A judge ruled Tuesday that Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane should face an additional perjury charge for insisting -- wrongly, as it turned out -- that she had never signed a key secrecy oath.
Kane was held for trial on the felony count after a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar in Norristown.
The judge also ordered her to stand trial on misdemeanor counts of false swearing and obstruction, bringing to 12 the total charges she faces in connection with what prosecutors say was her illegal scheme to leak confidential material and then lie about it.
The new charges stem from the discovery during a September search of Kane's Harrisburg office of an oath she signed binding her to secrecy in grand jury matters. Prosecutors say Kane lied when she testified last year that she had never signed such an oath.
First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele said the judge's ruling reflected "the powerful evidence" against Kane. During the hearing, prosecutors presented documents that included the secrecy oath with Kane's signature.
Kane's lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said she had not knowingly lied, but rather had forgotten -- a lapse he called "an innocent mistake."
In addition to exposing Kane to new criminal charges, the discovery of the oath, in September, also undercut one of the Kane's key defenses.
For months, she and her lawyers have insisted she had not signed a secrecy oath. So, they said, she had broken no laws when she arranged for confidential grand jury documents be given to a Philadelphia Daily News reporter to plant a story to embarrass a former state prosecutor, Frank Fina.
Prosecutors say Kane targeted Fina because she blamed him for providing confidential information to The Inquirer for a story revealing that she had shut down an undercover corruption investigation involving elected officials from Philadelphia, all Democrats like Kane.
Even if Kane had not signed the secrecy oath, the special prosecutor and the grand jury judge in the investigation that led to the criminal charges against her have said the attorney general was still legally bound to keep confidential matters secret.
Shargel sought to turn that argument to Kane's advantage Tuesday. He said it meant that Kane's critics had conceded that her misstatement was of no legal consequence.
Prosecutor Michelle Henry, who argued the case with Steele, called that argument "astounding." And Rebar rejected it.
After Tuesday's hearing, Shargel insisted that Kane was innocent. "We are very, very optimistic about this," he said. "The fight goes on."
Steele was just as resolute. "It is a straightforward matter," he said. "We're on to the next stage now."
All charges against Kane will be consolidated into one case, which will proceed in Montgomery County Court. It is to be heard by county President Judge Willliam J. Furber Jr., a Republican.
Kane also faces challenges on other fronts.
Last month, the state Supreme Court temporarily suspended her law license, pending the outcome of her criminal trial.
On Monday, a special committee of the GOP-controlled state Senate held its first hearing to explore whether Kane should be removed from office on grounds that she cannot perform her duties as the state's top law enforcement official with a suspended license.
Kane has insisted that her license suspension would have no effect on her job performance.
(c)2015 The Philadelphia Inquirer
