Yet another Democrat is calling on Kathleen Kane to resign as Attorney General.
Governor Tom Wolf and State Rep. Steve Santarsiero have already said that the AG should step aside, now a potential rival is saying the same thing.
Democratic candidate Jack Stollsteimer believes that Kane should step aside.
“Now that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has suspended Kathleen Kane’ license to practice law, I call on her to uphold her oath to serve the public by stepping down from her position as Attorney General pending the outcome of the criminal charges filed against her in Montgomery County,” Stollsteimer said.
“Kathleen Kane needs to realize that she holds public office as a duty and not by right,” he continued. “The public interest requires an Attorney General who can lead the office with honor and integrity. It’s time for Kathleen Kane to put that public interest ahead of her desire to cling to office.”
Stollsteimer is running for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General next year. John Morganelli is also exploring a bid and Josh Shapiro is expected to run as well.
The two GOP candidates, John Rafferty and Todd Stephens, called on the AG to resign yesterday.
Kane has insisted she won’t resign and will attempt to run for re-election.
36 Responses
As usual, MSNBC’s Maddow avoids addressing the REASON why AG-Kane’s license was suspended.
BTW, her current message [about not running for re-election] is transparent: “I’m willing to go away next year if you’ll stop picking on me this year.”
When she says she would need a “good standing” license to run, she is hypocritical, because she lacks that status in a month.
How about another Jello Puddin Pop for D from SePa
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/57907630/ns/msnbc-rachel_maddow_show/#.VgQhRMtVhBc
Transcript from last night’s TRMS is interesting. Got a few facts wrong, but that never stands in the way of a good story:
Now, on the Democratic side, the biggest police blotter story
involving a Democratic politician right now, it honestly just got so dramatic, I would be surprised if it doesn`t turn into an NCIS plot by them just changing the names and turning all the main players into sailors. It involved the attorney general of Pennsylvania. Her name is Kathleen Kane.
The A.G. job was made a statewide elected job in Pennsylvania in 1980. She`s the first woman and first Democrat elected to that job.But there is a problem right now with her status as attorney general, the highest ranking law enforcement official in that state, because the state constitution says in order to be eligible for that job, you have to be a member of the bar. And Kathleen Kane, attorney general of the state of Pennsylvania, isn`t right now. She just got her license to practice law suspended.
And we`ve been following the story for a little while, since criminal charges were filed against Kathleen Kane. These criminal charges say she leaked secret grand jury documents to the press in order to embarrass her political opponents. Kathleen Kane she`s innocent. She won`t step down.
She also, you might remember, pulled that amazing move when she was arraigned where her twin sister walked in ahead of her and distracted the camera crews so she could walk in behind her twin so no one would hassle here. The state Supreme Court suspended her law license. When that goes into effect in 30 days, it`s not clear if she`ll be allowed to do anything
the attorney general does. She won`t be able to make legal decisions or sign legal documents from her whole office. How is that going to work for the top law enforcement official in the state? What`s going to happen if you`re the attorney general and not an attorney?
And that brings us to the second thing, which just happened today. Beleaguered indicted Attorney General Kathleen Kane in Pennsylvania didn`t just let the other shoe drop today. Today she blew up the whole shoe store. What the charges against her about, these grand jury documents she`s accused of leaking, those documents concerned public officials and government employees using pornography and sending sexually explicit e-
mails while at work.
Well, today with her law license about to be suspended, with the whole apparatus of state government and the judiciary tilted against her to try to force her out in Pennsylvania, today, Kathleen Kane said while she still can act as attorney general, she`s going to release all the porn, all the
sexually explicit e-mails, all unredacted and all the names of people who sent them and used the e-mails and sent those e-mails and who received those emails, all unredacted, nothing blacked out.
She says what she`s about to release implicates government officials, members of the state police, judge, law enforcement officials in the state. She says she`s going to make it all public. And then we`re just see what happens.
You boys want to throw me in jail for exposing you on this stuff? I`ll give you some exposure. How much time do I have left?
The lead on this story in the “Philadelphia Inquirer” today was this, quote, “There will be porn and lots of it.”
Politicians go to prison. Politicians get indicted. Politicians get impeached if they don`t quit after they get indicted or convicted. And honestly, it`s a liberal and a conservative thing and a Republican and Democratic thing. It happens.
William Ryan, as the state’s acting Attorney General, ordered the destruction of 20,000,000 emails from the servers of the Office of Attorney General. His reason was to save the taxpayers the cost of data storage.
Did Ryan act alone in the decision to destroy evidence?
Did Ryan take orders from Corbett to destroy evidence?
Did Ryan comply with Fina’s request to destroy evidence?
Corbett did not send Ryan’s name to the state Senate to become the next Attorney General. Did Ryan destroy the evidence to protect the Porn Club employees from Linda Kelly, who was named by Corbett to succeed him?
It was Ryan’s Office of the Attorney General destroying evidence that started this whole mess.
Marie – again, knock off the sexist rhetoric. If corbett had his law license revoked, the media would have run him into the ground. Next we are going to hear that Hillary Clinton gets attacked because she is a woman not a liar.
