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Report: Grand Jury Recommends Criminal Charges Against Kane

KaneA grand jury investigation into whether Attorney General Kathleen Kane illegally leaked information has recommended charges against the AG.

According to Craig R. McCoy and Angela Couloumbis of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the jury favors presenting charges of perjury and contempt of court.

The decision of whether to arrest Kane falls to Republican District Attorney of Montgomery County Risa Vetri Ferman, as the case was filed in Montco.

This case stems from a June Daily News article that suggested Frank Fina fumbled a case involving a Philly civil rights leader.

Kane and Fina have a well-known feud and it is possible (if not likely) her leak was an attempt at retaliation after the Inquirer revealed Kane had shut down a promising case looking into the corruption of Philly State Representatives.

The Attorney General insists she did not leak or authorize anyone to leak any material that hadn’t been approved for outside dissemination.

Ferman is currently conducting a review of the grand jury presentment.

Update: Attorney General Kathleen Kane released the following statement on Friday:

I did nothing illegal. Period. Any fair and impartial review of the facts would conclude that. This seems to me to be another political attack on my attempt to clean up Harrisburg and its political culture.

They have fought me all the way, including an effort to impeach me.

Since taking office, I have torn up their questionable contracts, cleaned up their investigations, broke their pornography ring and prosecuted corrupt officials.

I will continue to clean up Harrisburg, despite these attacks that seem to be more about politics than the merits.

110 Responses

  1. I agree to disagree doctor. He may not have meant it that way, but the interpretation of his words are not unreasonable. The Guzz can re-articulate himself if he so chooses.

  2. Additionally it’s really counter productive to get blame the state party especially when it is obvious that you are just jealous of their ability to properly fill out forms.

  3. “Guzzardi is not guilty of what he notes others have apparently done and, thus, your ad-hominem attack was unjustified.”

    old white guy who runs for office says there are too many old white guys running for office, blames party for it. You are about as good at understanding sarcasm as bob guzzardi is at filling out forms.

  4. @ Unsanctioned R:

    First, as per an etching that hung in my father’s office, “Youth is not a time-of-life; it is a state-of-mind”; Guzzardi is NOT and “old man” and he cannot be asked to apologize for the color of his skin.

    Second, therefore, he isn’t a hypocrite when he lambastes the GOP-Establishment [of whatever age and race] for sticking with Corbett despite the obvious fatal-flaws that [1]–he sported, and [2]–his supporters failed to help him to dispel.

  5. I tend to agree with Doug’s logic on this one: Guzzardi is old and white. It’s not a difficult stretch to interpret his words a bit hypocritical.

  6. @ Brad Kirsch:

    The key-difference between what AG-Kane allegedly did and what everyone else may have done is the fact that she is a public official who, apparently, was using her power to serve personal [political] interests.

    # doug:

    Indeed, you have correctly characterized yourself as the “laughing stock of the entire politicspa comments section” [rivaling the current-champ, DD]; Guzzardi is not guilty of what he notes others have apparently done and, thus, your ad-hominem attack was unjustified.

  7. Ahah! The investigation of Grand Jury leaks by the AG is Leaked by the Newspaper about previous leaks of Grand Jury testimony!
    This is an Alice in Wonderland world of leaks about leaks and challenges not only the integrity of the present AG but of the entire process of Secrecy of Grand Juries after the decisions have been made!
    The who replaces the why and we remain victims of political correctness instead of citizens being informed about the deeds of our police, courts, and other facets of our society after the decisions are made.
    No wonder we have problems in Ferguson and other areas of deciding how to remedy our justice and enforcement systems.

  8. Boy am I embarassed! Oh I’ll be the laughing stock of the entire politicspa comments section!

    Its not ad hominem if he is a part of the very problem he takes issue with.

  9. @ Doug:

    Guzzardi completed all forms and submitted them to the Department of State, where they were all immediately placed on-line; the necessity to submit his Ethics Disclosure simultaneously with the Ethics Commission [across the parking-lot] was a victimless-omission, for the [identical] key-data had already been disclosed [and accepted by scrupulous DoS personnel, who failed to inform him that he should file the identical document simultaneously, elsewhere].

    So, get off of your high-horse and agree/disagree with his comments without going ad-hominem; you only serve to embarrass yourself.

  10. Big Moola telling the joke everyone has already heard and Bob Guzzardi, an old white man candidate, complaining about the number of old white man candidates, after a year that probably had the lowest number of old white candidates to date. I am still counting you as a candidate even though you can’t even fill out a form correctly.

  11. “Pennsylvania Republican Party is operated by incompetent hacks, has not recruited capable, young (under 60) candidates…”

    Most good, young Republican candidates are still on-duty in service of our country.

