Kathleen Kane

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Picture Of The Day

October 25, 2016 by 5 Comments

From the AP

The stoic-faced woman being led away in handcuffs is former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane (D-PA). She was sentenced today in a Montgomery County, PA courtroom after being convicted in August on two felony counts of perjury and the misdemeanor crimes of conspiracy, official oppression, and false swearing. Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy imposed a sentence of 10-23 months in prison and eight years of probation.

From the NY Post/AP:

“This case is about ego – the ego of a politician consumed with her image from Day One,” Demchick-Alloy said. “This case is about retaliation and revenge against perceived enemies who this defendant … felt had embarrassed her in the press.”


Kane, the first woman and first Democrat elected as the state’s top prosecutor, was handcuffed in court and led out a side door. She will remain in custody until she posts $75,000 cash bail, higher than she had previously posted.


After she posts bond, she will remain free while she appeals her conviction.


She had been a stay-at-home mother, and former assistant county prosecutor, before using her husband’s trucking fortune to run for statewide office in 2012. She quickly became a rising star in the state Democratic Party before her office devolved into turmoil as career prosecutors came and went.


Kane and her husband are now estranged and share custody of their teenage boys.


“Your children are the ultimate … collateral damages. They are casualties of your actions,” the judge said. “But you did that, not this court. ”

It was not only her now estranged husband’s fortune that she used to get elected. Michael Bloomberg also donated approximately $600,000 to get her elected and she reciprocated by refusing to defend state law’s on gun rights as well as “revising” concealed carry reciprocity agreements with a number of states.

I do feel for her kids but I have no sympathy for her. She brought this upon herself and now she must pay the price.

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Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Attorney General (Updated)

August 16, 2016 by 4 Comments

First there were the many mayors who were members of Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns who ended up convicted of criminal activity. Now, in a step up, we have a state attorney general who owed her election, in good part, to ads on her behalf by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg being convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and other crimes.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Michelle Henry, who joined (Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R.) Steele in presenting the prosecution case, painted Kane as heedless of the law as she carried out her crimes.

“She knew it was wrong, she knew it was against the law, and she didn’t care,” Henry told the jury. “She did it for revenge. And after that happened, she covered it up with lies.”

In its verdict, the jury found Kane guilty of perjury in two instances: That she lied about her involvement in the leak and cover-up, and that she lied again in telling a grand jury she had not signed a secrecy oath pledging not to reveal confidential grand jury information. Prosecutors later found such an oath signed by Kane.

Kane sought revenge against former state prosecutor Frank Fina who she thought he was the source of a news story that was highly critical of how she shut down the prosecution of corrupt Democrats in Philadelphia.

In addition to the two felony counts of perjury, Kane was found guilty of the misdemeanor crimes of conspiracy, official oppression, and false swearing. Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy ordered Kane to surrender her passport and warned that she would be jailed immediately if there was any retaliation against witnesses. Kane could receive up to 28 years in prison but is expected to receive much less since she had no prior criminal record.

Prior to being elected Pennsylvania Attorney General, Kane was an assistant district attorney in the Scranton area who gained attention for criticizing how the investigation of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky had been conducted.

Kane, who has already lost her law license, has until the day of her sentencing to resign. She so far has resisted calls by Gov. Tom Kane and other leading Democrats to step down.

With Kane’s conviction, I guess a renaming is in order. Henceforth, the organization formally known as Everytown for Gun Safety will be known as Everytown Moms Demanding Illegal Mayors and Attorneys General.

UPDATE: Kane has announced her resignation effective at the end of the day on Wednesday, August 17th. She says she has “been honored to serve the people of Pennsylvania, and I wish them health and safety in all their days.”

Kane’s mugshot when arraigned

She faces sentencing in 90 days. While she has promised to appeal, it will be very interesting to see what sentence she gets.

The cartoonist for the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia nails it in the tweet below. Kane, the first female AG in Pennsylvania history, broke the glass ceiling…and floor.

H/T Bitter and Rob Morse

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Not Just Illegal Mayors Anymore

January 8, 2015 by 2 Comments

Mayors Against Illegal Guns has had so many of its members run afoul of the law that I’ve taken to calling it Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors. Thanks to news out of Philadelphia, I will have to expand that.

The special prosecutor and grand jury investigating allegations that Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane leaked secret information to a newspaper have found evidence of wrongdoing and recommended that she be criminally charged, according to numerous people familiar with the decision.

The panel concluded that Kane violated grand-jury secrecy rules by leaking investigative material in a bid to embarrass political enemies, sources said.

Some of those familiar with the grand jury presentment say it recommended charges that included perjury and contempt of court.

The statewide grand jury sitting in Norristown has turned over its findings to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who must decide whether to affirm its findings and arrest Kane, the state’s top law enforcement official.

 Kane reportedly leaked those grand jury materials in order to embarrass political opponents

Michael Bloomberg invested heavily in Kane ($674,000) when she first ran for Attorney General in  2012. Kane ran as an anti-gun candidate saying she would review all concealed carry reciprocity agreements with other states and cancel those that didn’t measure up to her standards.

This last year has not been a good one for Kane. Earlier in the year reports surfaced about how she tried to squash an investigation into corruption in Philadelphia. Then, as the year came to a close, she announced she was getting divorced from her husband Christopher after 14 years of marriage saying the marriage “was irreparably broken.”

Bitter has her take on this news here.

All I can say is that Bloomberg knows how to pick them. Or not.