Big Moola — How about an inspirational quote from Bill Cosby today?
Well said Big Moola. The Democrats work against each other. You don’t see the Republicans attacking one of their own. By the way, why hasn’t a Democrat woman come out against the Attorney General? Why? because we only have men in position of power. You all can disagree with me, but again I say, if the Attorney General were a male, this would not be happening.
Another wanna be !!! When will any of these wanna be Statewide Democratic Leader’s get a clue…….!!! You don’t call on a sitting Statewide elected Democrat to resign until proven guilty.
It’s no wonder the Office of Attorney General in Pa
has been held by Republican’s since being made an elected office!!! Once in Pennsylvania Democrat’s knew how to support each other and stand up for something. You would think that maybe they would figure out with a 600,000 plus Democratic voter advantage statewide they could manage to win some elections…! Republican controlled Senate Republican controlled House and we just got rid of a disastrous Republican Governor Corbett !! Now with a Democratic Governor we can’t get a budget passed by those same Republican’s in control.
Maybe if Mr Stollsteimer doesn’t have the back bone to stand up for other Democrat’s maybe he should learn to Shut Up !!!! As well as a few other so called Democrat’s !!!! Maybe he should stop doing the Republican’s dirty work. They are doing a fine job of dirty politics on their own.
Then next year he and a few others will try to sell us the bag of S..t that they are good Democrat’s and we should support them in the Election.
Nice try Stollsteimer but you don’t seem to have even Half the Back Bone of KGK not even enough for me to vote for you to be AG….!
Double D — why are you such a HACK?
Rocco-
You are the one who failed to name a case related to the charges against Kane or would be adversely affected by her remaining AG.
David,
I’m now done talking to you. You are either too thick headed to see what’s in front of you or too stubborn to admit that you don’t know anything about law enforcement, criminal cases, or investigations.
You, like Rskarloff are simply too intellectually dishonest to have a mature discussion with.
Rocco-
That has NOTHING to do with anything in the Montco case against her. So, stop trying to toss in irrelevant bullsh*t into the discussion.
The issue around Kane looking into grand jury cases is also bullsh*t. First of all, as AG, she should be able to looking into any case. Second, as the subject of a grand jury investigation, she (and anyone else) should have access to any and all information/testimony being used against them.
David,
Why can’t you ever admit that you don’t know everything. It has been reported that a major drug case is in trouble due to Kane not signing a designation letter.
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9028306-74/kane-trip-smith
That case is in serious jeopardy and it’s possible that a drug dealer and a murderer could walk.
Right now there are discussion taking place on the possibility that grand jury cases have been compromised due to the spying of the evault computer programs. If secrecy laws have been violated that could cause defense attorneys to seek unsealing of grand jury evidence.
While you may disagree those are true and correct facts. Please stop being a partisan for a moment and think about actual crimes with actual victims being affected here.
Rocco
No case has any connection to this case nor Kane’s actions. If you or multi-tasker thinks there are cases, then name them.
The only cases this can hurt are ones being run by corrupt/racist/sexist prosecutors/judges/cops who shouldn’t be on the payroll in the first place.
David,
How would YOU possibly know that no current cases have been affected by this chaos that is currently swirling around the Office of Attorney General.
Does anyone know if Jack won the Eddie Munster Look Alike Contest?
Multi-Tasker General-
Kane staying in has not done one ounce of damage to any pending cases. ZERO.
Now, Fina, on the other hand, has damaged Seth Williams case against the remaining legislator who is fighting the sting case and taking it to court.
I think any claims of ignorance by King regarding the contents are suspect.
I was referring to the original special prosecutor, before Risa, but I think it more than likely that Risa used this case to garner more GOP support (quid pro quo) for her judge candidacy and to cover for other Montco court officials with porn/racist/sexist emails. If Risa didn’t bring the case, the GOP would turn on her and lessen support for her campaign, and she had to have known this.
“Name one thing Kane has done for women.” Gone after sexual predators more than any other AG.
Regarding Kathleen Kane:
“Now, Lt. Kaffee, is gonna try to pull off a little magic act, he’s gonna try a little misdirection. He’s going to astonish you with stories of rituals and dazzle you with official sounding terms like Code Red (and porn emails). He might even cut into a few officers (judges and elected officials) for you. He’ll have no evidence, mind you, none. But it’s gonna be entertaining. When we get to the end, all the magic (porn) in the world will not have been able to divert your attention from the fact that Willy Santiago is dead, and Dawson and Downey killed him (and Johnny Docs henchman Josh Morrow via Chris Brennan)leaked grand jury testimony and lied about it). These are the facts of the case. And they are undisputed.
Diano, the problem is the damage Kane is doing to the OAG and all of its pending cases while awaiting trial. Keep in mind that being acquitted in a criminal trial does not mean that the defendant is innocent. It means that the Commonwealth could not meet its extremely high burden. While I fully expect Kane to be convicted by guilty plea or at trial, an acquittal would in no way mean that she is fit for office.
