Senate Committee Recommends Proceeding With Kane Removal Process

A Pennsylvania Senate committee has determined that the Senate indeed has jurisdiction over a removal action against Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

According to the report by the Special Committee on Senate Address, which was considering Kane's ability to perform the duties of her office with a suspended law license, the committee "finds a sufficient basis for the Senate to move forward with due to notice" to Kane for a full hearing before the full Senate.

The committee made "no specific finding on direct removal" of Kane, the report said.

Kane responded to the decision in a statement:

"Today, a handful of senators sought to substitute their judgment for that of more than 3 million Pennsylvanians who cast their vote for the duly elected, independent Attorney General. I believe this attempt to remove the Attorney General from office is unconstitutional and intend to vigorously defend the Office of Attorney General against any and all future efforts by this committee or the Senate as a whole," the Attorney General said.

"Over the past few weeks, there has been a chorus rising up across this Commonwealth to condemn the content of emails sent and received by a justice of our Supreme Court, as well as those sent and received by former deputies in the Office of Attorney General of Tom Corbett and Linda Kelly. This chorus condemns more than the racist, misogynistic, homophobic and religiously offensive content of these emails; it condemns the network of judges and lawyers circulating these emails on public computers across state-owned servers."

The full report can be read here.