Kane bracing for license suspension, plots counterpunch

THE STATE Supreme Court could rule as early as today on whether to suspend state Attorney General Kathleen Kane's law license, but Kane - depending on the ruling - is already planning to strike back at one of the justices, according to a source close to Kane's legal team.

If the court rules against her - and along party lines - Kane will likely seek the recusal of Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin, a Republican who has been tied to the state's "Porngate" scandal, the source said.

In other words, this whole never-ending mess could get ugly - or, rather, uglier.

Kane, the first Democrat and first woman elected attorney general in Pennsylvania, was charged last month with perjury, obstruction of justice and related offenses for allegedly leaking confidential grand-jury information to damage Frank Fina, a senior prosecutor who she believed had leaked information about a separate corruption case that she botched after taking office in January 2013.

After the arrest, the state's Disciplinary Board for lawyers moved to suspend Kane's law license, a matter that will be decided by the state Supreme Court, where Republicans hold a one-seat advantage.

Kane is bracing to lose the case, the source said yesterday. If the court rules 3-2 along party lines to suspend her license, Kane's legal team is seeking to have the case reheard without Eakin.

Eakin was tied last year to the ever-expanding email pornography scandal that has ensnared Fina and led to the resignations of top officials in former Gov. Tom Corbett's administration. Fina, who sent some of the sexist and racist emails, now works for Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. He's been lying low since the last wave of porn was released last month.

The emails were originally discovered during Kane's review of how Corbett, as attorney general, handled the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse case.

The Daily News reported last year that Eakin had received racist and pornographic emails on a personal Yahoo account in 2010. The emails include images of topless centerfolds and one with the subject line "Prom Night at Camden High School!" that mocked African-Americans.

Eakin has claimed that he received the images but had never sent any inappropriate emails.

Nonetheless, Kane may seek Eakin's recusal, claiming that a judge involved in the scandal can't rule on her case.

"It's going to be embarrassing for everybody," said the source close to Kane's legal team. The source said there could be addition emails on Eakin's account that have not yet been reported.

The scandal has already led to the downfall of state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, a Democrat. He was suspended from the court and then resigned after Eakin said McCaffery had threatened to release Eakin's Yahoo emails unless Eakin assisted him in his feud with another justice.

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