For months, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has denied leaking confidential information to a newspaper.
Now a grand jury document claims the Scranton native not only leaked that information, but orchestrated the leak, and a cover up.
In December, the grand jury in the case recommended the Scranton native be charged with obstruction of justice and perjury.
On Monday, a judge in the case ordered the presentment in the case unsealed. It shows why grand jurors in the case believe Kane should face criminal charges.
When news first broke that she may face criminal charges, Attorney General Kathleen Kane maintained that she did not leak confidential information and did not commit any crimes.
"I'm very confident that if anyone takes a true look at these facts and when we're able to give the facts out to the public, they will understand this whole story," Kane said in January.
But the grand jury that investigated her last year came to a different conclusion.
It found last spring, Kane gave her chief of staff at the time, Adrian King, an envelope containing confidential information from a 2009 grand jury about a Philadelphia civil rights leader.
The grand jury presentment found King testified Kane instructed him to hand that envelope to a former campaign worker for Kane, who then gave it to a reporter with the Philadelphia Daily News.
The grand jury presentment makes several references that claim staffers told her that she was breaking the law by passing on that confidential information.
The grand jury report finds Kane's alleged leak:
- constituted a breach of her official duty
- constituted an unlawful act.
The grand jury also found Kane lied about the alleged leak, finding her testimony:
- was not an honest account of the events
- (lied) to cover up activities undertaken at her direction to release documents
- diverted attention from her actual role as principal of the leak.
A spokesperson from the attorney general's office issued this statement Monday:
"Given the history of these proceedings, the end result was to be expected. General Kane continues to maintain that she did not release grand jury material and was truthful in her testimony."