Pennsylvania prosecutor arrives for arraignment

Kane, who faces charges including a felony count of perjury, is expected to be processed at the Montgomery County Detective Bureau in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown, then arraigned via closed-circuit TV by a district judge almost 10 miles away in Collegeville.

An unsecured bail means Kane will not have to pay cash up front to the court.

“He is charged with indirect criminal contempt based upon the evidence we gathered which would prove that he secretly snuck into the grand jury files in violation of a protection order issued by Judge (William) Carpenter”, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman explained at a news conference on Thursday.

An attorney for the 49-year-old Kane says she plans to plead not guilty.

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The Attorney General is accused on multiple charges including official oppression, perjury, criminal conspiracy, obstructing administration of law and false swearing.

Twenty months ago, Kane was touted as a potential gubernatorial favorite, where a potential clash with former attorney aeneral Tom Corbett loomed.

The fact that corruption allegations against Kane appear to have more to do with personal vengeance than any actual illegal favoritism suggests that there’s little momentum for ending a tradition in 43 states of electing the attorney general.

“I will not allow them to discredit me”, she wrote in a 2014 email to her media strategist.

“The Editorial Board endorsed Kane’s candidacy partly because of her seeming promise as a reformer and professional prosecutor”, the Philadelphia Inquirer editorialized as the case against Kane mounted earlier this year.

Prosecutors say she then lied about her actions whereas beneath oath and enlisted aides to spy on workplace staff and regulate the grand jury probe into the leak.

A former Lackawanna County prosecutor, Kane made the handling of the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse case at Pennsylvania State University her main campaign issue in 2012. The charges stem from the release of confidential grand jury information.

The attorneys disagreed over whether Kane ought to continue in office while she fights the charges, however. Kane fired four officials, and a state Supreme Court justice also resigned in the scandal. “Attorney General Kane conspired with no one”, attorney Gerald L. Shargel said.

Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor has taken on the new role of criminal defendant.

Gov. Wolf, a Democrat like Kane, encouraged Kane to remove herself from office, wondering how she can legitimately function as the state’s top law enforcement officer in the current climate.

The statewide investigating grand jury learned that the Office of Attorney General uses a system called “Evault” which archives all emails sent or received by employees of the Office of Attorney General.

According to the article, Kane insisted for the case being dropped due to it being reportedly flawed and racially targeted, but also reviewed the case beforehand together with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On Thursday, a half-hour before the charges against Kane were announced, her office unveiled a settlement in which an electric company will provide $2.4 million in refunds to customers who complained about being over-billed.