Another perjury charge filed against Pennsylvania attorney general

HARRISBURG, Pa. _ Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, already facing a host of criminal charges for allegedly leaking confidential information and later lying about it to a grand jury, was charged Thursday with a new count of perjury. tmpplchld In addition to lying about the leak, prosecutors now say Kane lied to a grand jury about an oath of secrecy she signed in 2013. That oath barred her from releasing investigative materials that they say she provided to a newspaper in a bid to embarrass a foe.tmpplchld Last month, investigators with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office searched Kane’s office and found the oath, which Kane signed shortly after taking office. In it, she swore to keep confidential decades worth of grand jury investigations, according to District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who announced the new charge against Kane.tmpplchld The oath could prove key in the larger case against Kane, who is charged with leaking secret grand jury material to the Philadelphia Daily News in a bid to embarrass a political enemy, Frank Fina. He is a former top prosecutor in her office.tmpplchld Kane and her lawyers have repeatedly said she never took an oath of secrecy covering the information from a 2009 investigation she is accused of leaking. At the time, Kane was a stay-at-home mother was not involved in the grand jury investigation at issue and thus broke no law by making the grand jury information public, her lawyers have said.tmpplchld But investigators who searched Kane’s office found that she had, indeed, signed a secrecy oath. She swore to keep secret information from a grand jury Grand Jury No. 1 _ empaneled 35 years ago _ through Grand Jury No. 32. The grand jury from which she is accused of leaking information was Grand Jury No. 29. tmpplchld In August, Kane was charged with conspiracy, official oppression perjury and other crimes. She has pleaded not guilty.tmpplchld Ferman said Kane and her lawyer were not notified of the new charge until moments before it was announced to the media Thursday morning. tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 The Philadelphia Inquirertmpplchld Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.philly.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld