Everyone knows that employees get fired on Fridays. Gives them weekend to cope. Fewer awkward goodbyes. Less confrontation.

Fridays are also a convenient time to drop unpopular news, as District Attorney Seth Williams’ did shortly before 5 p.m. today when he announced that he would not be firing prosecutors on his staff who were involved in a grotesque, pornographic email chain.

After an internal investigation, the DA found that the three prosecutors — Assistant District Attorneys Frank Fina, E. Marc Costanzo and Patrick Blessington — had not created nor originated any of the offensive content in the emails. They had, however, participated along with “hundreds” of other employees in the Attorney General and District Attorney's office, and for that they were sorry and agreed to undergo “sensitivity training” in lieu of termination.

He opens the two-page statement with a casual tone:

“I’ve looked at the e-mails released, and yes, like everyone else, I could see immediately that they are offensive,” Williams wrote, going on to describe the images therein — which include women performing oral sex, genital close-ups, sex toys, a Black baby holding a rifle, and even a photo of a young teen wearing a shirt that says, “Admit it: You'd Go To Jail For This.”

Given the odd nature of the case, Williams’ divulged a rare amount of the internal investigations process. Here’s an excerpt:

The three employees in question – Pat Blessington, Marc Costanzo, and Frank Fina – were individually interviewed by a panel. We also questioned people they worked for, people they worked with, and people who worked for them, both in the District Attorney’s Office and in the Attorney General’s Office. We reviewed all e-mail communications still available from their time in my employment. We looked at the work of the Philadelphia investigating grand jury assigned to the “sting” case, which reviewed internal documents from the current attorney general’s office relating to charges of racism, and which heard testimony from employees of the current attorney general. I personally contacted and spoke with prosecutors and other elected officials around the country, with Fortune 500 executives, and with leaders of non-profits and community groups.

We found that none of the e-mails in question were created or originated by these three employees, and none were circulated to or by them while employed in my office. The large majority of the released e-mails – there are 20 altogether – date from five to six years ago. They were part of address chains covering literally hundreds of employees in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, who received and radiated the same images in widening circles.