Pennsylvania reels from unbelievably crazy 'porngate' email scandal

Pennsylvania is reeling from a mind-bogglingly elaborate political scandal, encompassing offensive emails, corruption and twins.

The scandal has been going on for over a year, but the Washington Post brought it to national attention in an article on Saturday night. The central player is Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general, Kathleen Kane. For months, she has been releasing copies of scandalous emails sent by an astonishingly wide array of people, including judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers and scores of people from Kane’s own office.

The emails are a colorful blend of hardcore pornography and bottom-feeding misogyny, with racism thrown in for good measure. One sampling features Photoshopped naked pictures of Sarah Palin and an image showing a white man seemingly keeping a bucket of fried chicken away from two black men, with the caption “BRAVERY.” Their release has led to the firing of at least six state officials and the resignation of a State Supreme Court justice. Kane has disciplined at least 60 people who work in her department.

So far, so good, right? Tough state prosecutor uncovers corruption, brings down bigwigs on behalf of the people. Except for one little problem: Kane herself is under indictment. Here’s how Bloomberg described the case against her:

Kane, 49, is accused of leaking documents about a 2009 grand-jury investigation—led by her [Republican electoral] rival, Frank Fina, the chief deputy attorney general at the time—into the finances of a Philadelphia civil rights leader. She says she wasn’t bound by the rules of secrecy governing the grand jury proceedings because she had left the D.A.’s office in 2007. The leak followed criticism of her decision to shut down a three-year undercover sting operation led by Fina that caught several Democratic Philadelphia legislators on tape accepting bribes and that she said was flawed.

Kane has said that the indictment is revenge for her release of the emails. But her problems don’t end there. Some of the emails that she uncovered were sent and received by her own twin sister. They were as charming as the rest. From a Philadelphia Daily News report:

One included a photograph of a smiling woman with a black eye and a bruised lip, with the caption: “Domestic violence – because sometimes, you have to tell her more than once.”

Another was a picture of a black toddler wearing gold jewelry and clutching $100 bills.

A “joke” about illegal immigrants, saying “millions . . . come in” but “only one bastard actually works!”

Hilarious! This is definitely one that will run and run and run.