http://www.pennlive.com/news/2015/11/kathleen_kane_feudal_5_takeawa.html#incart_river_home
Attorney General Kathleen Kane's long-simmering conflict with a grand jury judge became very public this week.
Last week, Kane accused Northumberland County Senior Judge Barry Feudale of leaking sealed material to the press and intimated that he may have leaked information from other cases. Feudale, a fellow Democrat, then made public an allegation that Kane or her staffers broke into his office 2013.
That volley came after a complaint by Kane resulted in Feudale's removal in 2013 as supervising judge of a statewide grand jury.
Kane's statements prompted Judge John Cleland — the judge presiding over convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky's appeal — to order the attorney general to present evidence in closed session Thursday. A day before that appearance, Feudale sent state and federal authorities an 18-page letter and supporting documents outlining a series of allegations against Kane.
Here are several takeaways from the fallout:
1. One of Feudale's key allegations is that Kane's office shielded former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo from prosecution in the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's pay-to-play case. Feudale, who also presided over that grand jury probe, said Fumo was the first person named in the proposed presentment, but his name had been removed by the time Feudale was presented with the final recommendation of charges. That document refers frequently to a "Senator No. 6."
Laurel Brandstetter, the prosecutor who oversaw the Turnpike investigation at the time, said in a written message that Feudale's complaint "raises significant and alarming allegations." Citing grand jury secrecy laws, she said she could not discuss specifics of the case.
"Attorney Generals (Linda) Kelly and Kane made the investigation and prosecution of the Pennsylvania Turnpike cases extremely difficult," she wrote. "That being said, I would never have knowingly participated in an effort to improperly manipulate criminal charges."
In 2013, Kane denied that there had been any changes to the Turnpike presentment. "I agreed that everyone who was presented to me should be charged," she told PennLive, at the time.
Dennis Cogan, Fumo's attorney, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Kane spokesman Chuck Ardo said prosecutors make decisions about which cases to pursue every day.
"Not every investigator or deputy may agree with those decisions, but they're not the ones that have to make them," he said.
2. A copy of the original Turnpike presentment was one of the documents Feudale alleges was removed from his chambers inside the Attorney General's Office during a break-in that occurred in 2013. Due to the deteriorating relationship between Feudale and Kane's staff, the judge had changed the locks on his door before attending his son's graduation. When he returned, he has alleged, the items he had specifically placed on his desk were missing.
3. Feudale released a few emails of his own on Wednesday. One reportedly came from James Reeder, one of the investigators initially tasked with looking into whether there were leaks from the Sandusky grand jury. He wrote in June 2013 that he and Ken Brown "are feeling somewhat adrift." In the email, Reeder said that Kane's Attorney General's Office wasn't cooperating with requests for material and that he and Brown had not been paid for their work. Neither investigator could be reached for comment Thursday. Ardo said he didn't know anything about the complaint.
4. Feudale made a number of allegations. Some were based on his first-hand knowledge or documentation, such as emails. For others, the claims were largely based on other people's accounts.
5. The attorney general has generally dismissed all of the allegations made in Feudale's lengthy complaint. Spokesman Chuck Ardo said the judge had made a "laundry list of allegations" without providing proof. "The attorney general categorically denies virtually everything Mr. Feudale has said," Ardo said.
6. Feudale wants Kane removed by any means necessary. The statement released Wednesday was sent to a wide range of state officials, including Gov. Wolf, select lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, the State Ethics Commission, the FBI and the State Police. "I ask you to end this legal and institutional nightmare by removing her from office as soon as possible," he wrote.
7. Despite the ongoing feud, it became clear Thursday that Kane had no direct evidence that Feudale leaked grand jury material from the Sandusky case. In Cleland's order denying a discovery request in the Sandusky appeal, the judge wrote, "(Kane) testified that she is aware of no information . . . that either prove to her, or persuade her, that Judge Feudale and/or any attorney for the Office of Attorney General orchestrated, facilitated, cooperated in, or arranged for the disclosure of otherwise secret grand jury information in this case."
Kane also testified that she did not intend to give that impression in the original press release. "I certainly think that particular statement in the release could have certainly been more artfully crafted," Ardo said.
