Amid more calls for her resignation, Kane to be arraigned

Democratic and Republican leaders in the state House of Representatives on Friday joined Gov. Wolf and several other elected officials in calling for Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane to step down in the face of criminal charges.

State Rep. Dave Reed, majority leader in the GOP-controlled chamber, said Friday that the charges make it "virtually impossible for her to function as the commonwealth's top law enforcement officer."

While Kane is presumed innocent, Reed said, the state "cannot afford to have such a distraction impairing the office of the attorney general."

Frank Dermody, who leads the Democratic caucus in the lower chamber, also believes that Kane should quit, according to his spokesman, Bill Patton.

On Thursday, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman filed eight criminal charges against Kane - one felony and seven misdemeanors - saying she violated grand jury secrecy and then lied about it under oath.

Prosecutors say Kane illegally arranged for the leak of confidential grand jury information to a newspaper to plant a story to embarrass a political enemy. They say she later perjured herself in testimony before a grand jury convened to investigate the matter, and deployed her staff to surreptitiously read other people's e-mails related to the inquiry.

Wolf, a Democrat like Kane, on Thursday called for Kane to step down - which Kane quickly rejected.

Among top legislative leaders, Reed and Dermody agree that Kane should leave office three years into her first term.

In a statement Thursday, Dermody, of Allegheny County, stopped short of saying Kane should resign, but said: "The charges will make it extremely difficult for her to lead the office of attorney general under these circumstances."

On Friday, Patton said Dermody believed that Kane should resign.

House Speaker Mike Turzai, a Republican from Allegheny County, has not issued a statement on the issue. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

In the Senate, where Republicans are also in the majority, GOP leaders have not specifically called for Kane to quit.

A spokeswoman for Senate President Joe Scarnati, from a district near Erie, and Majority Leader Jake Corman, whose district is in the area of Pennsylvania State University, said they believe Kane should decide whether to stay or leave.

However, spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher said that the two leaders had qualms about her staying on.

"We have questioned, along with a lot of other people, her ability to serve as the state's top prosecutor while at the same time being prosecuted for these crimes, some of which are quite serious, such as the felony charge of perjury," Kocher said Friday.

A spokeswoman for State Sen. Jay Costa, the Democrat from Allegheny County who leads his party in that house, said Costa has yet to state a position.

As first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Attorney General's Office has long had a policy that requires the suspension without pay of any employee charged with a felony.

Though Kane faces the felony perjury count, the policy does not apply to her, according to office spokesman Chuck Ardo. He said the policy applies only to employees, not to Kane as an elected official.

In addition to bringing charges against Kane, Montgomery County prosecutors filed a contempt-of-court charge against Patrick Reese, the head of the attorney general's security detail.

They contend that he violated court orders by surreptitiously reading e-mails of Kane's staff to see what he could learn about the grand jury's investigation of her.

Contempt of court is a misdemeanor, so Reese would not face suspension under the office policy.

His case will proceed separately from Kane's. Montgomery County Court Judge William R. Carpenter, who presided over the grand jury investigation that led to Ferman's inquiry, will rule on the contempt charge. Reese faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison.

Kane is scheduled to be fingerprinted and photographed on Saturday afternoon at the Montgomery County detective bureau in Norristown.

She will then be arraigned and have bail set by District Judge Cathleen Rebar of Collegeville. Rebar is a Republican.

The arraignment will take place via video, with Kane in the detective bureau and Rebar in her office for what is expected to be a brief hearing.