It’s safe to say that Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s impeachment hearing didn’t go as Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) had planned.
In an act of defiance, Democrats of the state House committee walked out of the proceedings before they were even completed.
In the ongoing controversy over Kane’s suspension of an elaborate and racially-tinged sting operation, Metcalfe and others have called for her to reopen the case, which Kane has yet to do. In addition, Metcalfe claims that Kane broke the law by refusing to uphold the state’s same-sex marriage ban — a ban that Kane claims is unconstitutional.
The alleged botching of the sting operation and the lack of enforcement of the same-sex marriage ban motivated Metcalfe and his conservative allies to call for Kane’s impeachment.
The hearing today before the State Government Committee took an interesting turn when House Democrats called the whole affair “an unfair end-run of the parliamentary process,” reports the Associated Press.
Adding to the criticism, Rep. Michael O’Brien of Philadelphia called the hearing a “kangaroo court.” This led Metcalfe to call for security guards to have O-Brien removed.
In response, House Democrats left the proceedings, staging a walkout in defiance of the affair.
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14 Responses
Cut each of the lead R and D players a break. Of course, honest-to-God prosecutors not only can but must prioritize. Sometimes this means letting undoubtedly guilty parties walk.See Felix Frankfurter’s led opinion in Dotterweich v. U.S.
But the set-up of an elected AG in PA. is relatively new. It is the job of the AG to defend to defend not only the PA. Constitution but statutes enacted by the General Assembly. The AG was not given a veto, The Governor has a veto and the Assembly can overwhelm it. The AG is the Commonwelth’s lead advocate and playing G-d or Suprme Court is not given her
Unfortunately there are incompetent people who are elected but they are usually voted out after their constituents realize the error they made. In the case of Metcalfe not only is he INCOMPETENT but he also has the distinction of being UNFIT. Being unfit and incompetent is a dangerous combination. One can only hope his constituents wake-up and realize what an embarrassment he is and boot him out. He would have earned medals and distinction in the Nazi SS.
Larry:
In any fair system, those 5(I think) were never going to face jail time. They would have been fined and had to file amended reports. Or do you forget our Govenor, #OneTermTom, not filing proper disclosure reports? Remember the one he had to amend after the TradMed, stinky as they are, catching him red handed taking paid-for trips and gifts?
Joanne Tosti-Vasey:
Nice! I have certainly called people like Metcalfe that in the past. If the shoe fits, they should certainly wear it.
CentralPADem: No, the witnesses drew a clear distinction between criminal cases, which do involve prosecutorial discretion, and civil cases, where the Commonwealth Attorneys Act imposes a duty on the AG to defend challenges to laws. Regarding the Philly case, they simply criticized her exercise of discretion not to prosecute because the lawmakers were caught on tape accepting bribes.
Reading the opinions offered by Metcalf’s expert witnesses, I did see one huge flaw. Testimony was given that Kane can’t pick and choose what cases to prosecute the same as county DA’s. However, I believe DA’s all over the commonwealth decide every day if the evidence is strong enough to file charges and prosecute criminal cases. How is this any different than what Kane did?
Also, the “kangaroo court” comment from O’Brien didn’t come until after security was summoned and they were all walking out.
Mr. Smith, what makes you think that the hearing did not go exactly as Metcalfe planned? He was able to have one-sided questioning of the witnesses while criticizing the Dems for running away and neglecting their duties. The whole thing was theater (by both sides), but I have to think that the Dems could have really pointed out the weaknesses of Metcalfe’s position if they had stayed.
Unfortunately, Metcalfe believes that any press is good press. No matter how much this guy makes a complete fool of himself and still salivates over the attention.
He needs to be removed of his leadership position and given a ‘time-out.’
I’m guessing that they are looking to link her to the Benghazi “scandal” as well.
Glad to see Kathleen Kane is being held accountable for her actions. This woman has repeatedly refused to do her job in defending Pa state laws.
I think that Metcalfe is the long lost idoit brother of Sarah Palin and Rep. Steve King. Also wouldn’t it be funny to see one of his children were born gay? Lol what would he do impeach them?
Phil Perspective, I saw somewhere else that Metcalfe was given the moniker “Tea-hadist.” That seems to fit quite well considering all of the attacks he has made over the years on women, immigrants, and LGBTQ people, along with is continuing efforts to turn Pennsylvania into hard-hearted theocracy.
It’s good to see the PA GOP is following in the lead of the national GOP. They’d need 2/3 in the state Senate, right? And she passed the files on to Williams after all. Is Metcalfe looking to win the title of dumbest Pennsylvanian?