Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane resigns following conviction

She was later alleged of leaking sealed, confidential grand jury documents regarding the 2009 investigation of former N.AA.C.P. leader J. Whyatt Mondesire financial affairs to the media as a ploy to discredit prosecutor Frank Fina, who she claimed had chosen not to prosecute Mondesire.

Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy ordered Kane to surrender her passport and warned her that “there is to be absolutely no retaliation of any kind against any witness in this case”, threatening Kane with immediate incarceration if she did not comply with her order.

But a judge barred Kane’s lawyers from mentioning the emails during her trial.

King, a former law school boyfriend who later became one of her top aides, testified that he had agreed to pass a manila envelope from Kane’s office in Harrisburg to Morrow’s home in Philadelphia.

After Kane’s conviction Monday, Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason said it was “a bad day for the Commonwealth”.

Kane’s conviction and announcement that she would resign Wednesday came as Clinton was campaigning in West Philadelphia. Kane’s term would have been over this January.

“In a separate statement, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said “[Kane’s] decision to resign is the right one, and will allow the people of Pennsylvania to finally move on from this situation”.

In a statement, House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said Pennsylvania needs a functional attorney general and can not have a top prosecutor who is convicted of “breaking the laws she was elected to enforce”.

The sentence for the perjury charge – the most serious offense – carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, second left, and members of her legal and security teams, prepare to leave the Montgomery County Courthouse and await a verdict, in Norristown, Pa., Monday. Her investigation led two state Supreme Court justices and others to resign.

The top law enforcement official in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania has been convicted of several crimes after she leaked documents critical of a rival.

Kane’s political consultant, testifying with a grant of immunity, changed his grand jury testimony last week to tell jurors that he had “conspired” with Kane to leak grand jury material and then frame her chief deputy for the crime. A spokesman said her resignation would be effective by the end of the day on Wednesday. Prosecutors said Kane believed Fina was responsible for leaking the story to the press. Fina probably would have flown under the radar this entire time were it not for his political rivalry with Kane.

“We will continue this litigation we will continue this fight because we believe that our client has been wrongfully accused of misconduct”, Shargel said after the conviction, according to CNN. Now, she’s facing jail time and has had her law license suspended. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele asked. By law, the first deputy attorney general becomes acting attorney general should the office become vacant.

The trial judge, though, barred her lawyers from mentioning the email scandal as a defense.