Rendell backs Kane in dispute over AG probe

     Former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell is shown speaking to a crowd gathered in front of the White House in October 2011. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

    Former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell is shown speaking to a crowd gathered in front of the White House in October 2011. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

    Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is defending the handling of a Philadelphia public corruption investigation by fellow Democrat Kathleen Kane, the state’s attorney general.

    Rendell wrote in a letter published Tuesday by The Philadelphia Inquirer that Kane has been unfairly criticized and that she made the right decision not to prosecute the case.

    Rendell, the city’s former mayor and top prosecutor, says that if the elected officials are guilty, the Legislature should censure them. The paper says they were caught on tape accepting cash and gifts from a confidential informant in a criminal investigation.

    In support of Kane, Rendell cites a deal made before she took office to drop charges against the informant, questions about the investigative techniques and another prosecutor’s review that concluded the case wasn’t prosecutable.

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