AG Beemer: “The issue about ex parte communications (in the Gansler report) is a critical one. I think it strikes at the integrity of the system. Where those kinds of things are in play, that is certainly something that that public should have an opportunity to know about.”
Now that Bruce Beemer is in charge at the AG’s office — with Gov. Wolf’s patronage blessing — the credibility of both men is on the line.
This week’s confirmation of Bruce Beemer to replace Kathleen Kane as attorney general was conducted by all three branches of government as though the house is on fire: and perhaps it is.
Kane left her second-in-command, Bruce Castor, in charge of the AG’s office, but Gov. Wolf and Senate leaders wasted little time casting Castor aside.
Castor, it seems, was a loose cannon on deck who had to be thrown overboard as soon as possible.
After Kane’s conviction and resignation on August 16, Gov. Tom Wolf quickly nominated Beemer, his inspector general, to the attorney general’s post.
The Senate had been scheduled to be out on summer recess until September 26, but soon returned from summer vacation to approve Beemer’s nomination.
How fast did all this happen?
Bruce Beemer (center) with Gov. Tom Wolf (right) and Chief Justice Thomas Saylor (left) at Beemer’s swearing in as AG this Tuesday
Gov. Wolf, for example, has yet to nominate a secretary of Environmental Protection, a post that has been vacant since his last DEP secretary, Roger Quigley, was forced out more than three months ago, in May, for suggesting state legislative hearings were “show trials.”
Wolf and Senate leaders obviously thought it necessary to rid themselves of Castor and install Beemer. Why?
There are certainly any number of important and sensitive matters pending in the AG’s office.
Probably nothing is more pressing than the fate of a report by former Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, the special prosecutor appointed by Kane to investigate the tens of thousands of pornographic and off-color emails sent among an unknown number of judges and public sector workers.
Kane deliberately appointed Gansler, an outsider to Pennsylvania politics, so that the inquiry wouldn’t be spiked by Pennsylvania government insiders.
The content of those emails isn’t so important, no matter how lurid and prurient they may seem.
More important to the public trust is whether the emails violate conflict-of-interest rules, particularly judicial prohibitions against ex parte communications between judges, prosecutors, lawyers and cops; judges are not allowed to secretly communicate or fraternize one-sidedly with prosecutors, lawyers and cops, let alone to share scintillating pornographic emails.
When a litigant or defendant shows up in court, he or she has a right to know that the judge sitting in judgment has not been secretly yukking it up in emails with the prosecutors, lawyers or cops who brought the case.
Perhaps dozens of state, county and federal employees and judges may be implicated in the long-running email scandal.
Just last week the union representing the agents in the AG’s office went to court hoping to suppress Gansler’s report.
The rush of Gov. Wolf and Senate leaders to appoint and approve Beemer was seen by some as a move to gain control of Gansler’s report, and to put state insiders back in the driver’s seat.
The question remains: Will Gov Wolf, through his patronage appointee Beemer, throw his weight behind releasing Gansler’s report, or would Wolf and Beemer try to suppress it?
Those attending Beemer’s confirmation hearing before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee this Tuesday, August 30, expected to hear senators question AG-designate Beemer on this and other thorny issues.
As the senators took their places at the start of Beemer’s hearing, it was clear that none of them, like Gov. Wolf, could be particularly proud of the role they had played in events leading to AG Kane’s controversial conviction and resignation.
Several members of the Judiciary Committee, like GOP Senators Gene Yaw, John Gordner, and Joe Scarnati, had also served on the Senate committee that had tried to remove Kane from office by Direct Address this past winter, before she’d even been afforded a jury trial.
These Republican senators, like Democratic Gov. Tom, had been quick, more than a year ago, to either withdraw support from Kane or outright demand that she resign.
What tune would they be singing now? we wondered, waiting for the hearing to begin.
Bruce Beemer at Senate confirmation hearing
At the appointed hour Beemer arrived at the hearing room.
The chair of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-Bucks & Montgomery), began the hearing by saying, “The governor has made a nomination for Mr. Beemer to be the permanent replacement until the next attorney general is elected, and we’ve I think all had an opportunity to talk to him, thank you Mr. Beemer for stopping by. You have an impressive resume, and a personality that seems like you might be able to put a dysfunctional office in the right direction as attorney general.”
Beemer was introduced to the committee by as an experienced hand in the AG’s office.
“Most recently, Bruce was appointed Inspector General by Gov. Tom Wolf,” the senators were told.
So make no mistake: Beemer’s political patron in this, as with the inspector general’s job, is Tom Wolf.
Wolf, whether he likes it or not, can take credit or blame for what happens next in the AG’s office with matters like the release or suppression of the porno email report.
But what would Gov. Wolf and his political appointee do? Those hoping for answers at the Senate confirmation hearing were sorely disappointed.
Beemer took his place at the witness table and delivered a short statement.
“I very much appreciate the opportunity, and I apologize for dragging everybody back before Labor Day for this,” Beemer told the committee. “But I’m very honored to have you consider the governor’s nomination of me. … I’d just like to take this opportunity to say that it’s no secret that the attorney general’s office has gone through some difficult times over the last year or two.
