Wolf says he would oust AG Kane if Senate votes for it
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf said today that he would have no choice but to remove Kathleen Kane as Pennsylvania’s attorney general if the state Senate votes for it.
The governor said the only question is whether the Republican-controlled Senate will invoke an obscure provision in the state constitution to remove fellow Democrat Kane from office by a two-thirds vote.
If that happens, Wolf said, “my understanding is that my role would be to do their bidding.”
“I’m not a lawyer and I haven’t studied the constitution on that particular point,” he said when asked on a radio show in Harrisburg/.
A Senate panel voted 5-2 last week to recommend that the full Senate launch a formal process to remove Kane, who continues to run her office with a suspended law license while awaiting trial on criminal charges that she leaked confidential investigative information and lied under oath about it.
Kane, who in 2012 became the first Democrat and first woman to be elected as state attorney general, professes her innocence and has vowed to fight any attempt by the Senate to remove her as unconstitutional.
Kane’s spokesman, Chuck Ardo, said today that if the Senate approves Kane’s ouster, the governor should consider the gravity of such a move.
“We would certainly expect the governor to be thoughtful and thorough in determining whether this is an appropriate course of action,” Ardo said. “This is a historic moment. We’re talking about removing an elected attorney general from office.”
In September, the state Supreme Court indefinitely suspended Kane’s law license.
