‘Porngate’ review runs up nearly $400,000 tab

As Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane resigns her post Wednesday, she leaves behind a trail of scandal, including the “Porngate” emails traded among lawyers and judges that Kane selectively released to the public.

So far, the D.C.-based law firm Kane hired to review the emails has run up a tab of $385,064.20, according to a spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office.

That’s far less than had been anticipated when she initiated the review in December after hundreds of emails had already become public. More than eight months later, the firm Buckley Sandler has yet to put out its final report. 

Former Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, the special prosecutor Kane appointed to lead the effort, did not respond to requests for comment. In March, Gansler said his team was still sifting through roughly 2 million emails containing pornographic, racist, homophobic and otherwise offensive content. He did not expect the material would reveal any criminal violations. 

Kane’s temporary replacement, Bruce Castor, said during a press conference Tuesday he plans to check in with the firm at the end of the week, once he has gotten acquainted with his new responsibilities.

“This needs to get finished, the report needs to get out, we have to pay the bill and move on with the business of the attorney general,” he said. 

The attorney general’s office had planned to put out an initial report in May, but it was Castor who canceled the release because it was not comprehensive and contained only a “porno slice.”