  12. @ Guzzardi:

    Although the “AG”-position is often perceived as a stepping-stone to seeking the gubernatorial nomination, Josh’s inability to cite any prosecutorial experience would undermine his credibility; he would be better suited to contest Toomey [and become a national Dem-darling in the process], particularly recalling his prior D.C.-experience with Hoeffel.

  13. In my view, Commissioner Castor will be challenged by First Assistant DA Kevin Steele who is a skilled, career prosecutor and has changed his registration.

    My expectation is that DA Ferman will indict KKane to clear the way for Commissioner Shapiro’s primary race to Pennsylvania Attorney General. DA Ferman has shown herself willing to engage in political prosecutions.

    I would not be surprised if the popular and competent DA Ferman understands that if she helps Josh Shapiro, he helps her. Unlike the the self-absorbed Bruce Castor with his attitude of arrogant entitlement, both Commissioner Shapiro and DA Ferman support those who support them and know how to say “thank you” for your support.

  14. In my view, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro will challenge KKane in Democratic Primary for Attorney General. It is my view that the highly skilled Josh Shapiro will be backed by Unions and US Rep Bob Brady and already has a substantial, well-funded campaign organization.

    Although Commissioner Shapiro has no prosecutorial experience at all, he is a good manager and more importantly a network of supporters. KKane no longer has the finances of her estranged husband’s NON-UNION trucking business. KKane never had deep and wide union support in the southeast; Josh Shapiro will. Montgomery County turned blue in 2011 and will, likely, remain so.

    Josh Shapiro has built a reputation in MontCo of being a good manager and he has skillfully silenced Bruce Castor. Josh Shapiro has learned a basic common sense rule of politics and daily life: help those who help you and say “thank you”.

    The Democrats are greatly aided by the fact that Pennsylvania Republican Party is operated by incompetent hacks, has not recruited capable, young (under 60) candidates, and has a stunning recent history of losses starting with KKane’s shellacking of Corbett crony Dave Freed in 2012 and ending with defeat of the only incumbent Republican governor in the US.

  15. @ DD & elroy hirsch:

    You-two don’t disappoint; first, you deny the import of the “tale of the tapes” by suggesting the entire Grand Jury process must be revised and, second, you claim the MontCo jury-pool is tainted without recognizing that few non-politicos are even aware of the alleged-leak.

    Truly, a buffo-performance rendered, indeed, a double-header!

  16. Dr. Sklaroff,
    You make some interesting points, so maybe it is time to consider some solutions.

    The integrity of the Grand Jury process is being challenged from all sides. One solution is for the state Legislature to amend the Grand Jury Law to require Supreme Court authorized Special Prosecutors to publicly file their Grand Jury Report with the leadership of the General Assembly and the citizens of Pennsylvania.

    Grand Jury leaks occurred during the DeNaples and Sandusky Grand Juries. In 2013, two former prosecutors of the Office of Attorney General were named as Special Prosecutors to investigate the leaks. Why should the General Assembly and the citizens of Pennsylvania be denied knowledge of who committed those leaks?

    The Amendment should require an independent Special Prosecutor be named with no ties to the case prosecutors.

    As a result of the leaks in this case, the jury pool in Montgomery County has probably been tainted for years to come.
    So who benefits from the leaks?

  17. Robert
    The hypothetical is that she purposely leaked info to embarrass political rivals. You fail to recognize that this is a witch hunt by political rivals, who have been an embarrassment long before Kane came on the scene.

    Kane didn’t make them sent each other porn emails.

    As for declining to prosecute a bad case, kudos. Seth Williams’s so called “convictions” have been plea deals that amounted to less than a citation for jaywalking, while the biggest crime, by Ali, went unprosecuted.

    All this has been a waste of time and taxpayer expense to provide a talking point for Williams to run for A.G.

  18. @ DD:

    Right on cue, you heap hypothetical upon hypothetical; is it possible in your universe that she personally approved the leak to embarrass political enemies [no matter the self-perceived justification]?

    Remember, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has renewed calls to impeach her [pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/12/pa_lawmaker_renews_calls_for_a.html]; do you think Wolf would want this type of side-show to transpire??

    Your legalities may or may not be correct, but they seem tangential; atop all the other misconduct [such as failing to prosecute the taped-legislators], can you not envision a conviction in the “court of public opinion”???

  19. It seems like Her underlings have already testified. They probably told the truth and didn’t Help Her story. Why do you hate cops and Jews and love Terrorists and Criminals? By the I love Hot Chicks and Porn. Most straight Men do.

  20. I’ve been busy today, and just now getting to this.

    Clearly, this is a political witch hunt by the Republicans against the first Democratic A.G.

    The grand jury indictment is pretty meaningless, as getting one is easier than getting v.d. in a whorehouse (unless you’re a cop killing an unarmed black person).

