An allegation during the trial of State Rep. Louise Williams Bishop may turn the Kathleen Kane saga on its head.
For months, there has been speculation as to why the Attorney General was constantly equivocating about releasing all the pornographic and offensive emails that were found on the office’s computer servers.
Rumors persisted just under the surface that perhaps Kane’s twin sister had been involved. Well now, prosecutor Mark Gilson has aired that charge in the courtroom. Not only that, he is alleging that the Attorney General herself was also a recipient.
https://twitter.com/wbender99/status/677182384987615232
In response to #porngate Q, prosecutor in #PAsting case says AG Kane's sister received 58 messages — 11 of which were forwarded to Kane 1/2
— Angela Couloumbis (@AngelasInk) December 16, 2015
#PAsting prosecutor will not describe the content of the emails Kane or her sister allegedly received (2/2)
— Angela Couloumbis (@AngelasInk) December 16, 2015
If true, this could radically change the situation as the core of Kane’s legal defense has been that a boy’s club in Harrisburg is afraid that she will expose their inappropriate conduct. If the Attorney General was even tangentially involved in the same activity it would undercut her strongest arguments.
We’ll have more on this as it develops.
UPDATE: Kane’s spokesman Chuck Ardo denied any knowledge of such activity.
“We have asked a number of times about emails that may have been connected to the attorney general’s sister and have been consistently told there are none,” Ardo said. “We don’t know where the D.A.’s Office got its information, or what it’s based on.”
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119 Responses
Again, David, that’s not accurate. To repeat, the attorney didn’t formally withdraw the accusation on behalf of his client. He offered a personal apology on his own behalf for statements that he made. Such a personal apology is not something that a plea deal can be conditioned on.
Why are you people still trying to make this about Me Fina? Do you not know how stupid you sound trying to devert yet another mess Kane stepped in? You are devoted but it’s time to give up. Everything she allegedly stood for (which she did not) was all a sham to have someone like her. Listen when only 11 people come to your protest rally then you will say and do anything. People just because she says it does not mean it’s true do you know what perjury is?
I cannot tell if you are serious. If Kane received 11 racy e-mails from her sister and never sent them along, how does that change anything that has happened thus far? I mean — it allows some to yell “Hypocrite” for a while. But – not much else. Now I agree that protecting her sister would cause issues for her. But receiving 11 e-mails in your Inbox means nothing.
Marie, 1. JoePa enabled a child molester. 2. A black lawmaker just admitted, after reviewing hundreds of pages of documents, that Fina made NO RACIST decisions in prosecuting her. 3. Kane cannot condemn anyone for being sexist when she engaged in the very same behavior (plus she promoted a known groper of women in the office, which is worse). 4. You would have to be loony to the point of being Diano to believe that there is some conspiracy here to make Kane look bad. She did that all by herself.
How do e-mails Kane may have received make Fina not a racist? How do they explain Fina’s sexist e-mails?
SpongeBob
Read what I wrote:
“Withdrawing the accusation of racial bias was just part of the deal.”
This woman is a sociopath
OK, I cannot stop laughing now at HAHAHA. Railing away against porn for seemingly ever and now magically now its the Fina Pervs who were pushing that topic. Oh man. This is awesome. Diano scrambling to blame Williams saying the cut a deal to keep him off the stand but all the while ignoring the reality that the person he has defended tooth and nail has failed him by she herself being part of the very mess she claims to want to clean up. Could the next volley be the releasing of email details and a push for the AG to resign in light of these revelations? One might think so…..
HaHaHa/PU STRUGGLING to pivot but still getting hit by the train of OWNAGE. Fina NOT RACIST, says black lawmaker Bishop. Kane involved with the porn she condemns.
Press Release from Kathleen Kane: “HaHaHa, also known as ‘Pat Unger’, was OWNED severely today.”
Now I know why the CLOWN CAr has been so focused on the “porn” … as opposed to the hate, misogyny, and vile racism these pervert creeps used their State computers to send around.
Here’s the stuff that Fina sent to his white male buddies (on the taxpayers’ dime):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zadock1/3580634808
You can’t make-up the ability to Make-up this stuff!
HaHaHa,
So are these characters “corrupt politicians” (your words) or are they not? It’s illogical to defend Kane’s decision not to prosecute while simultaneously criticizing the DA’s office for offering too lenient of a plea bargain.
