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Bruce Beemer, who
previously served under Kane as first deputy in the attorney
general's office, will have to be confirmed by the state Senate.
Wolf said in a statement that he had already conferred with both
Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate and expected a
quick confirmation. Beemer would hold the job until a successor
is elected in November for a four-year term, and then return to
his role as inspector general.
Kane announced her resignation on Tuesday, a day after a jury
convicted her of leaking sealed grand jury material to a news
reporter in an effort to embarrass a political rival.
The move will likely end a brief stint as acting attorney
general for Bruce Castor, whom Kane had hired as her
second-in-command earlier this year.
In a statement, Castor said the governor was fulfilling his
duties under the law.
"I will do all within my power to see that the office of
attorney general is in the best possible shape for whenever the
next attorney general arrives," Castor said.
Castor, the former Montgomery County district attorney, made
headlines earlier this year when he testified at a hearing for
comedian Bill Cosby in his sexual assault case.
Castor said he had agreed not to prosecute Cosby if the
entertainer testified in a civil case brought by his accuser.
But a court ruled Castor's claims were not enough to prevent the
current district attorney from bringing charges.
Kane's conviction, meanwhile, ended what had once been seen as a
promising political career.
Prosecutors said Kane believed former state prosecutor Frank
Fina was behind a 2014 newspaper article that said she had
abandoned a corruption investigation into Philadelphia
officials.
In an effort to take revenge, prosecutors said, Kane leaked
sealed details about a separate investigation that Fina declined
to pursue and then lied about having done so to a grand jury
investigating the matter.
Kane had portrayed the charges as politically motivated, after
she revealed lewd emails exchanged among judges, state officials
and prosecutors that she discovered while re-examining the Jerry
Sandusky molestation investigation.
Several officials, including two state Supreme Court justices,
lost their jobs in the wake of the email scandal, dubbed
"Porngate."
(Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)
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