Kathleen Kane (Wikimedia Commons)
A jury found Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane guilty on all nine counts she faced in a perjury and obstruction case for leaking confidential grand jury information to the Philadelphia Daily News in 2014.
Kane, a first-term Democrat who ran on a platform of cracking down on public corruption, orchestrated the release of the information and had two associates, Adrian King and Joshua Morrow, provide a reporter with the information, according to The Reporter. Kane’s lawyer blamed the two during arguments Monday afternoon in Montgomery County, NBC News reports.
The jury of six men and six women found Kane guilty for two counts of perjury and seven misdemeanor counts of abusing the powers of her office, according to Philly.com.
Here’s what you need to know about Kane and her conviction.
1. Kane Planted a Story in 2014 About Her Nemesis, Former AG Frank Fina
Prosecutors in #KaneTrial “we believe justice was done in this case.” @6abc
According to Philly.com, Kane wanted to get revenge on her predecessor, Frank Fina, who was caught in a pornography scandal, because she believed he was the source to a story reporting she shut down a sting operation with Philadelphia officials taking bribes.
Kane had previously said Fina’s offensive emails were misogynistic and racially offensive.
The jury found Kane had tried to get back at Fina by using King and Morrow to leak information on his previous work. A front page story about it landed in the Daily News in June 2014.
She publicly stated she did share information, but didn’t break the law in doing so, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
2. Kane Used Two Others to Carry Out Her Plan, The Jury Found
Adrian King said he helped Kane leak information to a Philadelphia newspaper. (LinkedIn)
Although they were never formally charged, King, the former first deputy, and political strategist Morrow, were tasked with carrying out Kane’s plan.
Morrow, under the protection of immunity, told the court last week he agreed to the cover up, which included lying to investigators about Kane never seeing the grand jury documents, according to the Morning Call. Last week was the first time he opened up about it because, “The burden of keeping the lie is affecting me personally, in relationships and professionally,” Morrow said, according to the Morning Call.
King told the court he served as an intermediary, delivering documents to Morrow from Kane.
3. Kane Announced She Was Resigning After Gov. Wolf Is Asking Her to Step Down
Last year, Kane said she wouldn’t resign if she was charged, according to Philly.com. “For the past 13 months, I have been carrying on, I will handle it, and I will continue to do my job,” she said then.
On Tuesday, she announced she would resign by the close of business Wednesday.
“I have been honored to serve the people of Pennsylvania and I wish them health and safety in all their days,” Kane said, according to Fox43.
Earlier this year Kane said she wouldn’t seek re-election: “While this was not an easy decision for me, while I love Pennsylvania, I love my sons first,” Kane told WTAE. “I am a mother first and foremost. Because at the end of my life, I hope that history judges me well, but that’s for time to tell. I hope more that God and my sons judge me well.”
Should Kathleen Kane leave office, she’ll be replaced by Bruce Castor, the former MontCo DA who failed to prosecute Bill Cosby.
But after the verdict was announced Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf asked Kane to “resign immediately.”
“Today is a sad day for the commonwealth and the people of Pennsylvania. Attorney General Kane has been convicted of serious charges. These are unbecoming of the commonwealth’s top law enforcement officer,” Wolf said in a statement. “As I have made clear, I do not believe Kathleen Kane should be Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I believed this when she was charged, and today, after conviction, there should be no question that she should resign immediately.
“While there is no simple procedure to remove a civil officer, the Office of Attorney General and its employees, as well as the people of Pennsylvania, deserve to move on. I implore Attorney General Kane to do what is right: put the commonwealth’s residents first and step down from office,” Wolf said.
The Associated Press reports she lost her law license over the charges and the judge told her to turn in her passport.
4. Kane Was Once a ‘Rising’ Democrat
Kane was once considered a rising Democrat. (Twitter)
Declared “once an ascendant Democratic star” by the New York Times, Kane was the first woman elected to the top prosecutor post in Pennsylvania.
Kane had been a district attorney before quitting to join Hillary Clinton‘s failed presidential bid in 2008. A 2012 feature on Kane in the Times-Tribune highlights their relationship, and Kane’s belief in Clinton:
“I believed in her. I thought that she was dynamic, intelligent,” Kane said. “It was something that I thought was important to do.”
Kane previously announced her support for gay marriage and for tighter gun-control measures.
5. Kane Used Her Twin, Ellen Granahan Goffer, to Fool the Media
PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane (in red) sent her twin sister first (front) to divert press. Photo by Clem Murray. http://t.co/MGtZMGuoGA
In a court appearance last year, Kane had her twin sister, Ellen Granahan Goffer, show up to the courtroom before she did — a stunt that confused media members posting photos to Twitter and Facebook.
Goffer, who worked under Kane, had filed a wage and gender discrimination complaint against the attorney general’s office, The Morning Call reported. Goffer’s salary of $88,509 is 17 to 37 percent lower than what agency lawyers with similar titles earn, she claimed.