Ellingsen Interview Podcast Available — Kim Kennedy’s interview of Elk Township Republican committeewoman broadcast this morning, Jan. 14, is now available and can be found here at WFYL.
Day: January 14, 2016
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 1-14-16
Wild Bill Hickok appeared on stage in Niagara Falls in the play “The Daring Buffalo Chasers of the Plains.” By all accounts he was terrible.
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 1-14-16
Kathleen Kane Hearing Theater Of Absurd
Kathleen Kane Hearing Theater Of Absurd By Leo Knepper
Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, the Governor can request the removal of certain “civil officials” outside of the impeachment process. After the suspension of Kane’s law license, and refusal to resign, a Special Committee on Senate Address was convened to determine if Kane should remain in office without her law license. On Tuesday, (Jan. 12) the Special Committee on Senate Address held its final hearing on Attorney General Kathleen Kane.
The hearing was eye-opening, to say the least. Although Attorney General Kane did not testify, her Chief of Staff, Jonathan Duecker, addressed the Committee in her stead. Duecker was frequently backed into a corner, mainly because his positions defied logic and were self-contradictory. When his statements didn’t put him into a corner, they were hedged and revealed how little Duecker knew about the operations of the Attorney General’s office. For example, Duecker had no idea what Kane’s day to day schedule was and couldn’t say for sure when she had last worked in Harrisburg. He also didn’t know if Kane had provided written instructions to the Attorney General’s legal staff about changes to procedure after she had her law license suspended. Duecker also was unable to answer fundamental questions about the contracting process Kane went through when she appointed a “Special Prosecutor” related to her investigation into pornographic emails. His unfamiliarity with the details of this contract comes as a surprise considering its high profile and the controversy it caused among the legal staff in the AG’s office.
If you have two and a half hours and want to watch the testimony, it can be found here. However if you wish to maintain any confidence in the operational capacity of the Attorney General’s office, you should probably skip it.
Rounding out the hearing was testimony from Ed Rendell. He didn’t exactly speak in defense of Kane. Rather, he talked about his time as the Philadelphia District Attorney and how a large part of his work did not require him to have a law license. Although Rendell seemed to enjoy his walk down memory lane, his testimony was only marginally relevant because District Attorneys are not subject to the Commonwealth Attorneys Act. The Act defines the role of the AG as an elected position and what legal responsibilities it has in the Commonwealth. Despite Rendell’s commentary, his experience as a District Attorney is hardly relevant to Kane’s ability to function with a suspended law license. He also urged the General Assembly to go through the impeachment process, instead of the Senate utilizing the Special Committee on Senate Address to resolve the issue of Kane’s suitability for office.
The Senate Committee will issue its final report by the end of January and make its recommendation to the full Senate.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.
Kathleen Kane Hearing Theater Of Absurd
Donna Ellingsen Kim Kennedy Kudos
Donna Ellingsen Kim Kennedy Kudos — Kudos to Kim Kennedy of WFYL for her just ended (7:30 a.m.) interview with Elk Township GOP committeewoman Donna Ellingsen.
Donna and four other committeepersons are the subject of an inquisition with intent to remove by the Chester County Republican establishment.
Yes, the goal is to remove this elected people despite any denials the powers-that-be are making. Hearing dates have been picked without consulting the schedules of these volunteers. Initially, the four were not even told what charges they would be facing namely violating GOP bylaws by opposing candidates supported by the party.
Donna did not address the specifics of the charges saying she wanted to wait until the closed-door, any-thing-but-transparent hearing as to not jeopardize matters for the other three.
The hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 26 but the accused are attempting to change the date as it conflicts with matters to which they’ve already committed. One of those accused even has a long-scheduled out-of-the-country business trip. Donna has said the four are trying to find a list of alternative dates to offer the county powers.
Donna told Kim that she represents her constituents and her conscience, and does not blindly follow the dictates of her party boss who she pointed out is a paid lobbyist with numerous, and obvious, potential conflicts of interests.
She noted that the state Republican Party leaders are more than willing to almost suicidally push through unpopular legislation to benefit the political class i.e. the Corbett Gas Tax but fanatically oppose popular reforms that would hurt it i.e. getting out of the liquor business.
She noted that with paid lobbyists controlling the allegedly fiscal responsible political side, ridiculous spending occurs such as $477,000 public pensions.
She said she got involved in politics because she loves her country. Presumably, she believed what the Republican Party claimed it stood for.
Donna Ellingsen Kim Kennedy Kudos