Larry Krasner’s spokesperson has an intergalactic side gig

We here at Clout have seen plenty of our public servants work side hustles. There are the elected officials who sat on a zillion boards and commissions, the bureaucrats who lawyered on the side, and the Council member who was on a politically connected union’s payroll.

We came across one recently that catapulted to the top of our list of most interesting side gigs: Dustin Slaughter, the spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, spends some of his out-of-work time researching UFOs.

Slaughter has worked in the DA’s office since 2018, and recently took over as Krasner’s spokesperson after ex-comms director Jane Roh departed.

He’s also a freelance journalist who reports on “the intersection of unidentified anomalous phenomena and government bureaucracy,” and he runs a website-slash-newsletter on Substack called the UAP Register. (We learned UAP stands for “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.”)

Slaughter founded the Substack in early 2022, and since then has written a variety of posts about UAPs/ UFOs and how the government talks about them. He also has lots of experience filing requests under open records laws and suing for information (an endeavor we journalists appreciate).

As recently as this spring, Slaughter sued the federal government to compel it to release information as part of his reporting, posting in March that he’s challenging the Air Force on its claim that it doesn’t have any videos of UFOs.

Slaughter has had a lifelong fascination with UFOs and in the 1980s he and his mother witnessed a UFO over central Pennsylvania, according to the “about” page on his website. It notes that he “currently works in communications for municipal government while pursuing journalism part time.”

Slaughter told Clout he keeps his research and work lives separate — so much so that he wouldn’t chat with Clout about it during work hours. That’s worth applauding, given the long line of Philadelphia municipal employees who have done their side work on taxpayer time.

In fact, Slaughter’s website reads in bold: “All views expressed on this website are his own, and do not reflect those of his employer.”

So Krasner’s views on UFOs remain unclear. But we’ll be honest: We’re intrigued. And so are plenty of other politicos.

In December, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) advanced bipartisan legislation to improve government transparency around UAPs. And, as Slaughter pointed out in a February post, members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have questions, too.

During a committee hearing earlier this year in Harrisburg, State Rep. Ben Waxman — who coincidentally is also a former spokesperson for Krasner — asked David Padfield, the head of the emergency management agency, about how Pennsylvania tracks unknown aerial objects.

Padfield gave a lengthy answer, including saying in an off-handed sorta way: “We have had reports of unidentified flying objects.”

That prompted Rep. Jordan Harris to do a double take, saying, “So wait — run that back again. What did you say about UFOs?”

Padfield responded that the agency does occasionally receive reports of anomalous objects that are “hard to be able to understand.”

Oh. OK, then.

It wasn’t that long ago that former mayoral candidate David Oh was telling voters that his 2023 opponent, Cherelle L. Parker, was too close to the Democratic machine to be an effective mayor.

But today, with Parker now helming the city and Oh no longer a member of City Council, the Republican is openly showing some support for his erstwhile rival.

Clout has spotted Oh standing alongside the mayor’s supporters at three events so far this year: one on gun violence in the city and two about business growth.

It isn’t entirely surprising. Oh is now the president and CEO of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, and he has a seat on the recently reconvened Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission.

We chatted with Oh after an event Wednesday in the Mayor’s Reception Room about Parker’s new business roundtable — which he will sit on — and he said backing his onetime rival isn’t that awkward.

“She’s the mayor,” he said. “You only get one. I want her to be as successful as possible.”

Joe Grace, Parker’s spokesperson, said the administration is open to all supporters, saying, “We welcome anybody who supports Mayor Parker’s vision for our city.”

Oh isn’t the only former opponent advising the mayor on business matters. They weren’t at the introductory news conference, but ex-Democratic candidates Allan Domb, a real estate magnate, and Jeff Brown, who owns a chain of grocery stores, are also on the roundtable.

They were featured together in an attack ad last year by the super PAC that backed Parker’s mayoral bid. Kudos to them for not holding a grudge.

There was some surprising inter-party love in City Council this week, too.

Two members of the Working Families Party, Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke, introduced legislation to formally honor Maurice Mitchell, the national head of the progressive third party.

It’s common for Council members to author resolutions honoring allies. What’s interesting about this one is that, like most honorary resolutions, it passed unanimously — including with the support of members who are close to the Democratic establishment that has clashed with the Working Families Party as it worked over the last two city election cycles to elect Brooks and O’Rourke.

For instance, Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmembers Mike Driscoll, Cindy Bass, and Curtis Jones Jr., are all Democratic ward leaders, and Councilmember Jim Harrity is a confidante of Philly Democratic Party chairman Bob Brady.

Brooks said it’s “no surprise that Democrats who care about delivering for working people want to be a part of what we’re building.”

Could this mean the beef between the centrist party brass and Philly’s insurgent left is settled? Color us skeptical.

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

Inquirer staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.