As for King’s testimony, I don’t think there is any reason to question his credibility. Plus, Morrow is the key witness that connects Kane’s phone call to him about leaking the confidential materials, receiving said materials, and leaking said materials.
Are you suggesting that Risa Ferman was exchanging porn emails? She’s the one prosecuting Kane. If so, Kane should be able to bring out such a “vested interest” at trial. Would that excuse Kane from deliberately breaking the law to make Fina look bad? No. Porn emails simply have nothing to do with the conduct she is charged with.
It’s just hilarious how you do backflips to defend Kane simply because she’s a Democrat. And all these comments about the case being a set-up because Kane’s “a strong woman” are just silly. Name one thing Kane has done for women. Hell, as has been pointed out, she promoted Duecker after he was getting handsy with women in the office.
Multi-Tasker General-
Let’s just say, for example, that Kane has her day in court and is 100% acquitted of all charges. Should she be allowed to hold her office of “public trust”” or you’d want her out anyway because you don’t like/trust her?
What if it comes out in the trial (or email releases) that the people prosecuting (persecuting) her all had a vested (conflict of) interest in her removal from office?
What if the Disciplinary Board members have porn emails? How about some Montco judges, prosecutors or investigators involved in the case?
Would a jury believe that King delivered the envelop without looking in or knowing the contents? If so, could they disregard the rest of his testimony?
Oh please! Go look at some statistics about men vs women in the criminal justice system. Women have a much lower conviction rate and serve significantly less prison time for committing the same crimes. There is a double standard in American justice, and it’s against men.
It’s astonishing that people like Diano and Star Chamber fail to understand the difference between the right to trial and the privilege of holding an office of public trust. And, Star Chamber, you apparently have not seen Kane up close. She doesn’t look like those airbrushed photos of her.
All these Lawyers should know that you are Innocent Until Proven Guilty so stop Trying to Chop Kane’s Head off before she has exausted her Legal remedys . She is much prettier than all the Ugly Guys trying to prematurely Take her office away from her
Since Jack is an announced candidate for AG in 2016, and Kane has stated she plans to run for reelection, Jack should really review “conflict of interest” and “due process” before making statements about Kane resigning before her day in court.
Mrs. Fiorina –
I guess Fattah, Pawloski and McCord must not have male gender parts then.
Marie:
I support Kane. But I don’t think gender politics is legitimate. The “old boys” sometimes include many women. And, the “old boys” would be going after a male if he upset their applecart. “Women unite” is phony–it’s like saying white men over 60 unite or some other divisive political strategy. Issues matter, not gender, race, etc. I am sure AG Kane is happy to have the many male allies that she surely has in this politically motivated vendetta against her.
Kathleen is getting railroaded, plain and simple, because she is a woman. There is very clearly a double-standard in this country of ours between the genders. Men can get away with murder. They don’t like Kathleen because she is a strong woman.
Marie: Your appeals are shameful. Kane – who will be seized by federal authorities in the very near future – has repeatedly contravened the law. Have others engaged in wrongful behavior? Undoubtedly. Does chauvinism exist in this republic? Most assuredly. But none of this absolves Kane of culpability or responsibility.
And Kane MUST take heed: any further acts of retaliation will only make matters SIGNIFICANTLY worse for her. The time has come to cooperate – while it is still possible.
“Her latest attempts to attribute the criminal case against her to an effort to suppress dirty emails test the boundaries of nonsense.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20150923_Kane_should_be_removed.html#2h1D551h8u5Z0Xtx.99
Marie – the PA Supreme Court pulled her law license – give me a break – she has disgraced the office she holds and should be removed. The whole “women unite” thing is crap. Gender has nothing to do with the fact that she is a public disgrace and you know it. And it is sexist and un-American to play the gender card. The reason she is being dragged through the mud is because she won’t step down. Within a day of McCord being outted as a fraud he resigned which is why that story died quickly. Objectivity – not emotional bantering – is key.
Marie, the Attorney General has ruined herself. You should be disappointed that the first elected female Attorney General (1) promoted a known sexual harasser of women to be Chief of Staff and (2) blamed all of her problems on the “good ol’ boys” rather than taking accountability. From Day One she has been a disaster because she has a huge ego. She wouldn’t take advice from seasoned prosecutors or political types (including Ed Rendell). She knew it all. And look where that got her.
It is not sexist and I won’t even respond to un-American. If the Attorney General was a man, they would be patting him on the back and saying good job. As far as the emails, again, a pat on the back and lets go have a beer and look at the emails. Please don’t give me that crap about being sexist – Pennsylvania is still in the dark ages when it comes to women and minorities. Watch, if Katie McGinty wins the nomination, they will try to ruin her reputation – they have tried already on this website, but it hasn’t worked.
Of course he wants his opponent to resign. He sounds like a bigger idiot when you parse his comments on this issue.
Who?
Also, how noble of him to say that his opponent should resign.
Marie. Knock off the gender politics. It’s sexist and unamerican.
I think Stollsteimer should not run, not that he cares, but he won’t have my vote. Women Democrats unite – both Democrats and Republicans are trying to ruin the Attorney General – what women will be next?