Pa. House names three impeachment managers in the case against Philly DA Larry Krasner
They include two Republicans and a Philadelphia Democrat who has opposed the impeachment drive.
The Pennsylvania speaker of the House on Friday named three impeachment managers to handle the case against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, but the timing of when a trial will take place remains murky.
The impeachment will be led by Republican State Reps. Craig Williams, of Delaware and Chester Counties, and Tim Bonner, who represents parts of Mercer and Butler Counties. Both are former prosecutors.
The third impeachment manager is State Rep. Jared Solomon, a Philadelphia Democrat who is an attorney and voted against impeaching Krasner, also a Democrat. Williams said in an interview Friday that Solomon “will be providing the defense.”
The impeachment resolution required the House to name two managers from the majority party and one from the minority, though it’s unclear how that might change depending on when the trial is held. Republicans currently control the House, but Democrats won a one-seat majority in last week’s midterm election.
Republicans accused Krasner of seven offenses, including accusations that he has fueled the city’s surge in shootings, obstructed a legislative committee investigating his office, and mishandled criminal cases. Krasner has defended his office and called the impeachment drive an “anti-democratic authoritarian effort to erase Philly’s votes.”
The impeachment resolution passed the House Wednesday 107-85, almost exclusively along partisan lines, with one Republican voting against it.
The timing of when a trial might take place in the state Senate is unclear. Republicans said Wednesday that some administrative tasks related to the trial will begin this month, but none has said if the trial would start before the end of the legislative session on Nov. 30 or in 2023.
Conviction and removal from office would require a two-thirds vote in the state Senate, and Krasner would need to be convicted on only one of seven articles filed against him. Republicans hold 28 of 50 seats, so at least five Democrats would need to cross the aisle.
The Senate will set the trial rules and what the presentation of evidence will look like.
“I imagine it will be much like the rules of a courtroom,” Williams said, “which is why you’ve got two experienced prosecutors at the helm.”
» READ MORE: Philly DA Larry Krasner has been impeached. Here’s what you should know.
Williams, a former federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, has criticized Krasner’s handling of gun crimes and championed legislation that granted the attorney general jurisdiction to prosecute such offenses in the city. In January, he wrote in an op-ed on a local news website that in Krasner’s office, “there seems to be no will to enforce the law.”
He said Friday that he’s impartial and wasn’t involved in drafting the articles of impeachment.
“We’re going to move forward with a professional case and present the evidence to the Senate, mapping them onto the articles of impeachment,” Williams said, “and at that point, it will be up to the commonwealth’s Senate to determine whether or not to remove Larry Krasner from office.”
Bonner previously worked as a prosecutor in the Mercer County District Attorney’s Office for 18 years, and also served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Hearing Committee, overseeing and deciding cases involving allegations of attorney misconduct.
Bonner said in a speech on the floor of the House that Krasner’s policies to divert people accused of lower-level offenses like prostitution and marijuana possession represent an “abuse of power.”
”Anarchy and violence will prevail if our elected leaders or our citizens choose what laws they will or will not obey or enforce,” he said. ”For one individual to completely set aside entire categories of law ... is the height of the arrogance of power, and a complete undermining of the rule of law.”
Solomon, the third impeachment manager, has been critical of Krasner, and during a House Judiciary Committee meeting this week, called him “woefully inadequate as a leader in our city.” But he said disagreeing with an official’s leadership style and policies doesn’t meet the standard of impeachment and removal from office.
He called the effort “the worst form of political brinksmanship.”
“In this case, it’s not about Larry Krasner. It’s about the constitution,” Solomon said. “And Mr. Krasner has not violated the applicable section of the constitution. We all, Republican and Democrat, should have our eye toward that standard.”