Name: Steve Pitt, top adviser to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, resigns
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Steve Pitt, top adviser to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, resigns

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Louisville Courier JournalView CommentsLOUISVILLE, Ky. —&nbsp;A top adviser to Kentucky's attorney general resigned from his position on May 26, five days after The Courier Journal revealed his &nbsp;while serving&nbsp;as general counsel to former Gov. Matt Bevin.Steve&nbsp;Pitt served&nbsp;as counsel and special adviser to Daniel Cameron since the new attorney general took office in December. He&nbsp;did not cite a specific reason&nbsp;in the hand-delivered&nbsp;resignation letter."Per our ongoing discussions, I hereby tender my resignation as your General Counsel effective at the close of business May 26, 2020," Pitt wrote.Pitt did not return an email and voicemail on Monday inquiring about his resignation from the position, which paid $120,000 a year.Asked if Cameron requested&nbsp;Pitt's resignation, spokeswoman Elizabeth Kuhn wrote in an email that the attorney general's office does not&nbsp;comment on personnel matters.The decision to resign was sudden, as Pitt&nbsp;was originally scheduled to speak to an interim joint committee of state legislators in Frankfort last week, according to a meeting&nbsp;agenda emailed out on May 21. An updated agenda removed his name from the list of scheduled speakers on May 27.May 21 was the same day The Courier Journal reported that Pitt recommended in a handwritten note last year that Bevin&nbsp;pardon&nbsp;or commute the&nbsp;sentence of , writing, "personally, I think he’s served long enough and should at least get a commutation."Earlier:Bevin freed Jones through&nbsp;an executive order issued on Dec. 9, his last day in office. It would go down as one of the most controversial clemency orders of his final days as governor.Jones&nbsp;was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to using a sex toy to brutally sodomize&nbsp;a passed-out 15-year-old boy in Christian County. The boy suffered a life-threatening injury and required surgery.“Very tough, as we’ve discussed," Pitt wrote on the general counsel's review form to Bevin.&nbsp;"There is a very strong concern that Jones isn’t really guilty, but is the fall guy."Pitt went on to note that&nbsp;while he believed clemency for Jones was justified, a pardon&nbsp;would be controversial in the Western Kentucky community&nbsp;where the crime took place."You could avoid some controversy by commuting the sentence (to time served or some other set term of years) but not pardoning," Pitt wrote.&nbsp;"However, a full pardon can be justified. Either option will not be popular with parts of Christian County. Personally, I think he’s served long enough and should at least get a commutation. I’m also OK with a pardon.”As predicted,&nbsp;prosecutors and community members in the Christian County area criticized Bevin's move and his claim that Jones was&nbsp;completely innocent and&nbsp;not&nbsp;"even remotely involved" in the attack.Another pardon form signed by Pitt on&nbsp;Nov. 15&nbsp;recommended that Bevin consider a possible commutation of an unnamed individual whose&nbsp;brother was&nbsp;a political supporter of the governor, though adding that is no reason for leniency.Top headlines:While the characteristics of the individual &nbsp;—&nbsp;sentenced to 19 years for&nbsp;a fatal Knox County home invasion and robbery, and pardoned by Bevin in his final days in office&nbsp;— Pitt and Kuhn did not reply to questions asking if this form referred to Baker.Pitt's May 26 resignation letter lauded the goals he had met during his five months in the position, adding that Cameron had "assembled an excellent staff of attorneys, many of whom it was my pleasure to first hire into responsible government roles in the Matt Bevin Administration and to help obtain the government experience so crucial in enabling your office to function at its best.""Since coming on board with you in December 2019, I feel that I have accomplished the two primary goals I set for myself by helping get your administration up and running and seeing the office through the 2020 legislative session," Pitt wrote."I only regret that the advent of Covid-19 kept us from realizing the budgeting increases that are so crucial to fully attaining many of the goals you have set for the office."Recently:Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com or 502-582-4472&nbsp;and follow him on Twitter at . Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: .View Comments

Louisville Courier JournalView CommentsLOUISVILLE, Ky. —&nbsp;A top adviser to Kentucky's attorney general resigned from his position on May 26, five days after The Courier Journal revealed his &nbsp;while serving&nbsp;as general counsel to former Gov. Matt Bevin.Steve&nbsp;Pitt served&nbsp;as counsel and special adviser to Daniel Cameron since the new attorney general took office in December. He&nbsp;did not cite a specific reason&nbsp;in the hand-delivered&nbsp;resignation letter."Per our ongoing discussions, I hereby tender my resignation as your General Counsel effective at the close of...

Steve Pitt, top adviser to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, resigns

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