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Updated with Kane’s Response: Dems Rally to Kane As Metcalfe Threatens Impeachment

Kathleen-Kane-portrait1
Attorney General Kathleen Kane

As outspoken conservative state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe prepares to impeach her over her refusal to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, Democrats are rallying around Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

In July, Kane announced to fanfare that she wouldn’t defend the state’s ban on same sex marriage in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

She was celebrated by Democrats and LGBT advocates and berated by social conservatives. Republicans and pundits teased Kane over her campaign’s trail statement that “The Attorney General does not have the right to pick and choose which laws he or she enforces.”

State Rep. Metcalfe (R-Butler), the legislature’s fiercest opponent of political measures advanced by LGBT advocates, wants to take the criticism a step further.

As the Allentown Morning Call first reported, he is circulating a memo as a precursor to legislation to impeach Kane.

“Impeachment is a rarely used, but extremely important, tool to address misbehavior in office,” Metcalfe wrote. “Attorney General Kane’s violation of her constitutional, statutory, and ethical duties cannot be tolerated if our system of government is to work properly.”

Update: Kane fired back at Metcalfe in a strongly-worded statement Tuesday. The full statement is below.

“The citizens of this great Commonwealth should be revolted that a politician such as Rep. Metcalfe is attempting to thwart an independent Attorney General from doing her job by using such a measure,” she said. “I have never been afraid of or backed down from bullies. In fact, bullies strengthen my resolve to protect those who need it the most – the people of Pennsylvania.”

Democrats – particularly those running for Governor – rallied to Kane’s side.

“Republican leaders in Harrisburg have our state going in reverse on everything from social issues to economic development,” former DEP Sec. Katie McGinty said in a press release. “Actions like this aren’t just insulting to our residents, they are damaging to our reputation and harmful to our efforts to attract and lure business.”

“.@GovChristie drops lawsuit denying same-sex marriage while PAGOP seeks 2 impeach Kathleen Kane 4 standing 4 equality,” former Revenue Sec. Tom Wolf tweeted.

At least one other Republican lawmaker, state Sen. John Eichelberger (R-Blair), has voiced support for impeachment.

Gov. Tom Corbett has declined to say whether he would support such a move.

“I’m not going to go into what my feelings are. … That’s not appropriate,” Corbett told the Altoona Mirror.

“I’ve taken an oath to defend the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If she chooses not to, then she’ll have to deal with that herself. We will defend them.”

Here is Kane’s full response statement:

“Rep. Metcalfe’s call for impeachment should instead be an opportunity for his own introspection. More than three million voters elected me to office last year because they are fed up with partisan politics, which is what Rep. Metcalfe represents.

“I ran for Attorney General because partisan politics are so rampant and ugly, that the people of Pennsylvania are not properly served by their government!

“Rep. Metcalfe’s goals of media attention and political gamesmanship are accomplished through loud, arrogant and misguided claims. Instead, his priorities should be reforming education, job creation, fixing our transportation system, or making the streets safer for kids and families, and should also include cleaning up the good ol’ boys’ system of public corruption. Instead, he chooses to focus on wasting time and battling me because I had the gall to run for office, win and serve Pennsylvania as an independent watchdog over the government they desperately want to rule.

“It is unfortunate that Rep. Metcalfe has such little respect for the people of Pennsylvania. It is also unfortunate and embarrassing that Rep. Metcalfe has such limited knowledge of the laws or perhaps poor understanding of time-tested, clearly enumerated legal principles. While he purports to know what actions I have taken, he is wrong. When he pretends to know the rules governing ethical conduct for attorneys, he again is terribly wrong. And, while Rep. Metcalfe pretends to understand the legal implications of my actions and others around the state, he could not be more misguided. I do not believe he cares about facts or the law.

“I have been, and always will be, committed to protecting, obeying and defending the Constitution of the United States and of Pennsylvania. I will continue to be the independent watchdog over state government to provide checks and balances on the power of those who seek to fulfill their own agenda. Public corruption and waste will not be tolerated. And I will act as the Commonwealth’s attorney, pursuant to the rules of Professional Responsibility.