“If I were fortunate enough to be confirmed by this body I will endeavor to restore a sense of honor and integrity to the office where we have struggled with that in the last couple of years. We have almost a little bit over 800 of the finest men and women you can possibly imagine working in that office. Everything from keeping our streets safe from drugs (and) our child predators, to protecting consumers, to engaging in actions in civil courts to protect those most vulnerable.
“I would do everything in my power to allow all of those individuals who work there to focus only on their jobs, to make the attorney general’s office a place that the citizens of the commonwealth can be proud of, that the citizens of the commonwealth feel they can come to answer or help them when the situation warrants, and I really look forward to answering any questions that any of you might have. Thank you again for the opportunity.”
With that, Sen. Greenleaf asked his fellow senators, “Are their any questions for the nominee?”
There was a long, uncomfortable, and deadening silence.
Amazingly, none of the twelve senators on the committee had a single question for the nominee, who they were now sending off to work in a minefield.
It was remarkable. Many in this very room had brought about much of the turmoil in the AG’s office. And much turmoil remained.
Still, no questions at all for Beemer?
Not even, “How about them Phils?”
What did this stunning silence mean? you had to wonder.
Were things so screwed up, and so radioactive, in the AG’s office, with so many dangers and unknowns still looming, that not a single senator wanted to touch on any of it with a ten foot pole — particularly so close to an election?
In the hearing room there seemed to be a sadness still hanging in the air over all that had happened with Kane.
“No questions?” Sen. Greenleaf asked. “I’ll then entertain a motion to report the nominee out with a favorable recommendation.”
The committee’s vote to approve Beemer was quick and unanimous.
Beemer was congratulated and Sen. Greenleaf wished him well.
This was the sort of non-contentious judiciary committee meeting we never see these days, for example, in Washington DC.
With that, Beemer stood and went out into the hallway, where he was surrounded by a scrum of reporters and TV cameras.
Beemer speaks with reporters after Senate confirmation hearing
Unlike the senators, the reporters asked Beemer about his plans for Special Prosecutor Gansler’s email report.
Beemer said he hadn’t yet had the opportunity to study the report.
“It depends on what’s in it,” Beemer responded. “It’s a difficult question to answer without knowing the exact content of the report, and I look forward to looking at that in the future.”
How do you restore honor to the AG’s office? Beemer was asked.
“I think you have to earn it,” he said. “We’re going to try to make things a little bit better. And hopefully by the time the new attorney general comes in they’ll have an office that’s really ready to take off.”
I asked Beemer, “Where did you leave things with Gov. Wolf? Are you going back to the Inspector General’s office in January?”
“I’ve been asked if I would return and I’m very excited and enthusiastic to do that,” Beemer said.
There were sound reasons for Gov. Wolf to select Beemer as a caretaker to replace Kane. Beemer knows his way around the AG’s office, and he certainly has practical experience with pressing matters at hand in the office.
Moreover, Beemer acquitted himself well on the witness stand at Kathleen Kane’s trial. He came across as honest, and a sympathetic figure. Beemer seemed like he’d been trying to understand what was going on with Kane, and was reserving judgment.
But now that Beemer himself would be in charge at the AG’s office — with Gov. Wolf’s patronage blessing — Beemer’s (and Wolf’s) credibility will be on the line if he tries to suppress Gansler’s email report, and then return to the Wolf administration as inspector general.
Beemer was asked by a reporter about another prickly issue ignored by the Senate committee: a potential appeal in the “PSU 3” case of former Penn State administrators Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley.
“I will examine all possibilities,” Beemer said. “It’s obviously something I’ll have to take a look at.”
What about the public’s right to know about the Gansler email report? I asked Beemer. “We’ve heard from the employees in the AG’s office who say they have a right not to have the report released. But doesn’t the public have a right to know what’s in the report, and whether there’s a conflict-of-interest with ex parte communications when judges send emails to prosecutors and cops that appear in court before them?”
“The issue about ex parte communications is a critical one,” Beemer said. “I think it strikes at the integrity of the system. Where those kinds of things are in play, that is certainly something that that public should have an opportunity to know about. The entirety of the report, I haven’t seen it. There may be things in there that are concerning to me, about their being publicly released for one reason or another, but again I’m sort of speaking a little bit in the dark. Once I have an opportunity, I look forward to apprising every one of the status and where we’re going to move forward. But I want to try to handle it as expeditiously as possible. It’s dragged on for a long time.”
So there you have it.
Beemer and, by extension, his political patron, Gov. Tom Wolf, by the end of the day had control of Gansler’s report.
Beemer and Wolf are now firmly in charge of the porno email report, and what the citizens of Pennsylvania will be told about corruption in their government.
The Rules of Pottery Barn now apply: If Wolf and Beemer break it, they own it.
Excellent article. If Wolf and Beemer deny the release of this critical report, they’re total scum. I expect Wolf will not be re-elected.