Former Acting AG: Kane's Hiring Of Castor An Attempt To Reassert Control
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- A former acting Pennsylvania attorney general believes Kathleen Kane's hiring of former Montgomery County Commissioner and DA Bruce Castor to be her second in command is an attempt to reassert control of her office, which has been restricted by the suspension of her law license.
By law, Kane's first deputy, Bruce Beemer, is first in line of succession. On Tuesday, Kane's spokesman Chuck Ardo insisted that hiring Bruce Castor as Kane's new number two was not an end run around Beemer, saying that Beemer has the same powers he's had. But Wednesday, Ardo confirmed that with Castor's hiring, Beemer has lost the important power of authorizing wiretaps. Walter Cohen, a former acting attorney general, believes Kane is trying to bypass Beemer by installing someone she trusts as second in command.
"To make decisions that would be in line with decisions that she would want made," Cohen said, "and we can only assume that is not what Bruce Beemer has been doing."
By doing that, Cohen believes that Kane, who has been unable to practice law since last fall, is trying to re-establish her presence in the AG's office as much as she can.