“The citizens of this great Commonwealth should be revolted that a politician such as Rep. Metcalfe is attempting to thwart an independent Attorney General from doing her job by using such a measure. I have never been afraid of or backed down from bullies. In fact, bullies strengthen my resolve to protect those who need it the most – the people of Pennsylvania. I will never be deterred by selfish rants of those who want Pennsylvania to belong to the few. We thrive on the principles of government for the people, by the people. I will continue to be the Attorney General you elected me to be.”

63 Responses

  1. Ask Attorney General Kane if she is so adamant about Blacks being targeted for inequitable treatment, such as the sting in Philadelphia, then why is she defending a state organization adjudicated by the state’s own civil service commission as discriminating against an African-American employee? The organization did not appeal the ruling and complied with the Commission’s ruling. The organization’s entire chain of command was aware of the ruling and did nothing.

  2. Anyone that believes that We the People do not need to start flexing our muscles and disposing of people in office who do not uphold their Oaths is an idiot.
    That woman, that can only be described as the type that Cannot Understand Normal Thinking, needs impeached for failure to uphold the laws.
    So long as someone is willing to support sodomy and strip us of our Second Amendment Right, democrats will lick the feces from between their toes the whole way to Hell.

  3. Daryl Metcalfe – The little runt just won the Hall of Shame! What the big mouth doesn’t see, is a solid Primary candidate coming his way. One he won’t be able to bully. Keep your eyes on Butler County! It’s gonna be great!

  4. Hey Joe, with each racist, misogynistic rant, you and the bonehead rep you support just add more votes to those who will retake control of the state government in 2014.

    Kane outperformed both Casey and Obama in 2012 and won in counties that haven’t supported Dems in generations. You know what that means? It means that you are finished!

    You and your tea party racists have succeeded into turning a decent, respectable political party into a laughing stock full of 17th century witch burning puritans. Congratulations!

  5. “Rep. Metcalfe’s call for impeachment should instead be an opportunity for his own introspection. More than three million voters elected me to office last year because they are fed up with partisan politics, which is what Rep. Metcalfe represents.

    “I ran for Attorney General because partisan politics are so rampant and ugly, that the people of Pennsylvania are not properly served by their government!-KK

    Amen

  6. BREAKING NEWS: Friends of the fair Irish lass, Kathleen Kane have called in Larry Flynt, who is famous for fighting against hypocritical pols. Daryl your ideology is pure. You don’t have one drop of RINO blood in you. For your sake, I hope you never paid for anyone’s abortion. Mr. Flynt is on the case. http://youtu.be/KC1wK3XZJyU

  7. Kane is incompetent. I realize that most never investigated her record, but rather voted D. She continues at every opportunity to put her finger in the eye of decent people who still live in this State. I hope Daryl is successful. Another corrupt PROGRESSIVE.

  8. @Mike Johnson:
    Believe me, friend, I would have loved it if Metcalfe actually impeached her for subverting PA’s right to keep and bear arms. She is turning the PA AG office into a Bloomberg outpost, and is scheming behind closed doors with him to secretly nullify PA CCW interstate reciprocity, thus quietly setting the stage for people visiting PA from states like Virginia or Ohio who are even just shipping their firearms here in the case of say, moving here, into becoming overnight felons.. She is disrespecting the 1986 FOPA and PA CCW reciprocity. If I were Metcalfe, I would call her and all of her MAIG buddies up to testify in the state house of delegates, then impeach her on subversion charges of the PA constitution. It will hopefully get the Blue-dog Dems out here in western PA riled up enough to shut Bloomberg out of the state.

  9. I’ve often had a hard time wrapping my head around questions like ‘Who in the world could actually be a Metcalfe supporter?’

    I would like to thank Joe for giving us a great perspective into the minds of the folks who keep putting this guy into office… unless ‘Joe’ is actually just the message board pseudonym that Daryl Metcalfe uses on PoliticsPA?

  10. See Joe, it’s possible to keep your comments about the Attorney General to crazy commie talk. You don’t have to resort to misogyny. Nice job!

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