Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — To activist Gene Stilp, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is “just a plain old criminal defendant.”
And, Stilp said, Kane should not be allowed to avail herself of any state resources in her defense of criminal charges filed against her.
On Tuesday, Stilp announced the filing of an official request with the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission, asking the commission to look at the activities conducted by Kane while serving as attorney general where she may have benefited financially from her position.
Stilp says that is a violation of the Ethics Act.
The specific activities Stilp referred to in the request are:
• The use of commonwealth personnel, material, facilities, work time and other commonwealth-related items for the defense of the attorney general in her private criminal matters.
Stilp announced the filings at a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. It was his first venture back into the limelight of fighting state corruption since he announced his retirement in January.
“I did retire from all of this,” Stilp, 64, told me on the phone Tuesday. “But I think this is so crucial and I didn’t see anybody else doing anything, so I sat down and drafted the complaint.”
That was last week. Stilp filed the complaint with the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
“I saw all the state resources that were being utilized for this plain old criminal defendant,” he said. “And who knows how long this has been going on.”
Stilp said state resources could have been spent planning Kane’s defense strategy and said the whole matter is a conflict of interest. He called it a “pecuniary benefit” for Kane not available to other citizens who find themselves in trouble.
“You don’t see these state resources made available for other criminal defendants and she shouldn’t, either,” Stilp said.
Stilp dislikes the “arrogance of the office” displayed by Kane.
“She should step down,” he said. “And if not, the governor should act to remove her under the state constitution.”
Out of retirement for this mission only, Stilp asked the state Ethics Commission on Tuesday to investigate Kane’s use of her state security detail when she was arraigned on criminal charges Aug. 6 and her use of the Capitol Media Center to comment on her legal problems.
Kane is accused of leaking confidential grand jury information to a newspaper to embarrass a former state prosecutor she thought made her look bad and then lying about it under oath. Kane has denied the charges. Her spokesman says her elected office entitles her to use state resources.
Stilp, known for decades for fighting state corruption, would ride his pink pig converted school bus around the state to bring attention to issues. He also had two inflatable pink pigs that would often serve as props for his news conferences.
In 2012, Stilp lost to U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta in the race for the 11th Congressional District seat.
During that campaign, I spent a day with Stilp as he traveled around his home area in Paxton Township. Stilp is a native of Wilkes-Barre, graduating from St. Nick’s High School and King’s College before getting his Juris Doctor from George Mason University.
Well known for his activist role in state matters and for drawing attention to fraud, waste and corruption in state government, Stilp has raised his name recognition, many believe, to a high level.
He won’t return to retirement until the Kane case is resolved and is anxiously awaiting how Kane’s arraignment on Aug. 24 will be handled. He wants to see if state resources will continue to be used on Kane’s behalf.
“She has crossed over to being a criminal defendant and not the attorney general,” Stilp said.
He wonders what this example means to the citizens of Pennsylvania.
Stilp told me he didn’t have his pink pig ensemble in Harrisburg Tuesday, but he was armed with several of his catchy phrases, as well as suitcases to signify that Kane should “pack up and leave.” He said he asked citizens to send postcards to the attorney general’s office, urging her to resign and leave town.
“It’s time to send her packing,” he said. “Kane is not able.”
He sounded like the same Gene Stilp and seemed to have the same passion he has always had to challenge state leaders.
“Retirement can wait,” he said. “I just feel so strongly about this.”
I asked Stilp how it felt to be back in the limelight.
“I feel sad to have to do it, but this just isn’t right,” he said.
