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Why is this politician smiling? Context is key

She was just one happy face among the 1,400 upbeat people packed into West Philadelphia High School's gym last Tuesday to hear Hillary Clinton campaign for president.

She was just one happy face among the 1,400 upbeat people packed into West Philadelphia High School's gym last Tuesday to hear Hillary Clinton campaign for president.

But State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown looked as if she were having an especially great day in the front row of that rally.

Later, Brown posted on Facebook a photo of her and Clinton flashing broad smiles together.

I saw it and I wondered, why is Brown smiling?

Context, I decided, was the source of her joy.

Brown, a Democrat who has represented a district covering parts of West Philadelphia and Fairmount Park since 2009, is awaiting trial on charges of bribery, conspiracy, and other corruption counts.

On the front page of the Inquirer on the day of the rally was a story about Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, the prosecutor who revived the once-moribund case against Brown and five other elected officials.

Brown is accused of accepting $4,000 in cash from an undercover operative in a sting operation.

Williams, as last Tuesday's story said, had amended five years of statements of financial interests to disclose $160,050 in gifts he had previously kept secret.

It's not so much of a stretch to think Brown sees her $4,000 as a puny amount in that context.

Let's be clear: Brown is accused of crimes for taking the money in exchange for official action, including votes on legislation. Her grand jury testimony, made public during the run-up to her trial, shows she knew it was wrong.

Williams is not accused of any crime. There has been no claim that his gifts were taken in exchange for any action.

He belatedly volunteered the information about the many gifts - $45,000 in home repairs, airfare and lodging for several vacations, tickets and passes to sporting events, booze, boxing lessons, a couch, a watch, Visa gift cards, and, a few times, cold, hard cash.

Still, Williams has been under investigation for at least a year by the FBI and IRS, working with a federal grand jury to determine whether he misspent political funds on personal expenses. His office finally acknowledged the probe last week, disclosing that some of his staffers are being interviewed by the FBI.

But a federal investigation is not the same as an ongoing prosecution.

Brown was in court Friday for a pretrial hearing, where her date with a jury was set for Dec. 5.

Her defense rests on her claims that she was targeted for investigation due to her race and that she thought her relationship with the undercover operative was rooted in romance, not politics.

Brown has refused to accept a plea deal, unlike the five other elected officials - all Democrats - swept up in the sting. Those former officials received no jail time and kept their state pensions.

Those prosecutions, no matter what you think of the outcome, are expected to be strong political stuff for Williams as he seeks a third four-year term in next May's Democratic primary election.

Consider the pitch: Williams fights corruption, even if it involves politicians from his own party.

But Brown is a holdout. Her trial won't start for 15 more weeks. And it will be going on five months before the primary election. If Williams has a primary challenger, as is widely expected, the contrast of Brown's $4,000 to his $160,050 may also be strong political stuff.

Williams was on vacation last week when he disclosed his gifts. So he didn't have to answer any questions.

He did his best, in a statement released by his campaign, to cast the disclosures as "intended to demonstrate transparency and meet or exceed the public disclosure requirements" set by law.

Some challenger - maybe more than one - will probably have a lot of fun with all that context.

Who will smile in the end? Only time will tell.

brennac@phillynews.com

215-854-5973

@ByChrisBrennan