7 – Kathleen Kane
Our next example is unusual in two respects: female and modern.
Until a short while ago, Kathleen Kane was one of the US Democratic Party’s bright hopes of success. Showing herself to be ambitious for the high office and tough in everything she did, Kane decided to run for the state of Pennsylvania’s attorney general in the 2012 election, though she had never held elected office before. Former US President Bill Clinton backed her, however, and her prospects seemed good. In the election, Kane defeated her Republican rival for the position of attorney general David Freed, Cumberland County’s district attorney. Kane, therefore, became the first female State Attorney General in Pennsylvania.
Kane started off well but in 2014 a grand jury probed the leaking of memos which were alleged to have come from Kane’s office. At the time of the leaks, Kane was being criticized heavily for failure to prosecute Democrats in a bribery sting investigation in Philadelphia and a pay-to-play scandal relating to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. On January 21, 2015, the grand jury recommended criminal charges relating to these leaks be made against Kane for “perjury, false swearing, official oppression and obstruction of law.” In August 2015, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman with one count of perjury, another count of false swearing, three counts of obstructing the administration of law and four counts of official oppression in connection with the grand jury leaks. Kane denied the charges and pledged not to resign.
On August 24, Kane was ordered to stand trial accused of leaking secret grand jury information to the press, lied under oath about it and ordered her aides to snoop illegally through computer files to monitor the investigation into the leaks. It was alleged that the leak was intended to embarrass rival prosecutors. The prosecution in the case called two witnesses who were very close to Kane whose evidence paralleled a 42-page affidavit filed against Kane which set out the probable causes of her actions. As a result of the criminal charges against Kane, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court suspended Kane’s license to practice law. However, the court said it would not be removing Kane from office. Kane subsequently appointed the former Montgomery County District Attorney and County Commissioner Bruce L. Castor, Jr., a member of the Republican Party, as Solicitor General of Pennsylvania to assume her decision-making position.
On October 1, 2015, an additional perjury charge was filed against Kane. This related to the alleged violation of a secrecy oath that Kane signed in January 2013 which also related to grand jury leaks. Suffice to say, by this stage, Kane had found herself in quite a bit of legal and political difficulty! Kane’s criminal trial commenced on August 8, 2016. On August 15, she was convicted on every count against her. The following day, Kane announced she was resigning as attorney general. On October 24, 2016, the court sentenced Kane to a term of 10-23 months in prison. As of the start of 2018, Kane’s jail sentence has been stayed pending an appeal. Her case continues.