Clout: D.A. spokes caught up in Kenney plot ... unwittingly?

THIS IS INSIDE baseball, but an interesting little political development nonetheless.

You may remember that Cameron Kline, spokesman for fellow bow tie-wearer District Attorney Seth Williams, got himself in a bit of trouble late last month when he sent out a news release attacking Republican mayoral candidate Melissa Murray Bailey on behalf of the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club.

By sending the release - which blasted Bailey for accepting campaign contributions from a donor whom Liberty City described as "homophobic" - Kline violated the city charter. He is a city employee prohibited from engaging in political activity.

But apparently Kline actually was moonlighting as a messenger for Democratic mayoral candidate Jim Kenney, whether he knew it or not.

According to a settlement agreement that the city's Board of Ethics made public yesterday, Kline sent the email after a representative from Kenney's campaign "emailed the co-chair of the board of Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club and asked if the organization would be willing to issue a statement about online comments made by the largest contributor to the Republican nominee for Mayor."

The settlement continues: "The Kenney campaign provided the text of the proposed statement, a list of reporters' email addresses, and screenshots of Facebook posts made by the contributor."

See, in politics, sometimes it's better to just sic the dogs on your opponent, while you chill on the porch with a nice glass of sweet tea. That's what we always say.

We asked Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt, who refuses to follow us on Twitter, about the settlement. She said: "Not much to add. We flagged the comment for the group because they are important advocates in speaking out against LGBT discrimination."

(The Kenney campaign ran into a similar problem last month, as Philly.com reported, when it sent an email from Shumpert Caldwell, an assistant sergeant-at-arms for City Council, soliciting campaign contributions. Caldwell, like Kline, is barred from participating in political activity.)

The Ethics Board settlement says Kline did not help draft the Liberty City news release and didn't participate in discussions with the Kenney campaign. He merely sent it from his personal computer and Gmail account.

Kline, who subsequently resigned from Liberty City's board, has agreed to pay a $600 fine as part of the Ethics Board settlement. And to take "ethics training." Whatever that is.

The violation originally was flagged by Joe DeFelice, executive director of the Philadelphia GOP, who told WHYY's Dave Davies at that time that he wasn't "necessarily trying to get anyone in trouble here, but we wanted to at least call him on the carpet for it."

But, Joe, you cost the guy $600! In Clout currency, that's like 23 filet mignon power lunches at the Palm, where soup or salad and dessert are included. It's actually a pretty good deal.

- William Bender

Blog: phillyclout.com