House panel take steps to launch impeachment proceedings against AG Kane

HARRISBURG - A key House committee is taking the first steps toward launching impeachment proceedings against Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, even as the Senate is poised to decide whether to remove her from office.

The House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize an investigation into whether Kane's actions in office merit impeachment.

Kane, 49, a Democrat, is facing criminal charges that she leaked confidential information to exact revenge on a critic, then lied about it when later questioned under oath. She has pleaded not guilty, and her trial is expected later this year.

"It is obviously not our intention to interfere with any ongoing criminal proceedings," said State Rep. Ron Marsico (R., Dauphin), the judiciary committee's chairman. "However, it is imperative that we fulfill our constitutional oversight responsibility."

In a statement Tuesday, Kane denounced the move, suggesting that it was part of a larger conspiracy to attempt to silence her efforts to expose pornographic and other offensive emails exchanged by judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and others.

She said the legislature should focus on investigating "racist, misogynistic, and homophobic" emails.

"If the legislature spent a fraction of the time investigating this content as it has on the one individual who exposed it, we could start to restore credibility to our judicial system and give Pennsylvanians a system of justice in which they can be proud," Kane said.

Yet in earlier statements, Kane has argued that impeachment is the only constitutional way to remove her from office before her four-year term ends early next year.

She said so after the Senate launched hearings last fall to explore whether she should be removed from her post as the state's highest-ranking law enforcement official. A bipartisan Senate committee is expected to announce its recommendation on that question on Wednesday.

The Senate is exploring whether Kane, whose law license was suspended after she was criminally charged, can carry out the duties of her office while under suspension. The state constitution requires that the attorney general be a member of the bar, although it does not address what should happen should an attorney general's law license be suspended.

Kane has called the Senate process unconstitutional. She has said the only legal way to remove her is through impeachment, a much lengthier process that requires an investigation in the House, and then a trial before the Senate.

Earlier this month, Kane petitioned the state Supreme Court, on an emergency basis, to reinstate her law license. The court voted unanimously last fall to suspend her, and Kane now contends that one of its justices had a conflict because he participated in the exchange of emails she has exposed.

The House's decision to explore impeachment proceedings against Kane comes as a Senate committee, which has four Republicans and three Democrats, is poised to make a recommendation on whether to remove her. A straight majority vote - or four of the seven committee members - is required.

The removal measure would then be taken up by the full Senate, where two-thirds of the 50-member chamber (which now has one vacancy) would need to approve it. That means that every Republican, and at least three Democrats, would have need to sign off on it.

Under the constitution, Gov. Wolf would have the final say. Wolf has called for Kane to resign, but has stopped short of saying what he would do if the Senate voted to oust her.

Senate officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

State Rep. Garth Everett (R., Lycoming), who sponsored the House resolution to explore impeachment, said Tuesday that the process would take time - possibly months - but was the correct one if the legislature wants to remove an elected official from office.

He also said the process would be deliberate. His impeachment resolution, approved unanimously Tuesday by the judiciary committee, will need to be voted on by the full House, and the soonest that vote can occur is early next month, he said.

Everett said his resolution would create a six-member bipartisan subcommittee to embark on a fact-finding mission, complete with subpoena power for documents and witnesses, to determine whether Kane's conduct is impeachable.

He said politics played no role in the timing of his resolution, which landed as candidates begin circulating petitions to get on the ballot for the spring primary.

"I don't want to see this turn into a three-ring political circus," he said. "This is about facts."

acouloumbis@phillynews.com

717-787-5934 @AngelasInk