HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Facing pressure to resign, Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor plans to publicly discuss the criminal charges leveled against her last week in connection with an alleged political payback scheme.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane scheduled a news conference for Wednesday afternoon at the state Capitol as some attorneys not involved in her case said her best move might be to take an unpaid leave while she fights the charges.
Kane, 49, won office in 2012, the first woman and Democrat elected attorney general. She also is the highest-ranking woman in Pennsylvania state government.
She is accused of leaking secret grand jury information to a newspaper reporter to embarrass a former state prosecutor who she believed made her look bad, and then lying about it under oath.
Kane has said through her lawyers that she did nothing wrong, and through a spokesman has said she has no plans to quit her post. But she has not yet personally commented on the charges, which include multiple misdemeanors and one felony count of perjury.
“She has absolutely no plan to resign,” her spokesman, Chuck Ardo, reiterated late Tuesday.
In the past, she has portrayed herself as a political target for taking on what she described as a corrupt, old-boy law enforcement network and exposing state employees who exchanged pornographic emails.
But a growing number of Democratic officials, including Gov. Tom Wolf, have called on her to step down. Her critics worry the charges have damaged the office’s credibility and that her legal battle will distract her from the responsibilities of her positon.
A citizen’s complaint filed with the state Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board may also set in motion a suspension of Kane’s law license that could force her out of office. The state constitution requires the attorney general to have a law license.
Some defense attorneys with no role in the case say they think her best option may be to take an unpaid leave until the charges are resolved.
William Costopoulos, a central Pennsylvania defense lawyer who has handled many high-profile criminal cases, said that would allow her keep her title and give her more time to focus on her defense.
That approach “might give her some restored credibility on the court of public opinion, which has taken a big hit,” he said.
Attorney Philip Gelso, who is president of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, agreed that taking a leave of absence would be a smart move.
“It keeps the status quo until the charges are resolved,” he said.
Ernie Preate, the last Pennsylvania attorney general to be charged while in office, pleaded guilty to a single charge of mail fraud involving campaign contributions and resigned from office. He served about 11 months of a 14-month federal prison term and now practices law in Scranton.
Kane, who also is from the Scranton area, should resign immediately for her own good, he said.
“It’s a distracting battle that she’s going to be fighting over the next several months,” Preate said. “It’s all-consuming. You wake up thinking about the charges, you got to bed thinking about the charges. …. It’s a very energy-draining exercise, mentally and physically.”
Prosecutors have also accused Kane of instructing some of her staff to monitor employee emails as the grand jury was wrapping up its investigation of her in late 2014.
Patrick Reese, a former police chief who is Kane’s driver and head of her security detail, was arraigned Tuesday on a contempt charge involving allegations that he violated a judge’s protective order by accessing emails in a state computer system to keep tabs on the grand jury investigation for his boss. He pleaded not guilty.