Special committee begins Monday on Kathleen Kane's fate as Attorney General

ByJEFF CHIRICO WPVI logo
Monday, November 9, 2015
VIDEO: Special committee begins on Kathleen Kane's fate as AG
A special Pennsylvania Senate Committee is set to begin a series of hearings to discuss the fate of embattled Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

CHELTENHAM, Pa. (WPVI) -- A special Pennsylvania Senate Committee is set to begin a series of hearings to discuss the fate of embattled Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

Action News is told the hearing isn't about the perjury charges Kane faces in Montgomery County court, but rather whether she can do her job with a suspended law license.

Senator Art Haywood of Cheltenham and five others will help decide whether she should or shouldn't go.

"I've got a number of questions that I think can help me understand the actual role of attorney general. How much of it is involved in the day-to-day practice of law and how much is it management?" Haywood said.

Haywood says it's been 125 years since the Senate tried to remove an elected official under an obscure provision in the state constitution.

"There's some serious allegations she has to manage," Haywood said.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended Kane's license last month amid accusations she leaked secret grand jury information to a newspaper and lied about it.

Kane faces two counts of perjury and other charges.

Based on the committee's recommendation the full Senate could begin the process of removing Kane.

Haywood says he'll walk into the hearing with an open mind.

"I hope that we can be bipartisan, be as fair as we can," Haywood said.

The hearing takes place Monday afternoon near the Capitol.

The committee has been asked to issue its recommendation before Thanksgiving.