Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement officer can no longer practice law — at least for the time being.
The state’s Democratic Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, has had her law license suspended by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court amid accusations that she leaked classified grand jury information to the media.
Last month, she was arraigned on multiple criminal charges, including “obstructing administration of law or other government function, official oppression, criminal conspiracy, perjury and false swearing,” the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
The court was responding to a request made by the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
“This order should not be construed as removing [Kane] from elected office and is limited to the temporary suspension of her license to practice law,” according to the Supreme Court decision.
Kane’s office isn’t saying much, writing in a statement, “We plan to review the court’s decision and make a statement once the review is completed.”
Kane — the state’s first female and Democrat AG — was first elected in 2012.
In 2013, Kane was hailed as the Democratic Party’s new “it” girl.
Writing on Real Clear Politics, Salena Zito noted:
When Kane, the wife of a wealthy Scranton businessman, ran for attorney general last year, she benefited from a Bill Clinton political score that needed to be settled. Her better-known, union-endorsed primary opponent, former Congressman Patrick Murphy, had done the unthinkable in 2008 and endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in the state Democrat primary.
Clinton repaid that favor by fundraising, endorsing, cutting ads and bringing out the big guns for Kane over Murphy. He thereby reminded Pennsylvanians and Washington political-watchers that the Clinton machine still has big game in a big state — and that Kane was their girl.
In August, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf called on Kane the resign. To date, she has rebuff that request.
Kane has been positioning herself to run for the U.S. Senate in 2016. Following the ongoing allegations, Kane is trailing Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey, according to polling published by the Patriot-News.
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