DA Larry Krasner says ‘you are stuck with me’ after a bogus resignation rumor raises eyebrows

Clout today details the perfect summer recipe for a juicy rumor.

Take a slow time in the political calendar, such as the fourth week in July. Mix in a controversial politician — Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. Have him call an all-staff meeting. Then circulate a bogus “news release” claiming he’s leaving for a new job.

Stir all week until it comes to a rolling boil, with people viewing this rumor through their own prism of partisanship — Krasner critics hoping aloud that it comes true, Krasner fans fearing a progressive prosecutor is calling it quits.

Then dump it in the trash. Because that’s what it is.

“You are stuck with me,” Krasner told Clout this week, sounding half-bemused by the rumor and half-ticked off about the bogus news release. “I actually love my job. I like what I’m doing.”

Someone claiming to be Abigail Symond-Fakour — a Clout search of the Lexis-Nexis database found no such person exists — declared in a news release being passed around that Krasner would become the executive director of the National Lawyers Guild next week.

“We look forward to raising the profile of the NLG under the leadership of Larry Krasner,” the release said.

That came as news to NLG’s president, Suzanne Adely.

“The press release was not issued by the National Lawyers Guild or anybody formally affiliated with the NLG,” she emailed Clout. “Larry Krasner is not currently and is not expected to be the NLG executive director or president, nor is he a member of the NLG.”

Krasner called Clout on Wednesday afternoon after addressing his staff in a meeting — long planned and not called to discuss the rumor. He told his staff he was sticking around.

He said the rumor had spread through the Criminal Justice Center, up the ranks of the Philadelphia Police Department, and out to Hershey, where the city’s Common Pleas judges are attending a retreat.

“This is new territory, when you get to the point that someone is circulating a fabricated news release,” he said. “It’s special. I didn’t know people care about me that much.”

Which brings us to Dom Giordano, the conservative 1210-WPHT-AM talk-show host who speculated gleefully on his radio show and on social media about the potential departure of the prosecutor he loves to hate.

The city’s Common Pleas Court judges select an interim replacement if the district attorney departs before the end of an elected term. Giordano claimed that he had been told one of those judges was “the front-runner” to replace Krasner.

Giordano did allow for the possibility that the rumor was not true, though he found a way to potentially pin the blame on Krasner for that.

“I can’t tell,” he said on his show Tuesday. “This could be a feint by Krasner, playing with everybody.”

The rumor was still spreading Wednesday as Republicans in the state legislature asked Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court to revive their efforts to impeach Krasner, whom they blame for Philadelphia’s uptick in murders, shootings, and other crimes.

Krasner easily won a second term in 2021, fending off a primary challenger and then winning the general election while barely campaigning.

So, will he seek a third term, in 2025?

“That’s a decision I will not even face until the end of next year,” Krasner said. “It’s not a pressing matter at this time.”

Volunteers who work for Pennsylvania Democrats want to talk about Donald Trump’s many legal woes. Turn PA Blue, a political action committee that recruits volunteers to help Democratic candidates, delivered Monday by hosting a virtual town hall meeting with a pair of former federal prosecutors.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, now seeking a second term, and Chris de Barrena-Sarobe, the Democratic nominee for district attorney in Chester County, spent an hour explaining to 70 people Trump’s indictment last month for allegedly withholding classified documents and speculating about a potential new indictment for his attempts to remain in office after he lost the 2020 election.

Along the way, there were pitches to contribute to their campaigns and to Turn PA Blue. Unusual times call for unusual methods. The historic indictment of a former president certainly qualifies. After all, Trump has been in a fundraising frenzy, using his legal mess to pull in dollars.

Stollsteimer told the crowd he speaks to “very astute” Republicans who think “the best thing that can happen for the Republican Party is that he gets convicted as early as possible and that they can then be done with him.”

De Barrena-Sarobe called out Republicans who claim to support law enforcement but attack agencies investigating Trump.

“It makes no sense, and we can’t let them coopt this idea any more that they are the law-and-order party,” he said. “They are not for any amount of order. We saw that on Jan. 6. And they want to ignore the law and manipulate it to their advantage.

Jamie Perrapato, who cofounded Turn PA Blue in 2017, said the group’s events keep volunteers engaged. A previous discussion covered Trump’s indictment in New York for paying hush money during his 2016 campaign to conceal an affair.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.