By Chris Comisac & Kevin Zwick
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Oct. 14) – The war of words continued Wednesday regarding the emails of Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane issued a statement disputing the suggestion by the state Supreme Court and the Judicial Conduct Board that emails recently referred to both bodies by Kane’s office are new, and were not provided last year when requested of the Office of Attorney General. The statement also seemed to question the veracity of the investigations conducted by both bodies in 2014.
Kane said in the statement, “After a thorough review of the FACTS regarding Supreme Court Justice Eakin’s private email account, with both verification by two deputy attorneys general and a senior supervisory special agent, as well as documentary evidence there is one clear and unequivocal conclusion: The JCB, Supreme Court Special Counsel Robert L. Byer, and the Supreme Court itself had access in 2014 to the emails reported by the Philadelphia Daily News and now in possession of Joseph Del Sole for review.”
Both the court and the JCB during the last week indicated in separate statements the recently sent Eakin emails were not part the emails to which both bodies had access last year when they conducted investigations about potentially inappropriate emails.
Kane’s statement runs through a timeline of 2014 events during which she claims her office supplied access to all the available emails – all of which are the same as those her office recently sent to both the court and the JCB. The 2014 investigations ultimately resulted in a dismissal of the complaint against Justice Eakin.
Kane wraps up the statement: “To conclude, Mr. Byer who was commissioned by then Chief Justice Castille had access to 1038 personal emails of Justice Eakin, which contained videos and photos described in news articles. Mr. Byer’s report fails to mention any questionable emails in his report. OAG vault records confirm Byer’s access and the exact emails. The JCB had in its possession and viewed a disc on Nov.5, 2014 containing numerous videos and photos containing nude women. Any allegation or statement that these two entities did not have the information because of any action of OAG is FACTUALLY incorrect.”
Byer’s review, announced last December, found “no improprieties” involving any judge of any other court other than lewd emails of former Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, who was already temporarily suspended by the time the report came out.
The latest back and forth adds to Kane’s ongoing legal saga less than a month after the state Supreme Court moved to temporarily suspend her law license.
The first-term Democrat also is fighting criminal charges filed in Montgomery Court, which allege she leaked confidential grand jury material to the Philadelphia Daily News to embarrass a political foe, attempted to cover up the leak and then lied about it under oath. Kane denies any wrongdoing.
The Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel says Kane admitted ordering the release of a 2014 memo regarding a 2009 grand jury investigation into the finances of J. Whyatt Mondesire, the head of the Philadelphia NAACP, who recently passed away. Charges were never filed against Mondesire, but confidential details of the abandoned investigation led by Fina were published in the Daily News.
The ODC says Kane’s release of that information constituted “egregious misconduct” that caused “immediate and substantial public harm to the criminal justice system.”
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At least she has the courage to bring these people’s misdeeds to light. She is certainly paying a huge price for exposing them all.