Pennsylvania Attorney General Found Guilty of All Charges Over Leaked Grand Jury Documents
On Monday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was convicted of nine criminal charges—including two counts of felony perjury—in connection with the illegal release of secret grand jury documents, The New York Times reports. According to prosecutors, Kane, a Democrat, leaked the information to a Philadelphia newspaper to embarrass former prosecutor Frank Fina, who led the investigation of Jerry Sandusky under her Republican predecessor.
After taking office in 2013, Kane fulfilled a campaign promise by launching an inquiry into whether the Sandusky investigation was intentionally delayed. When an article critical of Kane came out in 2014, prosecutors say the Attorney General blamed Fina for planting the story and instructed aides to leak confidential documents in retaliation. From the Associated Press:
[Kane] decided to leak word that [Fina] had shut down an investigation into an NAACP official in 2009, the jury found.
The NAACP official, who was never charged, was smeared in the process, authorities said.
Kane had the material sent to a reporter through chief deputy Adrian King and political consultant Josh Morrow.
“Where is my story? I’m dying here,” she texted Morrow as the Philadelphia Daily News reporter worked on the story, according to texts shown to the jury.
In the end, the probe into the Sandusky investigation found it had not been delayed for political reasons, but uncovered a series of pornographic emails sent between dozens of Pennsylvania officials. As the investigation into the leaked grand jury documents unfolded, Kane began releasing the emails, many of which were sent by Fina.
In June, Fina resigned from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, but Kane ultimately fared far worse, being found guilty of criminal conspiracy, obstruction, official oppression, false swearing and perjury for leaking the grand jury documents and lying about it afterward.
Monday night, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf released a statement imploring Kane to “do what is right” and resign immediately. Kane, who potentially faces years in jail but is currently free on bail, has not stepped down.