I said it before, and I am saying it again, this time more forcefully: Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who has been indicted for lying to a grand jury, must resign or be kicked out of office by the state General Assembly and Gov. Tom Wolf.

The embattled chief state prosecutor has been operating for more than a month with her legal license suspended. This week, she appointed a special out-of-state prosecutor to head an investigation into what has become known as "Porngate" - the unsavory disclosures that high-ranking judicial and other officials have been sending and receiving not only pornographic material but also emails that are demeaning to women, minorities and those with medical or physical disabilities.Kane's appointment of Maryland's former attorney general, Douglas Gansler, raises all sorts of legal questions. On top of that, Gansler said his investigation could cost us taxpayers up to $2 million.Some law experts are questioning whether Kane has the right to make such an appointment, given the fact that her law license is on hold. She claims she does, indicating that this is an administrative decision, not a legal one. She insists that she still has the right to take administrative action and to direct underlings in her office."I don't think most people know for sure, because we're in uncharted territory," said Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University law professor. "You'll find out when the prosecutors try to do something."At the news conference this week where she made the announcement, Kane said this is a serious matter which requires a serious response. "No African-American should walk into a courtroom where the judge or prosecutor or defense attorney mocks him or her," Kane said. "No woman should go to work and be subjected to consistent treatment of disgusting indignity by women-haters because they were born with one less body part - which, the last I heard, does not contain any extra brain cells," Kane added.Gansler told the news conference, "We will take the facts wherever they lead us, and if crimes are uncovered, we will prosecute them. We have no baggage. We have no preconceived notions other than to do our job and do it well."George Parry, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice in Pennsylvania, told reporters that transmitting pornographic images is not a crime, unless it depicts children, so he is puzzled as to which crimes Gansler is referring. Parry said the emails may be tasteless, sexist and politically incorrect, but also said that Kane is the attorney general, not the taste police.It is likely that the disclosure of these emails will be more of an embarrassment to those involved rather than a criminal matter. This public disclosure has already led to the humiliation and resignation of state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery and an ethics investigation of Supreme Court Justice Michael Eakin, who has apologized for his role in the receipt and sending of inappropriate emails. The email scandal has also ensnared other lower level officials, including Frank Fina, who formerly worked in the attorney general's office and who now works in the Philadelphia district attorney's office. Fina and two other prosecutors caught up in the scandal recently underwent sensitivity training.This is my point. Kane has selectively released some but not all of the 4,000 or so emails in question, even though she can disclose all of them. Three courts have said so, but what she has chosen to do instead is to use them as a retaliatory tool against those who dared to challenge her decisions and against real or perceived political opponents, including members of her own staff.Some of these staff members testified against her recently during a legislative inquiry about whether she can handle the duties of attorney general while her law license is suspended.She is an incompetent, vindictive public official who is surviving on life support while legal and legislative investigations play out.I suggest that Kane release all of the emails. Let the chips fall where they will. Let them implicate whoever is caught up in the net, and let those individuals explain to the public why they did what they did. Then, let them suffer the consequences of their actions.Even if what they did is not legally punishable, the court of public opinion will deal with those implicated. By doing this, Kane will save the taxpayers up to $2 million and won't open her and her office to lawsuits from the legal questions that are sure to come if the special prosecutor issues subpoenas or attempts to move forward with his investigation.Once she has done that good deed, she should do another - resign.BRUCE FRASSINELLI |

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