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Vote To Remove Kane From Office Fails In Pennsylvania Senate

Matt Rourke
/
AP

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane gets to keep her job -- for now. 

A vote to remove her from office failed in the state senate Wednesday. 

While a majority of Pennsylvania senators, mostly Republicans, were in favor of removing Kane from office, they fell short of the required two-thirds majority needed to invoke a section of the state constitution that hasn't been used since 1891.

The question was whether Kane, a Democrat, could do her job without a law license. The state Supreme Court suspended her law license while she faces criminal charges for allegedly leaking secret grand jury material and lying about it.

Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnatti insisted the process wasn't about politics, or about Kane's guilt or innocence.

"This isn't about her corruption," he said. "This is about the loss of a law license and it clearly, clearly has been a circus and continues to be that in the view of many Pennsylvanians, and certainly in my view."

Kane has blamed her legal problems on an "old boys network" out to stop her from exposing inappropriate and offensive emails exchanged among lawyers and judges in the so-called "porngate scandal."

In a statement, Kane vowed the special prosecutor she appointed to review those emails will "press on."

Meanwhile, the House has voted to launch a formal process to impeach her.