Pa. House Republicans appeal a court ruling in Philly DA Larry Krasner’s impeachment case

The state legislators who were expected to lead the impeachment trial of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner have appealed a recent Commonwealth Court ruling that described the effort to remove Krasner from office as legally unsound.

State Rep. Tim Bonner, a Republican who represents parts of Mercer and Butler Counties, said at a news conference Thursday that the court had “clearly misinterpreted the impeachment proceedings against Mr. Krasner” and failed to consider what he believed to be clear evidence of “misbehavior in office,” the required legal standard to oust an elected official.

He and State Rep. Craig Williams, a Republican who represents parts of Delaware and Chester Counties, said the court’s ruling was also improper because it was issued before the state Senate had been allowed to hear the full body of evidence at a legislative trial. They said the appeal to the state Supreme Court, filed Thursday afternoon, asks the high court to allow the proceedings against Krasner to continue.

“The impeachment team believes then that all of the articles of impeachment clearly set forth sufficient behavior that would constitute misbehavior in office,” Bonner said.

The appeal was expected — Williams had suggested it was likely earlier this month, after the Commonwealth Court issued an opinion explaining why it had partially sided with Krasner.

Still, Thursday’s development did little to clarify the murky status of the Republican-led effort to remove the city’s top prosecutor. The state Senate voted earlier this month to indefinitely postpone Krasner’s impeachment trial. And the state House is now adjourned until late February, following a chaotic three-week stretch that featured a contentious battle over which party was in control of the chamber.

» READ MORE: DA Larry Krasner’s impeachment trial gets indefinitely postponed by the Pa. Senate

Last fall, when the House had a GOP majority, the body impeached Krasner, a Democrat, and accused him of failing to address the city’s gun violence crisis, obstructing a legislative committee, and exhibiting misconduct in several court cases.

Krasner denied each of the accusations and sued in Commonwealth Court. The court in December sided with Krasner on the heart of his challenge, saying the articles of impeachment appeared largely based on disagreements about how he was running his office, something the court said was “not enough to create a constitutionally sound basis for impeaching and removing” him.

» READ MORE: What exactly is DA Larry Krasner being charged with? We explain each impeachment article.

Still, in an unusual twist, Commonwealth Court Judge Michael H. Wojcik — who sided with the majority — added that he’d come to believe that four of the seven articles of impeachment filed against Krasner “must ultimately be resolved by the General Assembly” and not the courts.

Bonner and Williams said Thursday that they believe the Supreme Court should apply a similar standard to each of the charges and “allow the Senate to conduct a full hearing to decide whether the conduct of Mr. Krasner meets the definition” of misbehavior in office.