Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25) has issued the following statement after receipt of the report from the Special Committee on Senate Address:
“Today I have received the written report from the Special Committee on Senate Address with preliminary findings of the Committee and their recommendation that a full Senate hearing of (Attorney General Kathleen). Kane’s ability to perform the functions of her position with an indefinitely suspended law license is warranted. As stated in the report, the Special Committee finds that the Senate has jurisdiction over a removal action against the Attorney General and sufficient basis for the Senate to move forward with due notice and full hearing pursuant to Article 6, Section 7 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
“I thank Chairman Gordner and members of the Committee for their work examining this very critical matter. We have been presented with a very difficult situation and the Committee’s work was an extremely thorough and well-executed open process with balanced panels. I also thank the testifiers at each of the three Committee hearings for their testimony addressing this issue.
“In light of the bi-partisan recommendation to move forward, I am requesting that Senator Gordner work with the Committee members to develop a resolution which will be voted on by the full Senate. The resolution will include Senate procedures to be followed on notice and hearing, pursuant to Article 6, Section 7 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. As stated in the report, the Senate resolution shall be completed and submitted to the full Senate within 15 days of the acceptance of the report.”
Attorney General Kane responds to Senate committee report
Kane today released the following statement regarding the report issued by the Special Committee on Senate Address.
“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.
“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.
“I have heard this chorus loud and clear. Next Tuesday, I will announce my selection of a team of special prosecutors to go through every public email account trafficking this filth and track down every public server over which it was circulated. At that time, I will outline the prosecutorial powers that these special prosecutors will have to identify any violations of the criminal, civil and ethics laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition, I will call upon the Department of Justice to investigate emails circulated on the public email accounts of assistant U.S. attorneys in this state.
“There can be no greater duty of an Attorney General than to restore the confidence of the public in the integrity and fairness of their judicial system. I intend to carry out this duty no matter how hard some in the Pennsylvania Senate seek to prevent me from doing so.”