The Latest: Ex-aides testify against Pennsylvania official

NORRISTOWN, Pa. – The Latest on Pennsylvania Attorney General (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

A law school boyfriend-turned-top aide to Attorney General Kathleen Kane is testifying for the government in Kane’s perjury trial.

Adrian King says he and Kane remained friends after living together years ago. He says he left a law firm to become her top aide despite what he called the “80 per cent” pay cut.

King says he helped get a manila envelope from their Harrisburg office to political consultant Josh Morrow in Philadelphia. Prosecutors say the envelope contained secret grand jury documents Kane was leaking to the press.

King has not said if he knew what was in the envelope.

Kane is accused of violating grand jury secrecy laws and lying about it under oath.

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3:45 p.m.

A string of one-time aides to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane are describing the alarms raised when a newspaper detailed a secret grand jury investigation into a civil rights leader.

Kane is on trial accused of leaking documents about the probe and lying about it under oath.

The jury heard Wednesday from then-aides Bruce Beemer, William Davis and David Peifer. Peifer has been given immunity for his testimony.

Peifer says he tried to reach Kane when he saw the article about the shelved investigation of the NAACP official. He says he wanted to assure the boss he hadn’t leaked the documents. Peifer says Kane told him not to worry about it.

Peifer also briefly mentioned a charity trip he took to Haiti with Kane, Kane’s twin sister and other office employees.

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11 a.m.

A former top aide to Pennsylvania’s attorney general says his “heart sank a little” when his boss asked him to try to block a special investigation into a grand jury leak.

Bruce Beemer has been testifying against Attorney General Kathleen Kane as she fights perjury and obstruction charges. Investigators say she leaked documents to a newspaper to embarrass a rival.

Beemer said Wednesday he was stunned when he saw the 2014 newspaper article and thought it came from a satellite office. But he came to fear something worse after talking to Kane.

He said Kane asked him to file a court challenge to the outside investigation ordered by the state Supreme Court.

The special prosecutor ultimately charged Kane with leaking the documents and lying to the grand jury. She denies the charges.

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9 a.m.

Pennsylvania’s attorney general has arrived at court for a second day of testimony in her perjury and obstruction trial that prosecutors say stems from her drive for political revenge.

Democrat Kathleen Kane arrived with family and friends Wednesday morning at the courthouse in Norristown.

Prosecutors say Kane was incensed about a news article that faulted her for not charging anyone in a statehouse bribery sting.

So they say Kane leaked grand jury material to the media to embarrass the former staff lawyer she thought planted the story. The documents showed he had similarly dropped an investigation into an NAACP leader.

The defence told jurors in opening statements Tuesday that Kane wouldn’t have risked her career over a feud. The trial is expected to last a week.