    To get a conviction, they’d have to prove Kane had knowledge and intent. Since the “secret” information was mixed in with non-secret information, and since Kane would not have prepared all the documents herself, this will probably lead to an underling that grabbed the wrong file. Unless someone steps forward and claims Kane specifically ordered the release of secret documents, there doesn’t appear to be much of a case. Even for perjury, you have to show that she knowingly lied.

    There also seems to be a question of whether she has discretion in releasing info on a past case. Ironically, none of Kane’s critics seem too concerned about the leaks of the current grand jury.

    If this goes to trial, maybe Fina would wind up on the stand, under oath. That could be fun to ask him if he’s ever leaked grand jury info or how much time he spent looking at and emailing porn.

  21. @ New_Liberal_Lion:

    You have been a reliable sycophant for DD on PoliticsPA, even as you have been uncouth in the process; what exactly is your assessment of AG-Kane?

  22. @ Mark:

    I disagree; an appointed AG would be under the policy-thumb of the Chief-Executive and, as noted with BHO/AG-Holder, there can be no meaningful oversight when one is dependent upon the other for his position.

  23. @Sklaroff

    First of all…I don’t read every single news article on here. Second…I supported Patrick Murphy during the primary and voted for him. Third…Come the 2012 General Election I left the slate blank and I didn’t vote for Kathleen Kane. So open your mouth now and insert foot! Thank you. 🙂

  24. Hey Mark, would you feel that way if the governor was an R? How do you feel about the current AG?

  25. The office of Attorney General has become hopelessly politicized. I believe the only lasting solution to avoiding the entangling problems of an elected attorney general seeking campaign contributions and public support in a hotly political environment is to say that that the Office of the Attorney General should return to its pre-1980 status as a position appointed by the Governor.

    Having voted to create an elected Attorney General in the 1970’s, I will be introducing a constitutional amendment to make the the Attorney General an appointee of the Governor subject to a 2/3 vote of the Senate for confirmation. Despite some positive achievements in all the administrations of all elected attorney generals, on the whole, having an elected attorney general is an experiment that has failed.

    My amendment will also ban an appointed Attorney General from seeking public office for a two year period after leaving the position. The amendment could take effect as early as 2020, if the consensus existed to enact it soon.

  26. @ Jon:

    You wrote, “Can’t wait for Kane Apologist Dave Diano to come on here and defend this embarrassment. She should resign immediately or impeachment charges should be brought by the House.”

    He remains silent, along with his co-sycophants [e.g., elroy hirsch and New_Liberal_Lion], perhaps because he has been successfully exposed as an anti-Semitic bigot; his lame attempts to defend AG-Kane should be ignored.

    Documentation of his lack of credibility was compiled following a series of e-mail exchanges [extending over multiple sites] that led painstakingly to establishing the following:

    “You have advocated the overthrow of the Israeli government throughout Israel’s entire lifetime … explaining why you have endorsed the behavior of Hamas [which the USA has designated as a terrorist organization] that is, itself, promoting policies that are consonant with those of the Islamic State.”

    politicspa.com/kathleen-kane-tells-cnn-pornographic-emails-included-pictures-of-children/61928/comment-page-2/#comment-925106

  27. Bungy, you tease.

    Can you please compare/contrast her leaks with past leaks and then this leaked information today?

  28. Coulombis and McCoy once again rely on Frank Fina as their “unnamed source”, but don’t quote him and won’t name him. All three are scumbags. Fina will end up in prison soon.

  29. Can’t wait for Kane Apologist Dave Diano to come on here and defend this embarrassment. She should resign immediately or impeachment charges should be brought by the House.

  30. Frank Fina? Give me a break. His (Corbetts) political prosecutions of the legislature grand jury leaked like the Titanic. Dennis Roddey’s articles were filled with ‘secret’ grand jury information. AND he ends up working for Gov. Corbett. If there would have been a grand jury on Cobetts/Finas actions during their time in the AG’s office, they’d both be in prison.

  31. Anyone else hearing the rumor that Josh Shapiro has shifted his plans and is now planning a run for A.G.?

  32. “So somebody leaked Grand Jury results about criminal charges for leaking Grand Jury results?”

    I don’t get it either.

  33. I told all of you that this would happen a month ago. Bungy Knows all. More to come shortly.

  34. Wow there are so many Kane apologists on here that do not have all the facts. A PA court dropped the case to Ferman. She didn’t ask for it.

  35. So somebody leaked Grand Jury results about criminal charges for leaking Grand Jury results? And this is the DA that wants to be a judge? The cesspool swirls faster and faster.

  36. Just goes to show you that a prosecutor getting a grand jury to recommend a prosecution of someone is easy…makes you wonder what happened in Missouri and New York?

  37. Why was there never a grand jury convened against Tom Corbett when he was AG and leaking bonusgate info weekly to Dennis Roddy at the Post-Gazette. The same Dennis Roddy that was hired by Governor Corbett to be his press secretary?

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