Clout: ETHICS DUST-UP BAD MOVE FOR McCAFFERY?

THE BROTHERS McCaffery - Dan is running for state attorney general; Seamus is a state Supreme Court justice - are not known for backing down from a political brawl.

But could that combative approach become a political liability for Dan McCaffery in his April 24 Democratic primary election?

Consider the lawsuit McCaffery filed against the Philadelphia Board of Ethics two years ago, based on an enforcement action it took against him in the 2009 Democratic primary election for district attorney.

The two sides continue to trade heavyweight blows in the case.

McCaffery, who formally announced his candidacy yesterday, said the lawsuit shows that he will "be like a dog on a bone" when he thinks he is right about an issue.

"Think about what I'm doing," he said. "I'm taking on what I perceive to be a politically motivated and corrupt Board of Ethics for making these types of allegations against somebody publicly."

The board, asking the Court of Common Pleas last month to toss McCaffery's case for a second time, accused him four times of perpetrating a legal fraud.

A little history: The board asked a Common Pleas judge, just before the 2009 primary, to sanction McCaffery for taking more than legally allowed in campaign contributions in a single year from a political-action committee linked to his law firm.

McCaffery, who finished in second place, 12 points behind Seth Williams in the primary, later paid a $1,500 fine in a settlement with the board that said he hadn't knowingly violated the law.

Then McCaffery sued, claiming that the board had called an "unprecedented press conference" to announce its call for sanctions just before the primary, sabotaging his chances to win the race.

The board countered, saying that the action had been announced at a regular meeting, where officials have immunity from such libel and slander lawsuits. A Common Pleas court judge agreed, dismissing the case two months later.

McCaffery appealed to Commonwealth Court, where a judge last March sent the case back to Common Pleas Court to determine if the board had disclosed its action against McCaffery at a meeting or at a press conference.

In a court filing in November, McCaffery's attorneys confirmed that the board's action had been at a meeting but claimed that it had been a "de facto press conference" because reporters were there and Shane Creamer, the board's executive director, answered questions.

Creamer declined to comment yesterday. In court last month, the board's attorneys called McCaffery's press conference claims "a sheer fabrication."

McCaffery must respond by Friday - the 13th, no less - to the board's request to toss his suit.

Sources tells us that City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell's chief legislative counsel, John Christmas, will likely be moving on.

Christmas, who left Blackwell's employ briefly last year to run for Common Pleas judge, may wind up on the technical staff of new Council President Darrell Clarke, working on public policy and budget analysis.

Christmas and Clarke did not return requests for comment.

Asked about Christmas' potential new gig, Blackwell said: "I always support someone who's trying to move up. I'm always for my people trying to move up."

Christmas was working for then-Mayor John Street in 2004, when Christmas was indicted in a federal investigation into pay-for-play corruption in the administration.

Christmas was acquitted in a 2005 federal court trial.

It took 6 1/2 years. And his prediction was off by four years. But Larry Ceisler, a local communications consultant who works in politics, can finally say that he told you so about former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

Ceisler, writing in the Daily News in July 2005, predicted that Santorum was willing to lose his Senate re-election race to Bob Casey Jr. to prove that he would not abandon his conservative principles. And that, Ceisler said, would make him the conservative favorite for president in 2008.

Santorum, now neck-and-neck with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney after a strong finish this week in the Iowa Republican caucuses, didn't run in 2008.

"I missed it by four years," Ceisler told us yesterday. "I thought he was going to turn around and run in the next election for president."

"And the man who has been register of wills since 1790, except for five days last week, my man Ron Donatucci."

- Former City Controller Jonathan Saidel, speaking at a City Hall news conference yesterday, in a not-so-veiled joke about the brief retirement that longtime Register of Wills Ron Donatucci took on Dec. 23 to collect a $366,787 payment from the controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan before being sworn- in for a new term Monday.

- Staff writer Jan Ransom contributed to this report.