Former Montco DA Bruce Castor No Longer Top Aide to Attorney General

Newly minted Pennsylvania Attorney General Bruce Beemer announced appointments of his top aides on Tuesday, and former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, who had been Kathleen Kane's second in command, is not among the appointees.

The Republican Castor had been the acting Attorney General for a brief period after Kane resigned and while Beemer was being nominated and vetted. He was the Montgomery County District Attorney from 2000 to 2008 and ran unsuccessfully for the post again in 2016, when he lost to present DA Kevin Steele. Castor ran for Attorney General in 2004 but lost to Tim Corbett.

Beemer chose to start with an entirely new crew after his predecessor was found guilty on all counts in a perjury trial last month. As Kane's top deputy,

Robert A. Mulle, who had been working as the Executive Deputy Attorney General in the Civil Law Division, has been named the First Deputy, according to a press release from Beemer's office.

James Donohue III, who has a similar current title of Executive Deputy Attorney General of the Public Protection Division, was named as Beemer's acting Chief of Staff.

Kane became the first woman and the first Democrat to be elected Pennsylvania's attorney general in 2012. Kane's conviction and resignation marked the apparent conclusion of a very long and very public fight between her and her rivals, although Kane maintains her innocence and says she will appeal the conviction. Beemer was confirmed unanimously by the Pennsylvania Senate at the end of August.