Pennsylvania Daybook

McConnell shuts door on Senate action on Obama court pick

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania House Democrats signaled Tuesday they may oppose any effort to impeach state Attorney General Kathleen Kane now that she is not running another term in office. House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, and other Democrats raised a number of concerns about the long and potentially costly process during and after the first meeting of a House subcommittee that is tasked with making a recommendation on whether Kane committed impeachable offenses. The subcommittee was formed by a resolution approved Feb. 10 by the Republican-controlled House, 170-12. But six days later Kane said she would not seek the Democratic Party's nomination for another term. That has cooled Democrats to the prospect of mounting an impeachment process. "The real issue is whether we need to go and spend all this time, effort and money when the voters are going to pick a new attorney general in November," Dermody told reporters. "And she has two criminal trials pending that haven't been heard yet, they're in August, so I think there's something to be said for letting that process take its course too before we move forward." Dermody's comments echoed concerns first raised during the subcommittee hearing by one of its members, Rep. Joseph Petrarca, D-Allegheny. For now, the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery, a former federal prosecutor, said the committee is working on laying the foundation for an impeachment process and a standard for what is an impeachable offense. Stephens also pushed back on Democrats' contention that the impeachment process should wait for Kane's criminal case to play out. The timeline of Kane's criminal case and a potential impeachment is similar to the 1993-94 timeline for the late Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen, and House impeachment investigators were able to do their work, Stephens said. The subcommittee heard testimony Tuesday from Dermody and former Dauphin County Sen. Jeff Piccola, a Republican. Both were part of the prosecution committee in the 1993-94 impeachment of Larsen, the only person to be impeached in Pennsylvania since the 1800s, according to Stephens. They warned that an impeachment process is cumbersome and difficult, and required the hiring of outside, independent lawyers who, according to Dermody, rang up a $1.5 million bill. Larsen was convicted in April 1994 of conspiring to illegally obtain anti-anxiety drugs through prescriptions written in the names of his court employees, and was stripped of his office when he was sentenced that June. The Senate voted to impeach him in October on a different basis, a misconduct allegation that he had discussed a case without both sides being represented. The impeachment prevented Larsen from taking public office again, even if his criminal conviction had been overturned. Piccola said it was important that the arduous impeachment process have broad bipartisan support, especially because it requires a two-thirds majority Senate vote to convict. Meanwhile, Dermody warned that Montgomery County's ongoing criminal case against Kane may complicate the ability of impeachment investigators to take testimony from witnesses. "I'm assuming the district attorney doesn't want the Judiciary Committee snooping around until they're done," Dermody told the committee. Dermody also said it would be difficult for senators to sit as an impartial jury after 29 of them voted in favor of a resolution that asserted there was reasonable cause to direct Gov. Tom Wolf to remove Kane on grounds that her lack of an active law license makes it impossible to perform her duties. That vote, Feb. 10, failed by four votes to reach the required two-thirds majority to order Kane's removal. Kane's trial is scheduled for August and her term is up next January. Kane was charged with perjury and other offenses last August for allegedly leaking secret grand jury material to a reporter to smear a rival and lying about it under oath. She maintains that she did nothing wrong and is fighting the charges.

House Democrats raise questions about Kane impeachment