As impeachment trial approaches, Philly DA Larry Krasner says the charges against him should be dismissed

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Wednesday said the charges on which he is to be tried before the Pennsylvania Senate next month in a Republican-led attempt to impeach and remove him from office are improper, not supported by evidence, and should be dismissed.

Those arguments and others were outlined in Krasner’s formal response to the articles of impeachment filed against him, which were accepted by the upper chamber last month after the state House approved them in a party-line vote. Legislators pursuing impeachment have accused Krasner of enacting policies that have fueled the city’s shooting crisis, obstructing a legislative committee investigating his office, and other offenses.

Krasner, a Democrat, has made no secret of his opposition to the impeachment drive, frequently casting it as illegal and politically motivated. He has also filed suit in Commonwealth Court challenging the charges and asking that they be thrown out.

In his response to the Senate, he provided several reasons he believes each of the seven charges against him should not stand, and more broadly stated that the alleged offenses do not amount to “misbehavior in office” and that impeachment and removal is not applicable to a locally elected official.

Krasner also defended his office’s progressive policies and said the recent spike in gun violence happened in many jurisdictions across the country, and can be attributed to a combination of factors, including long-standing disinvestment in impoverished communities, the pandemic that upended all aspects of society, and a surge in firearms sales nationally.

“Those who voted for impeachment in the House latched onto a serious subject — gun violence — with an unserious, unconstitutional, and anti-democratic approach: impeachment of a democratically elected official for his ideas and policies,” Krasner wrote.

Krasner’s trial is expected to begin in Harrisburg on Jan. 18. Conviction and removal from office requires a two-thirds vote on any of the seven articles filed against him.

Republicans were expected to hold 27 of 49 seats next year, five votes shy of the threshold needed for a vote to remove Krasner if every member is present.

One GOP member resigned in November, and a special election to fill that seat is scheduled for Jan. 31. Erica Clayton Wright, spokesperson for Senate Republicans, said Wednesday that the new member would be added to the jury if the trial remains ongoing after he or she is sworn into office.