A Pennsylvania House committee approved seven articles of impeachment against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. It all but caps the fight by Republican lawmakers seeking to oust the George Soros-backed prosecutor following a historic murder spree in the city.
The House Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to impeach Krasner for imposing policies that, in their views, only contribute to increased crime, such as not prosecuting violent offenders. It is now up to the state Senate to bring him to trial. Members of the upper house can remove the prosecutor with a two-thirds vote.
Do not respond to violence
Republican Rep. Martina White, who first introduced the legislation, brought to the committee's attention Krasner's crime and prosecution statistics since being in office. She noted that the prosecutor's office has "inappropriately used prosecutorial discretion." In addition to "failing to respond to the growing gun violence in the city and the general issue of public safety to the residents of Philadelphia."
Following the committee's vote to send the article to the floor, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania tweeted in support of Krasner:
In a lame duck session, the PA House has voted 107-85 to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in a blatant attempt to override the votes of Philadelphians and remove a free and fair elected official.
Prosecutor Krasner has not been charged with any crime or corruption of any kind, the usual standard for impeachment. The majority of the House simply does not like his policies. So they want to erase the votes of Philadelphians, who re-elected Krasner in a landslide.
DA Krasner has not been accused of a crime or of any corruption, the usual standard of impeachment. The House majority simply dislikes his policies. So they want to erase the votes of the people of Philadelphia, who reelected Krasner in a landslide. 2/
- ACLU of Pennsylvania (@aclupa) November 16, 2022
However, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw appears to disagree with the ACLU in its defense of Krasner. Last month, the official criticized the prosecutor's policies and said that agents "are tired of arresting the same suspects over and over again, only to see them back on the street to continue and sometimes escalate their criminal ways."
Like other progressive prosecutors, Krasner's policies include not prosecuting many low-level crimes such as drug trafficking or shoplifting. He employs a special unit in his office to reverse what he calls "wrongful convictions," which has exonerated nearly 30 offenders so far. In October, one of these offenders, a convicted murderer, was charged with murder.
Soros-backed prosecutors
Krasner is not the only one of "Soros' prosecutors" who has faced possible dismissal. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, who got $4.7 million from the mogul, narrowly dodged a recall earlier this year. Furthermore, voters in San Francisco managed to vote out radical prosecutor Chesa Boudin in June.
Krasner received $1.7 million from Soros' Justice and Public Safety political action committee.
