Is there a missing angle on the DA Seth Williams story?
In April 2010, Young Philly Politics ran an article on the blog lauding Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams for going after public corruption in the city government. In May 2010, WHYY, Greater Philadelphia’s leading public media provider noted that DA Seth Williams was investigating charges of voter intimidation in a closely fought legislative race. By all accounts, DA Williams was standing up for the people of Philadelphia. By June 2011, DA Williams was upping the ante on public corruption by hiring a lead state prosecutor for the “Bonusgate” scandal. Bonusgate, was the public corruption issue where state employees were paid for performing campaign work while on the job, with tax payer funds, which is illegal.
DA Williams continued his focus on electoral fraud, and in November 2014, DA Williams announced the creation of an Election Fraud Task Force that included assistant DAs and detectives to focus on Election Day allegations. DA Williams continued his public corruption onslaught with the announcement of charges against state Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown and Ronald G. Waters, which occurred as part of a sting operation. The Lowery-Brown and Waters cases had an interesting backdrop, in that, the then Attorney General Kathleen Kane, alleged that the State Reps were targeted based on their race. In his defense, as noted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, DA Williams stated “As an African-American and as a law enforcement official, I was disgusted that the attorney general would bring racism into this case”. Rep. James eventual pled guilty, but Rep. Lowery-Brown opted for trial. In a March 2016 column, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Rep. Lowery-Brown maintains that state prosecutors targeted her solely because she is black. Rep. Lowery-Brown’s trial has not commenced to date.
In May 2015, DA Williams Election Fraud Task Force was on high alert again. DA Williams continued to focus on electoral fraud in the 2016 Presidential Elections. A Washington Times article, based on the Associated Press reporting noted that DA Williams had more than 70 staffers to take calls and respond to complaints on Nov. 8, 2016.
However, by August 2016, some in Philadelphia taught that DA Williams should step aside. In fact, Philadelphia Daily News Columnist, Will Bunch, articulated reasons for Williams to go. Two months later, in October 2016, a personal matter for DA Williams spilled into the public because a female companion of DA Williams was sentenced for damaging city vehicles parked outside of Williams’ house. Maybe it was the job, but DA Williams was clearly creating bad blood with the Philadelphia political class during his two terms in office. During the trial of former-Attorney General Kathleen Kane, it was revealed that the former AG vowed to make DA Williams pay because of their battles. As the indictment shows, DA Williams had bad blood with politicians, family and friends.
On February 10, 2017, DA Williams announced he would not run for a third term. According to the Pittsburg Courier, DA Williams stated that he “regrettable mistakes in my personal life and personal financial life that cast an unnecessary shadow over my office”. A little more than a month later, federal grand jury returned a 23-count indictment charging DA Williams with bribery, extortion, honest services wire fraud in connection with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of concealed bribes that he allegedly received from two business owners in exchange for his agreement to perform official acts. The indictment also charged Williams with defrauding a nursing home and family friends of money earmarked for a family member’s care.
A read of the 50 page indictment is gut wrenching. How can someone who overcame such hurdles in his life, fall prey to the activities he prosecuted? I am reminded of a quote from Tolstoy’s story “The Death of Ivan Illich.” “Caius is a man; all men are mortal; thus Caius is mortal.”
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