Staff writer Charles Thompson contributed to this report.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane's long-simmering conflict with a grand jury judge became very public this week.
Last week, Kane accused Northumberland County Senior Judge Barry Feudale of leaking sealed material to the press and intimated that he may have leaked information from other cases. Feudale, a fellow Democrat, then made public an allegation that Kane or her staffers broke into his office 2013.
That volley came after a complaint by Kane resulted in Feudale's removal in 2013 as supervising judge of a statewide grand jury.
Kane's statements prompted Judge John Cleland — the judge presiding over convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky's appeal — to order the attorney general to present evidence in closed session Thursday. A day before that appearance, Feudale sent state and federal authorities an 18-page letter and supporting documents outlining a series of allegations against Kane.
Here are several takeaways from the fallout:
1. One of Feudale's key allegations is that Kane's office shielded former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo from prosecution in the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's pay-to-play case. Feudale, who also presided over that grand jury probe, said Fumo was the first person named in the proposed presentment, but his name had been removed by the time Feudale was presented with the final recommendation of charges. That document refers frequently to a "Senator No. 6."
Laurel Brandstetter, the prosecutor who oversaw the Turnpike investigation at the time, said in a written message that Feudale's complaint "raises significant and alarming allegations." Citing grand jury secrecy laws, she said she could not discuss specifics of the case.
"Attorney Generals (Linda) Kelly and Kane made the investigation and prosecution of the Pennsylvania Turnpike cases extremely difficult," she wrote. "That being said, I would never have knowingly participated in an effort to improperly manipulate criminal charges."
In 2013, Kane denied that there had been any changes to the Turnpike presentment. "I agreed that everyone who was presented to me should be charged," she told PennLive, at the time.
Dennis Cogan, Fumo's attorney, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Kane spokesman Chuck Ardo said prosecutors make decisions about which cases to pursue every day.
"Not every investigator or deputy may agree with those decisions, but they're not the ones that have to make them," he said.
2. A copy of the original Turnpike presentment was one of the documents Feudale alleges was removed from his chambers inside the Attorney General's Office during a break-in that occurred in 2013. Due to the deteriorating relationship between Feudale and Kane's staff, the judge had changed the locks on his door before attending his son's graduation. When he returned, he has alleged, the items he had specifically placed on his desk were missing.
3. Feudale released a few emails of his own on Wednesday. One reportedly came from James Reeder, one of the investigators initially tasked with looking into whether there were leaks from the Sandusky grand jury. He wrote in June 2013 that he and Ken Brown "are feeling somewhat adrift." In the email, Reeder said that Kane's Attorney General's Office wasn't cooperating with requests for material and that he and Brown had not been paid for their work. Neither investigator could be reached for comment Thursday. Ardo said he didn't know anything about the complaint.
4. Feudale made a number of allegations. Some were based on his first-hand knowledge or documentation, such as emails. For others, the claims were largely based on other people's accounts.
5. The attorney general has generally dismissed all of the allegations made in Feudale's lengthy complaint. Spokesman Chuck Ardo said the judge had made a "laundry list of allegations" without providing proof. "The attorney general categorically denies virtually everything Mr. Feudale has said," Ardo said.
6. Feudale wants Kane removed by any means necessary. The statement released Wednesday was sent to a wide range of state officials, including Gov. Wolf, select lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, the State Ethics Commission, the FBI and the State Police. "I ask you to end this legal and institutional nightmare by removing her from office as soon as possible," he wrote.
7. Despite the ongoing feud, it became clear Thursday that Kane had no direct evidence that Feudale leaked grand jury material from the Sandusky case. In Cleland's order denying a discovery request in the Sandusky appeal, the judge wrote, "(Kane) testified that she is aware of no information . . . that either prove to her, or persuade her, that Judge Feudale and/or any attorney for the Office of Attorney General orchestrated, facilitated, cooperated in, or arranged for the disclosure of otherwise secret grand jury information in this case."
Kane also testified that she did not intend to give that impression in the original press release. "I certainly think that particular statement in the release could have certainly been more artfully crafted," Ardo said.
Staff writer Charles Thompson contributed to this report.
