Kane Faces Additional Charges, Arraignment Set For Thursday

Prosecutors have decided to press additional charges of perjury against Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday.

The charges emerged after a “secrecy oath” Kane allegedly took was discovered in her office, the DA said.

Kane will be arraigned on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Rebar, on 133 Level Road in Collegeville.

She told a grand jury that she never took a secrecy oath.

Among the charges leveled on Kane by Risa Vetri Ferman are Obstructing Administration of Law, Abuse of Office, Criminal Conspiracy, and Perjury.

Kane has consistently denied all charges and has classified the attack against her as retaliation for her efforts to expose illicit behavior amidst Republican officials in Pennsylvania.

The Democratic attorney general had originally been charged with obstruction of the administration of law, official oppression, conspiracy, false swearing, and perjury, among other charges.

Few local Democratic officials made immediate comments on the charges, but Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Rob Gleason immediately released a statement.

Kane’s driver and “special agent on executive protection detail,” as described by Ferman, was also be charged.

Patrick Rocco Reese allegedly snuck into grand jury files in violation of a protection order issued by a judge, repeatedly obtaining confidential information.

“I am very disappointed the district attorney has made the decision to pursue this case,” Kane said in a statement. ”I have maintained my innocence from the day these allegations surfaced and I continue to do so today. I intend to defend myself vigorously against these charges.”

“I look forward to the opportunity to present my case in a public courtroom and move beyond the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that has defined the process to this point.”

A grand jury panel, led by Special Prosecutor Thomas Carluccio, found in December that Kane should be charged with everything that she was charged with on Thursday. Carluccio did not advance the charges but sent the panel’s conclusions to Ferman.

The panel said Kane allegedly illegally released grand jury documents to the Philadelphia Daily News in March 2014 regarding a 2009 investigation by prosecutor Frank Fina, and later lied about it.

Fina was investigating J. Whyatt Mondesire, the former head of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP. No charges were brought against Modeshire.

Carluccio’s panel alleged that Kane gave the information about the investigation to the press in order to embarrass Fina and show that he did a poor job.

Kane reportedly blamed Fina for a story run by The Inquirer alleging that she illicitly shut down an inquiry into Philadelphia Democrats accepting cash from an undercover informant, Philly.com reports.

Fina was a prosecutor for the Republican attorney generals that held the position before Kane.

This is a breaking story. More information will be posted as it becomes available.