Kane to share explicit e-mails with Corbett

HARRISBURG - Responding to a request from Gov. Corbett, the state Attorney General's Office said Tuesday that it planned to give his administration copies this week of sexually explicit e-mails it says were exchanged among ranking state officials on state computers between 2008 and 2012.

The pornographic content will be redacted, but any conversations between sender and recipient will not, said Renee Martin, spokeswoman for Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane.

"It's voluminous," said Martin, "but we are working to get the information to the governor's office as quickly as we can."

The governor requested more detail from Kane last week after her representatives showed reporters dozens of images and videos they said had been sent over state computers by employees who worked for Corbett when he ran the office.

Kane's office acknowledged that potentially dozens of state employees participated in the e-mail exchanges, which included graphic sexual videos and were uncovered during an unrelated internal inquiry.

But she made public the names of only eight recipients, including two current members of Corbett's cabinet - State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan and Environmental Protection chief E. Christopher Abruzzo - and the governor's appointee to the state Parole Board, Randy Feathers.

Kane has said she identified the eight recipients because, among other reasons, she thought it was "in the public's best interest to have a good understanding of how its public servants conduct their business."

Four of the eight named by Kane, a Democrat, still work for Corbett, a Republican in a tough reelection bid.

Through his spokesman, Corbett called the trading of such content "unacceptable" and said he expected his employees to maintain ethical standards beyond reproach.

But he also asked for more detail before taking any action. The information Kane made public, for instance, did not indicate when the e-mails were traded, if recipients actually opened or viewed them, or if they replied to them.

Corbett spokesman Jay Pagni could not say Tuesday if the next batch of information would fulfill the administration's request. He said the governor awaits a detailed accounting from Kane's office.

So far, the Attorney General's Office has said that Noonan appeared to be the only one who did not respond or forward any of the e-mails. Representatives in Kane's office say they cannot determine if the recipients viewed or opened the materials.

It was not clear Tuesday if Kane's office has also responded to a similar request for details from Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille.

The Inquirer has reported that the e-mail exchanges involved state employees, including top jurists. Castille wants to know if any judges or judicial employees are among those in the exchanges, which he said could amount to a breach of judicial ethics.

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