Former Ed Rendell Aide Joins Kathleen Kane’s Office
Attorney General Kathleen Kane walks from the State Supreme Court room, Wednesday, March 11, 2015, at City Hall in Philadelphia.
Kathleen Kane’s tenure the attorney general has become — let’s not kid ourselves — so disastrous that the arrival of Chuck Ardo as her new spokesman feels a bit like the appearance of Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction: Hey! The grownups are in charge again!
But, you know, it might come back to bite her, too.
Ardo, lest you forget, was a longtime aide to Ed Rendell, and served as press secretary during Rendell’s governorship. And he’s served as a fixer of sort for other Pennsylvania Democrats in trouble, though that hasn’t always worked out so well. PennLive notes:
In August 2010, at the urging of Rendell, Ardo agreed to serve as spokesman to then-Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson, whose combative relationship with the press had made her a kind of public hermit.
Ardo stuck with Thompson for nearly six months, resigning the following February after citing significant differences with Thompson over how he was carrying out his role.
Ardo and a group of other former Thompson aides would later grant The Patriot-News an interview in which they gave a searing inside look at Thompson’s managerial style.
So, you know, Kane might want to think about being careful with her new aide. Especially when he’s giving quotes like this about his new gig:
I sat down and I talked to her (Kane), and she was insistent that she was innocent of all of the various charges and that she would be cleared once all the information gets out,” the Lower Allen Twp. resident said. “I have no reason to doubt her.”
“I have no reason to doubt her” isn’t high on the list of phrases that imply forceful advocacy for one’s boss, honest. It’s like ordering meal, eating it, and concluding: “I’ve had worse.”
But Kane may have no choice at this point. With grand jury charges potentially hanging over her head, and a career hanging in the balance, she may have to take whatever help she can get.
