Kane: 'I did nothing illegal. Period.'

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane sought Friday to refute the extraordinary revelation that she could face criminal charges, declaring her innocence and proclaiming herself a target of partisan assaults.

"I did nothing illegal. Period," Kane said in a statement. "Any fair and impartial review of the facts would conclude that. This seems to me to be another political attack on my attempt to clean up Harrisburg and its political culture."

The Inquirer reported Thursday that a special prosecutor and grand jury investigating allegations that Kane leaked secret information to a newspaper had found evidence of criminal wrongdoing and recommended charges against her. People familiar with the grand jury's work say the recommended charges include perjury and contempt of court.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman must now decide whether to affirm the findings and arrest Kane, the state's top law enforcement official.

In her statement, Kane blamed unspecified political forces for her situation.

"They have fought me all the way, including an effort to impeach me," she said. "Since taking office, I have torn up their questionable contracts, cleaned up their investigations, broke their pornography ring, and prosecuted corrupt officials.

"I will continue to clean up Harrisburg, despite these attacks that seem to be more about politics than the merits."

Lanny Davis, one of Kane's lawyers and a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton, said Friday that Kane was experiencing "railroaded justice."

"Is it any coincidence that the first elected female attorney general has been targeted by all-Republican males?" he asked.

Davis referred to the special prosecutor in the leak investigation, the judge presiding over it, and the Supreme Court chief justice who approved it.

That justice, the now-retired Ronald D. Castille, has denied any partisan motivation, saying he routinely approved such leak investigations during his years on the court.

Davis said it was unfair that a special prosecutor was digging into alleged leaks by Kane from a 2009 grand jury, but no one was examining what he described as leaks from the current grand jury led by that same prosecutor.

"I question the objectivity and fairness of a process that targets one person but ignores worse conduct of other people," he said. "That smacks to me of a biased, selective mind-set."

Davis said he was not criticizing news organizations that sought details of the probe.

He has said Kane broke no laws and always told the truth to the grand jury. On Friday, he said she had authorized the release of a 2014 memo to the Philadelphia Daily News - a document created years after the 2009 grand jury had wrapped up its work.

"She did not regard that memo as being even close to grand jury information," Davis said.

Although a 2009 memo also was given to the Daily News, Davis said Kane had not authorized that release and did not know of it in advance.

Davis said he would speak on Kane's behalf during a news conference in Philadelphia on Saturday.

On Friday, news that a grand jury had recommended charges against Kane provoked strong reactions. In the space of a day, speculation shifted from whether Kane could survive after nearly a year's worth of blunders to whether she would face criminal charges.

A Republican lawmaker said Kane should resign immediately or else be impeached. Democrats defended her as a victim of news leaks and cautioned patience until all facts are known.

One prominent analyst said that however the coming weeks play out, it is unlikely that Kane can revive her once-bright political future.

"It's hard to see a path for recovery for her," said Christopher Borick, who directs the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. "The array of missteps, gaffes, and potential legal wrongdoings have really accumulated to the point where it seems she's beyond repair, at least in the short term."

State Democratic Chairman Jim Burn said authorities should investigate how Inquirer reporters learned about the secret grand-jury recommendations.

"Nobody's seen the reports. It could be months before the Montgomery district attorney draws any conclusions," he said. "Until then, it's unfair for anyone to speculate on what should be done."

Some other Democrats had little to say.

"I don't want to pile on," said U.S. Rep. Robert Brady, chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic Party.

Last month, he described Kane as "asleep at the switch" after Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams charged two state representatives in connection with a bribery probe that Kane had dismissed as impossible to prosecute.

It's a long way from the warm July afternoon in 2013 - a scant 18 months ago - when Kane's political future seemed bright. She stood surrounded by cheering supporters, gazing out from the National Constitution Center toward Independence Hall, as she announced her refusal to defend the state ban on gay marriage.

"We are the land of the free and the home of the brave, and I want to start acting like that," Kane said at the news conference.

Activists who celebrated her same-sex-marriage stance as "an earthquake moment" wondered how far the state's new political star could rise.

In 2012, the former Lackawanna County prosecutor became the state's first female attorney general, claiming more votes in Pennsylvania than President Obama. In office, her battles with an unpopular Gov. Corbett added to her political luster.

During the last year, though, Kane has been forced to retract a series of public statements, and criticized for her shutdown of the bribery case involving Democratic lawmakers.

She disciplined employees after she learned that in the years before she took office, staff had been routinely exchanging e-mail pornography on state time on state computers.

Last month, at the annual Pennsylvania Society gathering in New York City, she declared she would run and win reelection in 2016.

Some Republicans want her out now.

"It would be in the best interests of the people of Pennsylvania if the attorney general would resign," said State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R., Butler), citing what he called Kane's "blatant disregard [of] the law and the citizens she should serve."

Metcalfe had earlier called for Kane's impeachment over her refusal to defend the gay-marriage ban, and on Friday promised to renew that effort when the new legislature is seated.

As The Inquirer reported Thursday, sources familiar with the grand jury investigation say the panel concluded that Kane violated secrecy rules by leaking investigative material in a bid to embarrass political enemies. The recommended charges, the sources said, included perjury and contempt of court.

Those findings constitute "a more serious threat to her, because of the legal implications mixed with the political implications," said Borick, the Muhlenberg College analyst. "It's the accumulation of mistakes and problems."

Borick wondered where Kane might gain support, doubting that the incoming Democratic governor would expend political capital to help her.

"So where does she go?" he asked. "Even if she survives the legal threats . . . there's a lot of wear and tear on her political reputation."