A Republican state lawmaker from Philadelphia introduced articles of impeachment against District Attorney Larry Krasner on Wednesday, days after the committee investigating Krasner’s office released a report blaming his policies for rising crime in the state’s largest city.
“The city of Philadelphia cannot afford to wait any longer for us to take action on what we already know to be true. That Krasner is responsible for the rise in crime across our city due to his dereliction of duty to prosecute the guilty and to protect the innocent,” Rep. Martina White, R-Philadelphia, who is the prime sponsor of the articles, said in a news conference Wednesday morning.
Republicans are offering two articles. They charge that Krasner has failed to enforce the law, endangering city residents and visitors, and bringing the district attorney’s office into disrepute; and that his failure to cooperate with lawmakers obstructed the committee’s investigation.
The announcement of articles of impeachment was unexpected because the chairperson of the of the Republican-led House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order said Monday that the panel would continue its investigation of Krasner, a Democrat, and issue a final report and recommendations before the end of the legislative session next month.
The articles are the most concrete step toward impeaching Krasner since Republican lawmakers in the state House called for his removal from office earlier this year, citing soaring homicide numbers that are now approaching 1,000 since January 2021.
The House voted to impanel the select committee this summer and although its chairperson, Rep. John Lawrence, R-Chester, has said the five-member panel has been working to gather evidence and take testimony, it has held only two days of public hearings.
Krasner has decried the investigation as politically motivated, and said the report the committee released Monday is based on cherry-picked witness and faulty interpretations of data.
Krasner, who was overwhelmingly re-elected last year, and community advocates in Philadelphia, say the impeachment effort is intended to nullify the votes of city residents who approve of Krasner’s policies.
“We view this as a Republican test run to overturn elections, particularly elections in progressive communities and black and brown communities whose policies they do not agree with,” Robert Saleem Holbrook, director of the Abolitionist Law Center, said in a call with Krasner and reporters on Tuesday.
Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, the General Assembly may impeach an elected official for misbehavior in office. The articles of impeachment must be voted out of the House Judiciary Committee. A simple majority of the House can recommend impeachment, which must then be confirmed by the Senate.
Asked whether the articles of impeachment, introduced less than two weeks before the midterm election, are timed to influence the election, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said the Republican Caucus has consistently been concerned about crime and denied that it has anything to do with the elections.
“It has to do with the phone calls and your actions we hear from families and victims, police agencies that are frustrated by doing their job and then people not being prosecuted,” Benninghoff said.
Benninghoff added that Republican leaders recognize the number of session days remaining is limited and that House Speaker Bryan Cutler has indicated his willingness to add days if needed. Benninghoff would not say whether a vote before the election is likely.
“When that bill comes out of committee, you better believe darn well it’s coming to the floor and we will vote,” Benninghoff said.
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