Williams blames Kane in report on probe

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams on Friday blamed a political enemy - Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane - for a news report that he is under federal investigation.

The article, published in The Inquirer on Friday, reported that a federal grand jury had subpoenaed Williams' campaign-finance records to determine if he misspent any donations on personal matters. The newspaper attributed its story to two sources familiar with the investigation.

The sources said Williams was the subject of a joint FBI and IRS investigation, and that Williams' campaign committee had turned over financial records within the last two weeks.

A statement in Williams' defense was issued Friday by the spokesman of his campaign committee, Friends of Seth Williams.

"District Attorney Williams denies these allegations," said the statement by Mike Barley.

Earlier in the day, when approached by a reporter, Williams declined to comment on the investigation. Barley did not return a call seeking further comment.

In the statement, Barley noted that Montgomery County prosecutors, who brought charges against Kane this month, had cited an email from her in which she had expressed a desire to "make Seth pay," apparently blaming him among others for the predicament in which she has found herself.

The statement presented no evidence directly connecting Kane to the Inquirer story or the federal investigation, but noted that prosecutors had said she wanted to gather negative information about Williams, saying, "This is war."

Kane's spokesman, Chuck Ardo, dismissed Williams' allegations as groundless.

"We certainly had no knowledge of any investigation, if there is one," Ardo said. "And in no way were we party to revealing that to the media."

In his statement, Barley did not address The Inquirer's report that Williams' campaign records had been subpoenaed, but said, "His campaign-finance records are a matter of public record, and he will cooperate with any authorities who may wish to review them."

Williams and Kane, both Democrats and arguably the state's two leading law enforcement officials, have been bitterly at odds for months. Their feud ignited last year after Williams resurrected corruption cases that Kane had rejected as unprosecutable, and won a series of convictions.

Kane this month was charged with leaking confidential investigative material in a bid to embarrass a critic - a former state prosecutor who now works for Williams - and then lying about it.

In the statement, Barley noted that The Inquirer published its article regarding Williams "on the eve" of Kane's preliminary hearing, scheduled for Monday.

The statement noted that Chris Brennan, the Inquirer reporter who wrote Friday's story concerning the federal investigation, had written an article a year ago that now figures in the charges against Kane.

That story in the Philadelphia Daily News, based upon investigative material provided by Kane, reported that state prosecutors had been looking into allegations that a Philadelphia civil-rights leader had misused state money.

Kane has acknowledged giving Brennan the information, but has insisted her actions were lawful. She has said the charges stem from a vendetta by her political enemies.

William K. Marimow, editor of The Inquirer, said that the suggestion by Williams' campaign that Brennan's story had been instigated by Kane was "preposterous."

"Brennan is an excellent reporter who has an array of sources in politics, government, and law enforcement," Marimow said. "He learned about the investigation of Williams' campaign finances in the course of covering his beat. Period."

@CraigRMcCoy