HARRISBURG — The attorney who has taken on the legal duties of Attorney General Kathleen Kane since the suspension of her law license told a Senate panel Wednesday that the situation has had a “profound and extraordinary” effect on the attorney general’s office.
First Deputy Attorney General Bruce Beemer said that although the office has had to make changes to its procedures since the suspension took effect last month, he believes it continues to have the authority to function.
“We are extremely concerned about the impact that this has on our office, which is profound and extraordinary,” Mr. Beemer said. “Having said that, we feel that the actions and the authority that the office has taken since Oct. 22 are valid.”
The Special Committee on Senate Address is charged with reporting to the full Senate on the effects of the suspension of Ms. Kane’s law license on her ability to do her job.
Asked during the hearing Wednesday for a worst-case scenario of a threat resulting from the situation, Mr. Beemer described the possibility that a person suspected of having committed a violent crime could be freed despite a very high bail if a defense attorney were to convince a local judge that the attorney general’s office lacked jurisdiction.
“That is what I like to call, what I would call, a sort of nuclear scenario,” Mr. Beemer said. “We pray that does not happen, but it’s one that we have to vigilantly guard against all over the commonwealth and that we’re going to have to deal with.”
James Donahue, who heads the public protection division, said that in one case the authority of the attorney general’s office has been challenged on the grounds that the attorney general must personally make certain decisions. Resolving such issues could take time, he said
“Is there an impact? Yeah, there’s an impact, that cases, especially complex cases, get further dragged out because of this,” Mr. Donahue said.
The four deputies who appeared before the Senate committee had signed an Oct. 22 letter telling Ms. Kane that the suspension of her law license meant ultimate decisions on legal matters would have to be made by Mr. Beemer. Mr. Donahue said the writing of the memo had been prompted in part by a statement by Ms. Kane’s spokesman that only perhaps 2 percent of her duties require a valid law license.
“One of the things that caused us a great deal of anxiety was the 98 percent, 2 percent number that was put out there in the press,” Mr. Donahue said. “The vast majority of the work is to make legal decisions.”
Committee Chairman John Gordner, R-Columbia, said the committee plans to meet its deadline of reporting to the full Senate by next Wednesday. The Senate could attempt to remove Ms. Kane from office through a mechanism involving the Senate and governor.
Montgomery County prosecutors have charged Ms. Kane with crimes including perjury and obstruction, claiming she had orchestrated the disclosure of confidential information in an effort to retaliate against former state prosecutors she believed had embarrassed her. She has maintained her innocence, saying the allegations were concocted by people trying to conceal an exchange of pornographic emails that included state officials.
Karen Langley: klangley@post-gazette.com, 717-787-2141 or on Twitter @karen_langley.
First Published: November 18, 2015, 10:57 p.m.
Updated: November 19, 2015, 4:09 a.m.
