Kathleen Kane's political tease

THERE WAS high drama and porn talk, but no money shot.

Instead, Kathleen Kane teased.

In her first public statement since being criminally charged a week ago, the Democratic attorney general replayed the porn card, in fact doubled down.

Why not? How do you not get attention with porn?

She said the porn scandal she exposed last year that swallowed the jobs of several state officials and a state Supreme Court justice (Seamus McCaffery) is the sole source of her legal woes.

She saw a way to go after the boys, so they found a way to come after her.

It's a political version of revenge porn, in an ongoing saga of seeming paranoia.

For example:

After saying her legal defense is not about her being a victim of some old boys' network, she explained how some old boys' network took her down because "that was their plan all along."

No names, of course. Just, you know, a vast porn conspiracy.

She claimed that swappers of "pornographic, racial and religiously offensive" emails inside and outside the Attorney General's Office under Tom Corbett worked to prevent being linked to their "filthy email chain" by discrediting her.

So when she announced during her long investigation of the Jerry Sandusky case that all agency emails were being reviewed, the filth-mongers decided to get her.

What's new here? Nothing.

In fact, at a jam-packed Capitol news conference billed as Kane addressing charges of conspiracy, obstruction, perjury and more and then taking questions from media, she did neither.

Instead, she read a 14-minute statement absent any specific defense beyond "I am innocent of any wrongdoing," then exited stage right, ignoring questions shouted by the press.

Actually, not taking questions might have been the smartest thing she's done in a while.

The least smart?

Well, maybe suggesting yesterday that Montco Judge William Carpenter, who oversaw the grand jury that recommended charges against her, "wittingly or unwittingly" participated in protecting unnamed pornophiles. Then asking Carpenter to name the unnamed by authorizing the release of all the offensive emails (currently under grand-jury seal).

She also requested the Judicial Disciplinary Board to "suspend any activity it is contemplating" until Carpenter complies with her request.

No indication that she's made formal legal filings in these areas.

Maybe it's me, but it's hard to imagine a court or disciplinary board offering any, let alone favorable, response to a list of demands in a press statement issued by a criminal defendant.

Then again, Kane goes big. She also went at those suggesting she resign, as Gov. Wolf has done.

She touted the work of her office, citing huge increases in child-predator and drug arrests, suggesting her legal problems do not distract her from her job.

She even said perhaps other public servants (again no names) need to be distracted "and maybe we'll have a budget soon."

She said if she's removed from office it means "the politicians" choose the next attorney general, "and in essence take away the 3.125 million voters who wanted an independent A.G."

And she said the concerted effort, the "grand plan" to do her in, is a "new stealth political weapon that has not popped up on the media's radar screen, yet."

What has popped up, however, is this.

Her evil-men-are-out-to-get-me defense ignores the fact she was charged by a woman, Montco D.A. Risa Vetri Ferman, after a lengthy investigation.

And Kane's porn-protectors argument fails to explain away her indictment for violating grand-jury secrecy then lying under oath to cover it up.

In the end, yesterday's performance was supposed to be the state's top law-enforcement officer delivering a twisted tale of insiders working to crush a strong, independent woman.

But all that was really offered was a tease.

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