Kane’s Future Up for Debate
AP Photo | Bradley C. Bower
It’s true that there’s been no official confirmation of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s report that a grand jury has recommended charges against Attorney General Kathleen Kane, but the political process is not so patient: Lawmakers in Harrisburg are already lining up in the debate about her future.
Reps Steve Bloom, R-North Middleton Twp., and Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, say with all her baggage, she can no longer effectively do her job as the chief law enforcement officer.
“I don’t think she should continue for the benefit of the people of this commonwealth,” Bloom said.
“I think just the grand jury recommendation that criminal charges be filed really destroys this attorney general’s credibility in the state and in the nation,” said Metcalfe, who accepted Thursday’s news report about Kane as fact.
Metcalfe, of course, has long sought Kane’s impeachment, originally for her refusal to defend the state’s ban on gay marriage.
In a separate report, PennLive adds:
Despite some colleagues’ call for Attorney General Kathleen Kane to resign amidst reports that criminal charges may be brought against her, Rep. Glen Grell, R-Hampden Twp, said she is entitled to a presumption of innocence.
“But if charges are actually brought, it places a real serious cloud over the office,” Grell said. “I’m not advising her or telling her what she ought to do. But it does put a cloud over the operation of the law enforcement branch of state government and it would be very difficult for her to be effective with that cloud over her and the office.”
Public officials charged with a crime are entitled to keep office unless and until conviction, PennLive notes.
The Morning Call says Harrisburg Democrats tried ducking the issue on Thursday.
Democrats are preparing to celebrate the January 20th inauguration of Gov.-elect Tom Wolf, and the Kane case is an unwanted distraction.
Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, said there’s no talk in Democratic circles about Kane’s future.
“I think it’s a little premature,” he said. “We need to read whatever indictment is supposedly coming.”
The final decision on bringing charges against Kane reportedly belongs to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman.