As has been argued on this website before, it is similarly illogical to argue that, based on the alleged leiency of these plea bargains, the state would have been better off not prosecuting at all. Why? So these bribe takers could keep their positions of power? To send the message that Pennsylvania law enforcement tolerates legislators who are up for sale?
That does it!! I am totally fed up with this!!!!! I am hereby insisting that Kane’s sister get sentenced to ONE FULL DAY of Sensitivity Training!!!
Paul Meshanko … Meet Ellen.
Ellen – Paul.
“Connecting With Respect” ….. LMAO ….
Pat Unger! Switching screen names from HaHaHa at last. You have been OWNED. Bishop admitted there was no racism by Fina, resigned her position in the House, and gave the opportunity to reveal Kane’s own involvement in PORN EMAILS. Game’s up, you lose.
David – You are correct. This terrible corrupt politician was offered an even SWEETER deal than the others!! I didn’t think that was possible, but they managed to do it.
I’m gonna reserve judgment on Kane until I see some real facts. At this point, there is no reason to trust anything that comes from any of these people (or their henchmen):
– Kane
– Seth Williams
– Fina
– Costanzo
– S.McCaffery
– Castille
– Eakin
– Graci/DelSole
I also agree with Kraig and Ha3 that Kane is in even deeper trouble if she purposely hid her sister’s e-mails (regardless of who they were sent to and for what reason) from the Independent Prosecutor.
HaHaHa/Pat Unger: You’ve been OWNED. Hundreds of pages showing no racism by Fina in charging these crooked Democrats. A personal apology by the defense attorney. And Kane involved in porn emails that she condemns so strongly. Again, you = OWNED.
Senator – you are right about one thing: there is no way Seth wants the steaming pile of dung case to see the inside of a Courtroom. They may as well have given Bishop a key to the City!!
These “successful prosecutions” are really not. They are a joke. And they are a testament to the OAG (under Kane and predecessor) and the Feds saying NO THANKS.
The corrupt politicians are not even getting slapped on the wrist. No jail time. No house arrest. Nothing.
HaHaHa/Pat Unger, quit while you’re behind. Yeah, the prosecutor who just showed beyond doubt that Fina was right about the charges and there was no racism AND that Kane is an awful hypocritical person is about to also reveal something contrary to that in a grand jury. Get your head out of your ass.
SpongeBob…two things can be true at the same time. It isn’t a zero sum game.
Did Gilson just say that he was running a Grand Jury? Can’t wait to see what that is about!! I hope he is looking into who illegally leaked all the protected material from the Kane investigation.
That’s where you’re wrong David. The attorney didn’t formally withdraw the accusation on behalf of his client. He offered a personal apology on his own behalf for statements that he made, which are not something that a plea deal can be conditioned on.
As I suggested earlier, it’s unusual to see a defense attorney inject himself personally like this. I would be curious to learn of the “information” that made him so “gung ho” on the racial accusation, as well as what changed since then.
Sklaroff, there’s no way Kane would show up to a hearing and have to repeatedly invoke the Fifth Amendment. Today’s revelations make it even less so.
Still, in one day, the likes of HaHaHa/Pat Unger and Diano, two people who would go to the mat claiming that Fina is a racist and Kane will go free, just had their worldview EXPLODE. Bishop concedes that there was nothing racist about the charge against her, Seth Williams gets ANOTHER plea where Kane said the case couldn’t be prosecuted, and Kane is implicated in the very emails that she condemns. In short HaHaHa/PU and David Diano are morons of the first order.
This almost renders next month’s Senatorial Hearing anticlimactic!
But of course all of this including the attorney are all now in an effort to keep Fina from testifying. I mean it has nothing to do with all of the people in the AG’s office who said she was wrong. How about commenting on the post below from the person working with the AG’s HR department? It’s all a conspiracy right?
Keep your eye on the ball, and don’t be distracted by shiny objects.
There was no way that Seth was going to allow Fina on the stand. So, at the last minute, Bishop was offered probation without verdict, 6 months probation, and her record expunged.
Seth also opens up another legislative seat in Philly for his buddies to fill.
How hard is this to figure out?
David thanks for allowing me to provide the information direct from her attorney:
Bishop’s attorney, Chuck A. Peruto Jr., who had argued that race was the motivating factor in the investigation, had subpoenaed Fina to testify about the role race played in the probe. However, Peruto said he dropped the racially motivated challenge to the prosecution after reviewing grand jury testimony.
