Philly DA Candidates Call for Seth Williams to Step Down

All eight district attorney candidates are calling for Philly DA Seth Williams to step down following his indictment on 23 corruption charges earlier this week. 

The candidates unanimously pushed for Williams’s resignation during a WHYY-moderated debate at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy yesterday. Democratic candidates Rich Negrin, Lawrence Krasner, Joe Khan, Michael Untermeyer, Tariq El-Shabazz, Teresa Carr Deni and Jack O’Neill as well as Republican candidate Beth Grossman were all in attendance.

Federal authorities accused Williams on Tuesday of wire fraud, extortion, the use of interstate facilities to promote bribery, and honest services fraud, alleging that he accepted gifts in exchange for his willingness to take political action and defrauded a local nursing home and family friend. Williams pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.

A number of officials have called for Williams’s resignation, including Mayor Jim Kenney.

“I don’t see how he can do his job,” Kenney said, according to CBS3.

Williams’s resignation was one of several topics DA candidates agreed upon during yesterday’s debate, including keeping the city’s so-called “sanctuary city” status and legalizing recreational marijuana in Philly, NewsWorks reports.

For more information on the DA race, check out our Q&A series with the candidates.

Follow @ClaireSasko on Twitter.