READ: These Newly Released Docs Detail Kathleen Kane’s Porngate Claims Against Frank Fina
Photo by Matt Rourke/AP
[Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. Check back for updates.]
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court just unsealed a treasure trove of documents tied to a grand jury investigation into Attorney General Kathleen Kane.
The materials, which were released at the behest of the Judge William Carpenter, detail Kane’s claim that the investigation began because she had access to former state prosecutor Frank Fina’s alleged collection of numerous pornographic emails and images. Fina now works in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.
“Two former employees of the Office of Attorney General — Frank Fina and E. Marc Costanzo — corruptly manufactured this grand jury investigation to protect their own jobs and reputations. For years, Fina and Costanzo had viewed and distributed pornographic, misogynistic, racist, obscene and offensive emails using their state-owned computers,” reads Kane’s memorandum of law, one of the documents released.
It continues, “Attorney General Kane had uncovered those emails, and was set to release them to the public. Faced with their imminent personal and professional disgrace and desperate to keep their wrongdoing secret, Fina and Costanzo devised a plot to block their obscene emails from being released to the public. They triggered this grand jury investigation, they made materially misleading statements to the court to obtain a protective order, and through their scheming they avoided public disclosure.”
The argument came up this week at Kane’s preliminary hearing. Kane has been charged with perjury, official oppression and false swearing for allegedly leaking confidential information to the Philadelphia Daily News in order to shame Fina. Kane’s attorney, Gerald Shargel, said at the hearing that if Kane really wanted to embarrass Fina, the fastest way to do that would have been to unveil his “thousands and thousands” of pornographic emails.
PennLive.com reported that the document dump includes pornographic emails, which can be accessed at the court’s prothonotary offices. They are not available online.
Check out the documents below:
1M M2015 Order and Attachments – 004669
18 M M2015 Order and Attachments – 004671
137 M M2014 Order and Attachments – 004672
175 M M2014 Order and Attachments – 004674
