GOP group pulls part of ad attacking Kane on rape cases
The Republican State Leadership Committee, under fire Friday for misrepresenting the role Kathleen Kane played in prosecuting a rape case while she was an assistant district attorney in Lackawanna County, is pulling references to that case from a television commercial running this week in the Philadelphia market. That came after Kane, the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, released angry letters from the victim's father and the 1st assistant district attorney of Lackawanna County that accused the RSLC of using a lie to smear her.
GOP group pulls part of ad attacking Kane on rape cases
Chris Brennan
The Republican State Leadership Committee, under fire Friday for misrepresenting the role Kathleen Kane played in prosecuting a rape case while she was an assistant district attorney in Lackawanna County, is pulling references to that case from a television commercial running this week in the Philadelphia market. That came after Kane, the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, released angry letters from the victim's father and the 1st assistant district attorney of Lackawanna County that accused the RSLC of using a lie to smear her.
The GOP group, based in Washington, D.C., is not exactly admitting to botching the facts here. Instead, RSLC president Chris Jankowski pivots to another criticism of Kane, that she claimed during the primary election campaign to have prosecuted 3,000 cases but took only 24 or so to trial. The RSLC accused Kane of "walking away from a case with her name all over it. The paper trail, while confusing at best, shows that Kane's credibility and understanding as a prosecutor is lacking."
Kane signed the initial charging documents in the rape case, which was then handled by a different assistant district attorney, a fact easily verified in the Scranton Times-Tribune story the RSLC cites in the ad as proof. The ad was reported on in Friday's Clout column.
The father of the rape victim, in a letter released by Kane's campaign, said "Her opponent [Cumberland County District Attorney] David Freed and those who made that advertisement should be ashamed." The father called on the RSLC to take down the ad, asking Freed to do the same.
Tim Kelly, Freed's campaign manger, did not responded to repeated requests for comment from the Daily News Friday.
The RSLC is spending $558,700 to run the ads for about a week on 6ABC, NBC 10, CBS 3 and Fox 29.
So republicans lied. This is news?— mike l- Darn the 1%!!! This country would be ??? without them!!— 420Phillie
- I haven't seen the ad and this article doesn't explain what the controversy is.— phillyguy36
- The GOP group, based in Washington, D.C, is spending $558,700 to influence an election in our state. Get the F out and let the people who live here decide.— Drewmcc
- The ad is unreal. Class A GOP filth. Shows a van following a girl down the street, then peeling out after the kidnapping as they describe how Kane let a rapist walk. I just can't see it turning a whole lot of the 47% into Republicans.— Bobski5000
- All PA GOP supporters are scummy Nazis who use thug tactics to get their crazy, Sharia law in place...and protect their money. Go, Kathleen--and prosecute those big GOP donors. They are all criminals.— sophistry
- The GOP tries and fails once again to bring back the magic of the Willie Horton ad, also a lie.— Jeff West
- Freed is Corbett's proxy. The Republican State Leadership Committee who ran the ad was Corbett's top donor in his AG election. Now they come to the aid of Corbett's hand picked AG candidate! Tom Corbett is worried that he will be a one term governor and that his future in politics will be ruined if an independent AG is elected this Fall. A review of the PA AG's files on the Sandusky case will lay bare that Corbett stalled the case for his own political gain. Corbett will be a pariah.— Conor Flynn
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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