Rambo moment paying off for D.A.

Editor's note: This column has been updated to include a statement from Council President Darrell Clarke.

BIG WEEK FOR District Attorney Seth Williams, whose stock continues to rise with Attorney General Kathleen Kane sitting on the other end of a political seesaw that stretches from here to Harrisburg.

We knew Williams - who managed to drop the phrase "butt load" into his swearing-in speech last year - would go for broke at Tuesday's press conference, when he announced the arrest of three more politicians as the result of an influence-peddling sting that Kane had wrongly deemed "not prosecutable."

But then he compared himself to Sylvester Stallone.

"I found myself like John J. Rambo. They drew first blood," Williams said, chucking a grenade at Kane and her crew.

Didn't know Rambo had a middle initial, but OK, nice touch.

It's probably a fitting comparison, becaupwaruse Williams lost 45 pounds last year to help raise money for ALS and is totally ripped now, according to Daily News columnist Jenice Armstrong.

He kept going though. A couple hours later, he grabbed his iPhone and resumed the trash talk on Twitter.

"My oath of office and the citizens of Philadelphia demand that I do my job . . . period end of story . . . drops the mic," Williams tweeted. Daaammm.

Then Williams went on WURD to discuss the indictment. Then he called in to WIP.

The guy is everywhere, like Philly's own Cory Booker, which makes Williams look like a very upwardly mobile District Attorney.

Is there something to that rumor that Williams might be interested in running for U.S. Senate in 2016? Some Democrats are looking for an alternative to retired Navy Adm. Joe Sestak.

Williams, himself a major in the JAG Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve, dodged the question yesterday.

"I am always flattered when people tell me they think I should run for what they consider 'higher office,' " he emailed. "I love being the D.A. Due to the winter and my current sinus infection, the only other job that I am seriously considering is Mayor of Key West, Florida."

City Hall rumors have it that Allan Domb's run for an at-large City Council seat might be all about the Benjamins.

It's not that Domb's doing it for the money - he's already a real estate mogul - it's that he's doing it for the money for sitting politicians.

The story is that the famously wealthy "condo king" of Center City jumped into the race at the last minute in hopes that his riches would trigger the city's so-called "Millionaire's provision."

A campaign-finance regulation holds that if a political candidate puts more than $250,000 of his own money into a given race, contribution limits double for any other contenders in the same race. In this case, those contenders would be four highly vulnerable incumbent council members who are being dogged by a flock of challengers.

Blondell Reynolds Brown has never fully recovered from an ethics scandal two years ago, while Ed Neilson and Bill Greenlee both squeaked into office through special elections. Wilson Goode Jr. is likely the strongest of the three, which is really saying something.

So raising extra campaign cash (always easier for an incumbent) would likely be welcome by all of them. But who pulled Domb's strings? Word on the street is none other than Council prez and all-around puppet master, Darrell Clarke, who happens to be a strong ally of Greenlee.

Clarke, in a statement Friday, said: "This story is complete nonsense. I would have been happy to tell you that beforehand if anyone had asked me for comment instead of just publishing this ridiculousness."

T. Milton Street Sr. has had such a difficult time just getting his mayoral campaign off the ground that we were starting to think this is one of those rare instances where God himself wades into the political muck and says, "Nay. This shall not be."

Street, 73, had already seen two campaign kick-off events and a fundraiser scratched due to bad weather.

Then, on Tuesday, developer Ori Feibush canceled a Street fundraiser at his OCF Coffee House in Fairmount. That was the rain date for the first fundraiser that was canceled.

The next day, the Inquirer reported that Street, a former state senator, is actually registered as an independent. Which could be a problem in the Democratic primary.

Regardless, Street, finally launched his campaign at New Jerusalem Baptist Church in North Philly late yesterday afternoon. About a dozen people showed up.

As President Coolidge once said, "The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Press on, Milton. Press on.

-Staff writers William Bender, David Gambacorta and The Next Mayor's Ryan Briggs contributed to this report.

Phone: 215-854-5255

On Twitter: @wbender99 and @rw_briggs

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