3 More Charged In Once-Abandoned Sting Operation

By Andrew Staub | PA Independent

Attorney General Kathleen Kane scuttled a probe that caught several Philadelphia Democrats accepting money. The case, she said, was tainted by racism and too flawed to prosecute.

But after taking over the abandoned operation, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams could prove Kane wrong and leave a blemish on her record as the state’s top prosecutor.

Williams on Tuesday announced bribery, conspiracy and other charges against two sitting state lawmakers and one former state representative, all caught accepting money in exchange for political favors during the undercover operation the Attorney General’s Office conducted between 2010 and 2012, according to the district attorney.

All told, four current lawmakers, one former lawmaker and the former Philadelphia Traffic Court president judge have been charged in the case Kane abandoned. Williams, a black Democrat who employs prosecutors who worked on the sting, has disputed Kane’s claims the investigation was flawed. In a statement Tuesday, he said “there are no free passes when it comes to corruption and the elected officials who break the law.”

“The citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the people of Philadelphia deserve nothing but honest and hardworking representation,” he said. “They don’t deserve elected officials who think that it is OK to sell their office.”

That’s exactly what state Rep. Louise Williams Bishop, Rep. Michelle Brownlee and former state Rep. Harold James did, according to a grand jury. Brownlee accepted $2,000 from a confidential informant, while Bishop took $1,500 and James $750, all in exchange for promises to perform official acts, the court records indicate.

Brownlee and James admitted to the grand jury what they had done; Bishop declined to answer questions, Williams said.

According to the grand jury presentment:

Bishop met with the informant on Oct. 26, 2010, talking with him about her ability to stave off a political challenge. She was confident. “I’m not bragging, but I’m revered in this area,” she said. “ …. In my area, I’m the queen.”

Yet Bishop acknowledged she had spent $100,000 in campaign contributions as quickly as they came in and could have some trouble raising money. The informant gave her $500. The lawmaker replied, “you tell us how we can, what we can do, and we’ll sit down with you.”

The interaction eventually evolved into an arrangement in which the informant was paying Bishop to help stack the Liquor Control Committee for a fictitious client he said was opening a sports bar.

When Bishop appeared before the grand jury to answer questions about the payments and why she had not reported them on her campaign finance documents or her statement of financial interested, she declined to answer the questions.

At one point, Brownlee had concerns that the confidential informant was working for investigators, but eventually agreed to work with him at the behest of an adviser. He gave her a napkin with $2,000 in it, and she later agreed to allow him to have input on legislation.

James spoke with the informant in the midst of running for his seat in a special election.  The informant told James “we might be needing your help” and asked, “Can we count on you?” James responded, “Yes.”

The informant eventually gave him money orders, and after winning the election, James later called the informant to say he had just six weeks left in office in case there was anything he needed.

“In fact, he was asking for ‘the ask,’” according to the presentment.

James disclosed the contribution on his campaign finance report, but admitted that didn’t mean it wasn’t tied to official actions, according to court records.

The charges against Bishop, Brownlee and James come about three months after Williams announced charges against state Reps. Ron Waters and Vanessa Lowery Brown in the sting. Thomasine Tynes, the former Democratic president judge of the Philadelphia Traffic Court, has also pleaded guilty to accepting a $2,000 bracelet.

As Williams piles up the charges, Kane continues to face scrutiny for shutting down the investigation, which began

when Republicans controlled the Attorney General’s Office.  On Tuesday — just hours after James, Bishop and Brownlee appeared in a Swatara Township courtroom not far from Harrisburg — Kane appeared before the state House Appropriations Committee for her office’s annual budget hearing.

That put Kane squarely in front of the Capitol press corps. Afterward, she breezed by me without commenting on the new charges.

Lawmakers presiding over the hearing did not grill Kane about the case or the pending Supreme Court case related to an investigation into allegations of leaks from her office.

State Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, referenced the issues, but only while praising Kane.

“And just to be very clear, you certainly have hit a couple bumps in the road,” he said. “You put aside Philly, you put aside, you know, this thing with the Supreme Court, I think you’re doing a great job.”

In a stark juxtaposition, Williams was in Philadelphia announcing the arrests of Brownlee, Bishop and James and launching criticisms of Kane.

Brownlee did not respond to a message left at her office. An attorney listed as representing James did not return a message seeking comment. Bishop’s lawyer, Charles Peruto Jr., would not comment on how his client would plead, but he spoke out when asked about the timing of Williams’ announcement.

“I think that this is a child-like feud between Kane and Seth Williams, and my client is in the middle of the crossfire,” Peruto said.

Peruoto also accused Williams of grandstanding and “forum-shopping” to find a jurisdiction outside  Philadelphia, where his client would more likely be convicted. Williams’ spokesman, Cameron Kline, responded in an emailed statement:

“Every defendant named in today’s announcement was a PA State Representative who worked and voted in Dauphin County. Much of the investigation of the three defendants, and much of their criminal activity, occurred in Dauphin County. These were elected officials who accepted money from a lobbyist and then agreed to vote on legislation or to use their official influence on matters that were taking place in Harrisburg, Dauphin County.”