Kathleen Kane Appoints Bruce Castor Solicitor General

Kathleen Kane (Bradley C. Bower/AP), left, Bruce Castor (Matt Rourke/AP), right

Well, this is … interesting.

Embattled state Attorney General Kathleen Kane has hired former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor to fill a newly created post in her administration: solicitor general.

Kane’s spokesman, Chuck Ardo, said Kane has been considering adding the position for months, after consulting with other attorney generals who have solicitor generals on staff. In a statement released today, Kane’s office explained that solicitor generals serve as “a check and balance” in executing the AG’s mission.

“Given that her administration was reaching its final months, she wanted to make those as efficient and productive as possible,” Ardo said. “The fact that he’s an experienced prosecutor and knows a little about running an office both played a role in this choice.”

Ardo said Castor will be tasked with helping to “advance the efficiency of the office.” Castor, who also served as Montgomery County’s commissioner, could not be reached for comment.

Kane is up to her neck in controversy. She’s due to face a criminal trial this summer on perjury and conspiracy charges for allegedly leaking grand jury information to a Daily News reporter, and has been operating without a law license since September.

Earlier today, a Montgomery County judge rejected Kane’s request to have an out-of-county judge oversee her trial, the Inquirer reported. The judge also denied a separate request from Kane to toss out those criminal charges.

(The attorney general could at least find some solace in the fact that one of her Porngate foes, former state Supreme Court Judge Michael Eakin, recently resigned from office and was hit with a $50,000 fine on his way out the door for sharing pornographic, misogynistic and racist emails with some of his fishing buddies.)

Castor is no stranger to controversy. While running unsuccessfully in the fall for his old job as Montgomery County district attorney, Castor couldn’t distance himself from his decision to not file criminal charges against Bill Cosby a decade ago for allegedly sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee.

Constand sued Castor for defamation in October. Her lawsuit accused the former district attorney of stating or implying in news stories that Constand “had been inconsistent in her accusations against Cosby” and that she “exaggerated her claims in a lawsuit and therefore was not to be believed.”

Castor lashed out on social media in December — after Cosby was charged with aggravated indecent assault in the Constand case — when a reporter visited his house in an attempt to discuss the Cosby case.

“So reporters: stop calling my elderly parents, and never even consider coming to our hous[e] uninvited especially on a work day when my wife is alone, except for Mr. Ruger,” Castor wrote on his Facebook page.

In February, Castor spent a day on a witness stand, trying to explain a verbal agreement that he’d made years ago with Cosby to not prosecute the legendary comedian.

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