Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has hired former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor to fill a newly created executive position in her office.
Ms. Kane, whose law license has been suspended as she awaits trial on criminal charges, said Tuesday that she was hiring Mr. Castor as her solicitor general to help with executive functions. He will be paid an annual salary of $150,000.
In a news release, Ms. Kane was vague about his duties, saying only that his role would be “to strengthen and support the leadership of the executive office and further the initiatives of the attorney general on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania.”
The hiring raised the specter of further tension in an office already rife with divisions between Kane loyalists and those counting the days until the end of her term in January. And the choice was striking, in part because Mr. Castor is a Republican and Ms. Kane a Democrat.
Mr. Castor ran unsuccessfully for Montgomery County district attorney last year, losing to Democrat Kevin Steele, who is now leading the team that is prosecuting Ms. Kane.
Ms. Kane, 49, is charged with perjury, conspiracy, official oppression and other crimes, accused of leaking confidential information to the Philadelphia Daily News in the spring of 2014. She has pleaded not guilty, and her trial is scheduled for Aug. 8.
The campaign between Mr. Castor and Mr. Steele last year was contentious, dominated by debate over Mr. Castor’s handling of an alleged 2005 sexual assault by Bill Cosby.
Mr. Castor, the district attorney at the time, decided not to charge the comedian, citing insufficient evidence, a choice Mr. Steele criticized heavily in campaign ads.
After defeating Mr. Castor in November, Mr. Steele brought charges against Mr. Cosby in the 2005 case.
Mr. Castor, a former Montgomery County commissioner now in private practice, did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday. He is expected to continue in his legal practice while working for Ms. Kane.
After Ms. Kane was criminally charged, the state Supreme Court voted unanimously to suspend her law license, sparking heated debate over what duties she can perform as the state’s top law enforcement official.
Ms. Kane’s hiring of Mr. Castor, a lawyer who made an unsuccessful bid for attorney general in 2004, was widely viewed as a way for her to continue exerting power over the key legal and administrative decisions of her office, even as she is barred from some of those duties because of her license suspension.
The move also was seen as a slap at Ms. Kane’s first deputy, Bruce Beemer. Mr. Beemer is among several top aides who testified against Ms. Kane in the criminal case. The aides are expected to be called as witnesses against her when her trial begins.
Mr. Beemer also was one of three senior lawyers in the office who testified at a Senate hearing last year about whether Ms. Kane can remain in office with a suspended law license. Like his colleagues, Mr. Beemer disagreed with Ms. Kane’s assessment that she could continue to carry out the majority of her duties without an active license.
In an interview Tuesday, Kane spokesman Chuck Ardo said Ms. Kane believed the new position was necessary to improve the efficiency of her office. He said Mr. Castor would effectively serve as a senior policy adviser, helping her to prioritize cases.
Asked whether that would duplicate Mr. Beemer’s duties, Mr. Ardo said: “I don’t think it will diminish Mr. Beemer’s role, but it will certainly free him up to do more of the things that he is already charged with doing.”
First Published: March 30, 2016, 4:56 a.m.
