Kane's driver pleads not guilty in leak probe

The driver and security detail chief for Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane pleaded not guilty Tuesday to allegations that he repeatedly accessed private grand jury information for her.

In a hearing that lasted about five minutes, Patrick Reese, a former police chief in Lackawanna County, was arraigned on a contempt-of-court charge before Montgomery County Court Judge William R. Carpenter and ordered to return for trial next month.

His arraignment came a day before Kane is scheduled to break her silence on the perjury and other charges against her, and as the state's top Democrat repeated a call for her to step down.

Reese remained silent during the proceeding in Norristown. He and his attorney, William Fetterhoff of Harrisburg, declined to comment to reporters.

Kane, who was arraigned Saturday, is accused of plotting to expose a political foe by leaking confidential information and then lying under oath about it. Through her lawyer, she has maintained her innocence.

Reese, 48, a onetime police chief in Dunmore, is one of Kane's "closest confidants," prosecutors said, and became part of what they have described as her campaign to expose her enemies and snoop into the criminal investigation against her.

They say Reese used a private email system in the Attorney General's Office to access grand jury documents and, in doing so, violated a protective order from Carpenter that barred Kane's employees from accessing such information.

Court documents allege that David C. Peifer, a top investigator in Kane's office, granted Reese the access to restricted email servers last year. He used the system to search for the names and email addresses of key players in the investigation, saw who testified before the grand jury and when, and learned the identify of one of the grand jurors, according to court documents.

(Peifer has not been charged in the case or commented on it. His lawyer, Chris Caputo, did not return a message left Tuesday.)

Prosecutors said Reese plays an important role in Kane's office. Employees told investigators that others referred to him as the unofficial "chief of staff," and that he acted as a "go-between" for Kane and her staff.

Carpenter set Reese's contempt-of-court hearing for Sept. 9, and ordered him released on $5,000 bail. The case will go directly to a bench trial before Carpenter because Reese is accused of violating the judge's order.

Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele said prosecutors must prove only that he violated the protective order, not what he may have done with the information or with whom he may have shared it.

Those matters, Steele said, "are going to get litigated in court as we go."

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Steele said the investigation is ongoing. Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman has said there may be more arrests.

Investigators have said Kane had help compiling the confidential documents that she leaked, in part because the leak included emails retrieved from a system she could not access.

The attorney general, who faces one felony count of perjury and seven other misdemeanor charges, has scheduled a Wednesday news conference in Harrisburg to address the charges.

Through her spokesman and her attorney, Kane has said she has no plans to quit.

Gov. Wolf, during a stop in Norristown on Tuesday, reiterated his stance that Kane should resign. Wolf said he had not explored any options for removing her from office, and declined to say whether he had approached any potential replacements. But, he said, "I'm not sure how she continues to do her job and defend herself against the charges."