Ex-DA Seth Williams has a new story to tell now that his federal supervised release is over
Seth Williams, pleading guilty six years ago, said he “squandered” the trust of the city, his friends and family. Now he says the feds ganged up on him with the Catholic Church.
Disgraced former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams apologized eight times while being sentenced by a federal judge six years ago after halting his trial on corruption charges to plead guilty.
Williams, sentenced to five years in prison, celebrated the end of his term on supervised release this weekend with a trip to the beach and a total rewrite of his criminal history.
Old version: He “squandered” the trust of the city, his friends and family.
New version: The feds and the Catholic Church ganged up on him.
Williams, writing on the social media platform previously known as Twitter, posted a picture of himself standing at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in an “It’s a Philly thing” Eagles T-shirt, arms spread wide. His first trip to the beach since 2016, he posted.
“I can tell the truth now without fear of repercussions,” Williams continued. “Ninety percent of ALL federal cases are vindictive personality driven cases without victims and targeted.”
Williams then claimed the feds “took me out” with charges that he had diverted money meant to pay for his mother’s care at a nursing home run by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
“There is NO coincidence that I was the first DA to prosecute the hierarchy of the Catholic Church for shielding pedophile priests and they concocted charges against me related to my mom’s nursing home operated by the Catholic Church,” Williams posted.
A few commenters urged Williams, who was disbarred in 2017, to run again for district attorney.
Williams told Clout on Monday that “all I have learned in the last six years would make me an even better district attorney” but that he hopes former City Councilmember Derek Green runs for that office in 2025.
State law requires district attorneys to be licensed to practice law.
Williams told Clout he has been eligible since last year to seek reinstatement as a lawyer but was waiting until the end of his federal supervision and now plans to do that.
Williams said he should have reported all the gifts he received in office but had “zero criminal intent” when accepting them.
The Philadelphia Board of Ethics fined Williams $62,000 in 2017 for failing to report more than $175,000 in gifts from wealthy benefactors, including cash, luxury goods, and travel to vacation resorts.
Williams told Clout he is writing a book to tell “the complete story, not just the narrative that was sold to the public by the feds.”
Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.