“I was all gung ho,” on the racial issue, Peruto said. He added that, after reviewing the grand jury materials, “I came to the conclusion that, of the five people I was going to call, none of them were going to back up my motion.”
After the hearing, Gilson said Kane created the race issue to retaliate against Fina because she blamed him for leaking information about her office shuttering the probe. Gilson said Kane had further been told the corruption probe resulted in viable prosecutions, and the office should have either pursued charges, or referred the case to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office or federal prosecutors.
“She chose to shut it down, to kill it, and bury it,” Gilson said, naming former first deputy attorney general Adrian R. King Jr., first deputy attorney general Bruce Beemer, former senior executive deputy attorney general Linda Dale Hoffa and chief operating officer David Tyler as some of the OAG employees who suggested that Kane continue the prosecution.
SpongeBob-
Um.. that’s not how it works. The criteria is not “the reality that they had no ability to be successful”. Even the ability of success is no guarantee. They took the deal.
The lawyer’s job is to keep client out of jail. The withdrawal could very well have been after the prosecutor offered a better sweetheart deal than before in order to make this go away and not risk Fina on the stand. Withdrawing the accusation of racial bias was just part of the deal.
What outcome did Fina want? Not to testify on the record.
What outcome did Seth want? Fina not testifying on the record.
Anything boys can do, girls can do better.
shocker…
Why do you guys keep saying Bob Levant represents Seth Williams in his own grand jury investigation? Has this been reported somewhere? I’d like to get that confirmed? Has any reporter asked Williams that question or are posters simply repeating bad information as fact? I really can’t believe Williams could be that dumb or transparently corrupt. If Levant is representing him, I’d like to see the retainer agreement.
Poor HaHaHa/Pat Unger, you tried so hard but that was the best you could come up with. No, hundreds of pages were produced by the prosecution and Bishop’s lawyer made abundantly clear that there was NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER of racial bias in the charges against Bishop. None. Zip. Fina is in the clear by Bishop’s own admission.
And did you really think Seth Williams was going to let Kathleen Kane go on talking smack and dripping out a few emails here and there? Nope, Seth is dropping the Kane emails to show she is in on PORN EMAILS. But, hey, Kathleen can multi-task, right?
David,
Fina did not testify from what I understand because Bishop’s attorney’s were presented with the reality that they had no ability to be successful on claiming bias, hence his retraction. Nice try to make it seem like it was Fina at the helm though. No, Kane is done for because when she tries to claim the emails don’t exists or that she never read them she destroys her credibility in her attempts to crush the others involved. There is a rule when playing this type of game. Always be the smartest person in the room. Kane really should have taken that to heart because class is in session and while Fina and the others are going down in flames they will make sure she sinks right along with them and looks far worse for it.
Here I am !!!
DD – that sounds like spin. Sorry.
It was not the prosecution that withdrew the Motion. it was the defense – Bishop. That doesn’t mean there was no racial motive to the steaming pile of dung case, though. It just means the defendant was offered a deal she could not refuse and took it.
You are correct about the deals. This one and all the others. They are proof that DA Williams does not want the case to go to court. So is his begging the accused to take a deal.
The defense that involved race was, in my mind, secondary to the real problem with the case – that the “star witness” is a con-man who got an “unjust” deal from Fina. We now know that the con-man that got the deal (where he pleads guilty to nothing and keeps the $400,000.00 he stole) has the same lawyer as the prosecutor – Fina.
And – we also know that the lawyer’s wife is now Seth Williams’ “Chief of Staff” and “General Counsel.”
I also agree with Kraig. If Kane withheld her sister’s e-mail activity from the Independent Prosecutor – then it is OFF WITH HER HEAD.
Kraig-shill, Kane’s sister sent the emails to Kane. And one of Kane’s promoted body guards/Scranton goons emailed them to several people in the office. The problem, you dolt, is that she is defending herself in her criminal case with the massive distraction that this FILTH needed to be eradicated and she became a target for being the one to rid the Commonwealth of porn. Meanwhile, she’s yucking it up with Ellen and company, looking at porn in her office. Oh, and she promoted Ellen too. Much more to come — in her criminal case, in Fina’s civil suit, and whatever Seth Williams unloads on Kane. Your darling is DONE.
So, Fina didn’t get to testify?
I guess his “bravery” emails were just a coincidence. (like clouds in the sky are a coincidence when it’s raining)
So, she pays fines less then it would cost in continuing legal fees, no jail time, for one count of “failing to report”, keeps her pension, and doesn’t have to put up with the budget bullsh*t in Harrisburg? The fines are less then the pension she gets to keep. Pretty good retirement package.
