Porn, leaks, and petty politics: What led to Kathleen Kane’s downfall

A look at one of the messiest political scandals in Pennsylvania history as the former state Attorney General begins her jail sentence.

Air Date: December 5, 2018

Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane leaves court in handcuffs after her sentencing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. Kane was sentenced to 10-to-23 months in county jail and 8 years probation. In August 2016, Kane was found guilty of felony perjury and an assortment of misdemeanors related to a leak of secret grand jury materials. (Dan Gleiter/PennLive.com via AP, Pool)

It’s one of the messiest scandals in Pennsylvania’s political history — involving leaks, personal vendettas, and a trove of pornographic emails shared on state servers. Once considered a rising star in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party, former state Attorney General Kathleen Kane fell hard after orchestrating a plot to take revenge upon a rival prosecutor. Kane is now serving a 10- to 23-month jail sentence. On this episode of The Why, WHYY’s Katie Colaneri and Craig McCoy of The Philadelphia Inquirer trace the winding path of Kane’s fall from grace and what became of the “Porngate” scandal.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.