MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. --Standing before a room packed with journalists, Montgomery County County District Attorney Risa Ferman announced the filing of criminal charges against Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane stemming from Kane's alleged deliberate and illegal release of confidential investigative information and secret Grand Jury information.
Ferman said that Kane devised a scheme to secretly leak grand jury materials in order to embarrass her opponents. She said Kane also set on a path to conceal her actions.
Kane is charged with:
- Obstruction of Administration of law
- Official Oppression
- Criminal Conspiracy
- Perjury
- False Swearing
Kane is expected to surrender herself within the next few days.
Kane's personal driver Patrice Reese is also charged with indirect criminal contempt for allegedly tampering with Grand Jury files. Arrangements are being made for his surrender.
Governor Tom Wolf commented on the charges filed against Attorney General Kathleen Kane:
“In this criminal complaint, Attorney General Kathleen Kane was charged with official oppression; she was charged with obstruction of administration of law; she was charged with perjury. These are the charges and there are other serious charges, and they are troubling. And, I am not sure how the top law enforcement officer in Pennsylvania can continue to perform her duties while she is defending herself against these serious charges. They are serious.
“She is entitled to her day in court. She is entitled to due process under our system of government and law, and she will have time to defend herself, and I think she needs to do that.
“But in the meantime, I am calling on her to step aside, step down as attorney general, because I think she cannot do what she has to do as the top law enforcement officer in Pennsylvania while she’s facing these serious charges.”