Hell, I’d bet a lot of legislators would pay $6,500 not to have to go through another budget deal.
Sounds like the prosecutors REALLY didn’t want Fina to testify.
For these idiots to be rejoicing is beyond stupid. The reports are that someone sent Kane e-mails. So what?! Were they sent so the AG could see what was being distributed in the OAG under Corbett? There has not been one person here who has said Blessington should be fired (and I have read all the comments). The reason given was that he only received e-mails. And none of this excuses Fina for his racist e-mails. Are they really pretending that if Kane is a racist (there is no proof that she is) then it is OK for Fina to be a racist?
But let me say this — if Kane “erased” or somehow “scrubbed” her own e-mails; if she failed to turn over her own (or her sister’s) e-mails to the Independent Prosecutor, then I will be calling for her to resign immediately.
Interesting.
“Bishop’s lawyer, A. Charles Peruto Jr., withdrew his motion to have the case against her dismissed, arguing that she had been racially targeted.
He acknowledged that his contention about race had ‘no viability,’ and added: ‘I want to apologize to anyone I may have offended . . . because that is the information [on racial profiling] I had at the time.’
Prosecutors Mark Gilson and Brad Bender told the court that they had amassed hundreds of pages of documents that included sworn testimony, as well as emails, that show there was never any racial motivation behind the sting.”
HaHaHa/Pat Unger, WHERE ARE YOU? lololololololol.
And now Bishop takes a plea and resigns, admitting there was no racial aspect to the charges against her.
http://mobile.philly.com/beta?wss=/philly/news&id=362660761
Hey HaHaHa/Pat Unger, David Diano, and Marie, how’s that CROW taste?!!!
Yes, Diano, Ellen Granahan is a Chief Deputy AG like Fina was. No, she was no punished. In fact, she was promoted. Please, Diano, I beg of you — explain how this is a Republican smear campaign and not simply another corrupt Democrat running a major agency into the ground by sheer incompetence and hypocrisy.
I haven’t supported the firing of receivers, whether they read the emails or not.
I do think that if they received them they should report them. Without a specific directive and guidelines for reporting, most people would just ignore them and avoid confrontation.
I really don’t care what happens to Kane’s sister (is she a lead prosecutor like Fina was)? Was she disciplined for her emails already? (My understanding has been that most employees involved received some discipline or training/lecture and a notation in their employee file about it, which may impact raises and promotions.)
Odd for Gilson to bring this up against Kane, especially without proof and specifics. For the sting trial, the relevant issue is Fina’s racist emails.
Somehow I’m not surprised. Another notch in the belt of Bozo the Attorney General.
It has been a brutal two years in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I was
a former support staff secretary in the Office of Attorney General to Human Resource Analyst, George T. Moore who was the Labor Relations Coordinator throughout the Porngate email review. I was involved in the majority of Pre Disciplinary Conferences to take notations of everyone present in the OAG employees involvement. That being said; today’s recent Breaking News of Kathleen G. Kane’s involvement in receiving the Porngate emails as well as her sister; Ellen Granahan….allows the public to see with clarity of the hypocrisy, collaborated deceit and full on nonsense of the Kane administration as Pennsylvania’s Top Law enforcement agency. It is a day for all that have been harmed by the bullying of this present administration to rejoice in the present moment.
Tommyd, according to Kane herself, yes, you are. Hypocrisy really sucks.
Did she report it? Was the individual or individuals disciplined who sent it to her?
Hey HaHaHa/Pat Unger, you seem awfully SILENT all of a sudden!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!
There really is a Santa Claus.
I’m not sure I understand. If someone sends me an pornographic e-mail, am I guilty of something? What? Why?
The only way Gilson could have got his hands on these emails is from Fina. If this is true and Kane is on he email chain, she is a complete moron who needs to reign immediately for being too stupid to hold office. Who uses porn emails as the central theme of her defense knowing she is on the email chain? I mean, c’mon.
Amazing, I predicted a wonderful present for Christmas for all and wow, like magic here it is. I wonder if David Diano will attribute my magical ability to predict the future as luck once again. My oh My what with the multiple personalities on here who rail away at Fina do when the email details are revealed. Will Kane claim like her criminally convicted driver that she got them but never read them? If so how will she prove that the other recipients did in fact read them. It’s certainly a blessed Christmas indeed!