Kane's spokesman is leaving job

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane's communications director is leaving his job, her office confirmed today.

In a statement issued by her office, Kane did not say if Joe Peters resigned or was let go.

Peters could not be reached for comment.

The departure comes at a time when Kane is under heightened scrutiny after the Inquirer revealed she had shut down an investigation in which four Philadelphia state legislators and a traffic court judge were recorded taking payoffs.

"Some of our senior staffers are personal friends of mine that agreed to come to the Office of Attorney General for a finite period of time to transition the office and execute my vision," Kane said the statement. "Joe Peters is one of them. He stayed for far longer than he probably had in mind and I'm grateful to him for that. Everyone in the Office of Attorney General wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors."

Peters was Kane's third spokesman since she took office 14 months ago. His departure was first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

Kane, a Democrat, has come under increasing fire in newspaper editorials and from Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams for dropping the investigation, which started in 2010, when Gov. Corbett, a Republican, was attorney general.

Kane has said the investigation was flawed for apparently targeting black lawmakers, all Democrats, and for relying on an informant who started cooperating after officials dropped 2,088 counts of fraud involving $430,000 in funds from a state program intended to feed low-income children and seniors.

Last week, Kane appeared at an Inquirer editorial board meeting with noted Philadelphia attorney Richard Sprague, who spoke instead of the attorney general.

Sprague said he was exploring a defamation suit and was investigating the conduct of the prosecutors who ran the sting operation.