand jury material to embarrass a political foe, attempted to cover up the leak and then lied about it under oath. Kane denies any wrongdoing.
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel says Kane admitted ordering the release of a 2014 memo regarding a 2009 grand jury into the finances of J. Whyatt Mondesire, the former head of the Philadelphia NAACP.
That disclosure constituted “egregious misconduct” that caused “immediate and substantial public harm to the criminal justice system,” according to court documents also released Monday by the Supreme Court.
In a response, Kane’s lawyers claim that she had “no intent to commit any misconduct,” and only ordered the release of information – not any document. Instead, they contend, “her demonstrated intent was to inform the public of a troubling pattern of selective prosecution or non -prosecution by OAG, a public information role that is an inherent part of her duties as Attorney General and in proper furtherance of the public’s right to know.”
But the ODC pointed to past statements from Kane’s former “legal strategist,” Lanny Davis, who said Kane authorized the release of a 2014 memo on the Mondesire case.
“Mr. Davis’ comment to the press was incorrect,” according to her lawyers, James Powell III and James Mundy who representing her before the ODC. “The true and correct facts – which are that Attorney General Kane authorized the release of information, not of any specific document – are contained in Attorney General Kane’s sworn grand jury testimony.”
Mondesire was never charged with any crimes. The investigation was led by Frank Fina, a former top OAG prosecutor with whom Kane has feuded publicly, particularly over Fina’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case.
Since the announcement of criminal charges last month, Gov. Tom Wolf and other top state Democrats and Republicans have called on Kane to step aside.
Although she has no plans to resign, Kane could be removed from office through impeachment or a state constitutional provision that allows the governor to remove an elected official “for reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the address of two-thirds of the Senate.” The provision prevents the removal of the governor, lieutenant governor, legislators and judges. The House of Representatives can also start impeachment proceedings.
Mundy and Powell said in a statement: “To be clear, General Kane has not been convicted of anything. She has been accused. She has never had a hearing; she has never been permitted to present evidence; she has never confronted a witness against her; most importantly, no fact finder has ever found that she did anything wrong.
“There is another side to this story that the public has never heard. When General Kane is given the opportunity to be heard, the other side of the story will finally come out. Then, and only then, will the public have a fair opportunity to judge the facts. We are confident that once that happens, General Kane will be exonerated.”
Her formal arraignment is scheduled for mid-October.
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Kane issued a revised statement later Monday:
“I am disappointed by the action taken by the Supreme Court today. It is important to note that the order specifically states that “this order should not be construed as removing Respondent from elected office.” I continue to maintain my innocence and plan to keep fighting to clear my name while serving out the rest of my term in office. I am confident the hundreds of employees of the Office of Attorney General will continue protecting the people of Pennsylvania with the same high level of energy, dedication and professionalism they have always displayed.
To this end, in the wake of the Commonwealth Court hearing, I’ve instructed my office to engage in a comprehensive review of all emails sitting on OAG servers to fully comply with the RTKLs. Our preliminary review has generated emails of government officials, including law enforcement officials and judges, heretofore unknown to us. These emails will be fully released either as public documents defined by the Commonwealth Court, or at my discretion.”
She still maintains that presumption of innocence in her criminal proceedings, however the rest of the citizenry(including her alleged victims and political enemies) deserves to be protected from abuse, much the same as you she swore an oath to support and defend the constitution of the U.S. and PA, I’m sorry but when any person files a quo warrant motion that states,( I can’t be investigated or charged for any violations, because my office is the only agency with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by my office),that is abuse of their office not adhering to their oath or defending any constitution.