Pennsylvania’s AG-elect appoints ethics expert

Pennsylvania’s attorney general-elect has appointed an ethics reform expert as the state’s first-ever Chief Integrity Officer.

Democrat Josh Shapiro, in Friday’s announcement, says Eric Fillman will create and direct training for all employees in the attorney general’s office. The idea is to help ensure fairness, ethics and transparency.

The office is trying to repair its tarnished image after the perjury and obstruction conviction of former Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

In August, a jury convicted Kane, a Democrat, of leaking grand jury information to a newspaper and lying about it under oath. Sentenced to 10 to 23 months in jail, she remains free pending appeal.

Shapiro, who campaigned as an ethics reformer, gets sworn in later this month.

Fillman currently serves as counsel to the Pennsylvania House committee on ethics.