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Senate Committee: Begin Process to Remove Kane

HARRISBURG — A special state senate committee in Harrisburg is now recommending that the process should begin to remove Attorney General Kathleen Kane. Th...

HARRISBURG -- A special state senate committee in Harrisburg is now recommending that the process should begin to remove Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

The committee asserts that there is enough evidence to show Kane cannot do her job without a license to practice law.

The committee is urging the full state senate use a clause of the state constitution. It would allow the senate to remove Kane from office after a hearing, a two-thirds vote in the state senate, and the governor's signature.

At committee hearings this month, members of Kane's own staff testified her law license suspension interferes with the legal duties of her job.

That testimony was convincing enough for committee members, including State Senator Lisa Baker of Luzerne County, to recommend the possible removal process continue.

As a result, the full senate is expected to hold a hearing to determine the attorney general's future.

"I personally have not reached a final conclusion. I've reached a conclusion that there is enough evidence for the entire body to merit an analysis and a determination of all 50 members of the senate," said Sen. Lisa Baker, (R) 20th District.

The state Supreme Court suspended Kane's law license in September.

Kane, a Scranton native, is charged with leaking confidential information to a newspaper and lying about it.

Kane issued a response condemning the committee's recommendation:

"Today, a handful of senators sought to substitute their judgment for that of more than 3 million Pennsylvanians who cast their vote for the duly elected, independent Attorney General. I believe this attempt to remove the Attorney General from office is unconstitutional and intend to vigorously defend the Office of Attorney General against any and all future efforts by this committee or the Senate as a whole.

"Over the past few weeks, there has been a chorus rising up across this Commonwealth to condemn the content of emails sent and received by a justice of our Supreme Court, as well as those sent and received by former deputies in the Office of Attorney General of Tom Corbett and Linda Kelly. This chorus condemns more than the racist, misogynistic, homophobic and religiously offensive content of these emails; it condemns the network of judges and lawyers circulating these emails on public computers across state-owned servers.

"I have heard this chorus loud and clear. Next Tuesday, I will announce my selection of a team of special prosecutors to go through every public email account trafficking this filth and track down every public server over which it was circulated. At that time, I will outline the prosecutorial powers that these special prosecutors will have to identify any violations of the criminal, civil and ethics laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition, I will call upon the Department of Justice to investigate emails circulated on the public email accounts of assistant U.S. attorneys in this state.

"There can be no greater duty of an Attorney General than to restore the confidence of the public in the integrity and fairness of their judicial system. I intend to carry out this duty no matter how hard some in the Pennsylvania Senate seek to prevent me from doing so."

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