Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane on Wednesday announced that her office has filed criminal charges against state Sen. LeAnna Washington (D-4), 68, of Cheltenham, Montgomery County, for allegedly using her elected office for political and financial gain.

Kane said agents and prosecutors from the Office of Attorney General's Criminal Prosecutions Section presented evidence of Washington's criminal activities before a statewide investigating grand jury, which recommended the charges being filed."The evidence will show that Sen. Washington pressured her staff into performing political activities using taxpayer dollars for her own personal benefit," Kane said.The grand jury found that Washington, through intimidation and verbal abuse, directed senate staff to perform campaign work even though staff knew what they were doing was against the law and that they had an obligation to report such activities.The alleged activities center around Washington using state-paid employees and equipment at her district offices to organize an annual political campaign birthday fundraiser, which one former staff member described as a 'grand, gala event' held in late July to coincide with the senator's birthday. Washington's district offices are located in Roslyn, Montgomery County, and in Philadelphia.Washington allegedly hid the activities from staff who expressed concern over the practices they knew to be wrong, going so far as to issue salary cuts and fire staff who disagreed with the activities.