Republicans with political grudges are out to "railroad" and destroy Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a lawyer for the first first-term Democrat said Saturday.
Washington crisis counselor Lanny Davis vowed that Kane will be vindicated, whether or not she faces criminal charges in an investigation over a grand jury leak.
"This railroad train seems to me to be driven by some men with grudges, men who are bitter and angry at being exposed and professionally embarrassed -- men who have political agendas to railroad Kathleen Kane out of office and destroy her career," Davis said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has cited anonymous sources in saying that a special grand jury this week recommended that Kane be charged over the 2013 leak.
The state's former Supreme Court justice, Ronald Castille appointed a fellow Republican lawyer to serve as the special prosecutor, to be overseen by a Republican county judge. Those three have either not returned messages or declined comment this week.
The decision on whether to pursue the grand jury's reported recommendation is now in the hands of another Republican, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. Davis said he had confidence she would review the matter fairly.
Davis said those out to get Kane include those with grudges over her review of her predecessor's Jerry Sandusky child-abuse investigation and pornography found on state computers. Her predecessor was ex-Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican.
Davis said repeatedly that Kane never knowingly disclosed any secret grand jury material. And he pledged that she would not step down, while conceding she had made some mistakes in her first two years in office.
"She will not resign because she is innocent," Davis said. "She will not let them prevail."
Kane is the first woman and the first Democrat to be elected attorney general since it became an elective post in 1980.
She has endured a difficult year both professionally and personally. In addition to the grand jury problem, she took heat for quashing a probe -- later revived by the Philadelphia district attorney -- of lawmakers who allegedly took inappropriate gifts.
And she announced after Christmas that she had filed for divorce from her husband of 14 years. They have two children and have lived in Clarks Summit, near Scranton.
Kane has said she is using personal funds to pay for Davis' legal work. Davis worked as special counsel to President Bill Clinton.
