Pa. House committee approves articles of impeachment against Philly DA Larry Krasner

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state House committee on Tuesday approved articles of impeachment against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, setting the stage for a vote in the full House, likely this week.

The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee voted 14-8 along party lines Tuesday morning to approve the articles. They accuse Krasner, a Democrat, of implementing policies that have contributed to a rise in violent crime and of obstructing a legislative committee investigating his office — accusations Krasner has denied.

» READ MORE: Philly DA Larry Krasner could be impeached. Here’s what you should know.

A spokesperson for House Republicans said the caucus anticipates a vote in the full House on Wednesday.

Krasner’s office quickly responded by saying the Republican caucus was “more committed to gutting democracy than working for the people of the Commonwealth.”

An impeachment vote would undoubtedly encounter political — and potentially legal — pushback: Democrats have already accused Republicans of trying to advance a controversial measure in the final days of a two-year legislative session and as the GOP appears on the cusp of losing control of the state House.

And Krasner has challenged the validity of a separate legislative committee formed to investigate his office, saying in part that the Republican-led probe found nothing resembling an impeachable offense.

At least one legal expert said he agrees. Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University professor of state and federal constitutional law, said he was “shocked” that House Republicans decided to move forward on the issue. He said the articles appear “so far from the legal standard” of what qualifies as impeachable conduct, “they’re practically daring the courts to step in.”

“There is very little likelihood here that there’s a legally sufficient basis for impeachment and removal,” Ledewitz said.

Impeachment would require a simple majority vote in the House, where Republicans hold a 23-seat majority. A trial would take place in the Senate, and removal would require a two-thirds vote in the upper chamber.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday when such a trial might take place. The Senate — in which Republicans currently hold 28 of the chamber’s 50 seats — was scheduled to adjourn Tuesday for the rest of the calendar year.

Republican State Sen. Kim Ward, who on Tuesday was named interim Senate president pro tempore, said that if the House passes the resolution Wednesday, the Senate would add session days to take up the matter. It remains unclear when, how many, or what those days would be used for.

The articles of impeachment do not accuse Krasner of a crime but say he engaged in “misbehavior in office,” which the state constitution says can be a basis for impeachment.

The legislation was introduced by Rep. Martina White (R., Philadelphia), who testified before the committee Tuesday and cited crime and prosecution statistics, saying the office has “inappropriately” used prosecutorial discretion and has failed to adequately respond to the ongoing gun violence crisis or keep residents safe.

“His dereliction of duty and despicable behavior is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated,” she said.

Krasner has defended his office’s record on violent crime, saying the District Attorney’s Office diverts some low-level offenders out of the criminal justice system but is committed to prosecuting violent crime. He has described the attempt to remove him from office as an illegal effort to overturn the will of Philadelphia voters.

Rep. Mike Zabel (D., Delaware County), a former prosecutor, called the impeachment “a weaponization of our state constitution for partisan political purposes.” He said the vote was the most “serious” he’d ever taken.

“Impeachment of a local official because a legislative majority doesn’t like that official’s policies? As stewards of this commonwealth, that should terrify us,” he said. “Nowhere in these is a single act that justifies the drastic remedy of impeachment.”

The last time impeachment was used to oust a state official was in 1994, when Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen was removed for making legal decisions based on conversations with a political supporter and after he was convicted in a drug-related conspiracy.

Rep. Joseph C. Hohenstein (D., Philadelphia) said during Tuesday’s hearing that the attempt to impeach Krasner was unprecedented and the record of evidence against him was inadequate.

“This article of impeachment has asked us to stretch the definition of misbehavior in office outside of criminal conduct, but when we look at how impeachment has been handled over hundreds of years, we’ve never done that,” he said.

Republicans said the measure was about protecting all Pennsylvanians, including those who travel to Philadelphia to visit.

“I don’t want to hear this is a Philadelphia issue,” said Rep. Jerry Knowles (R., Berks). “If you’re going to keep everyone out of Philadelphia except for the people who live in Philadelphia, and they voted this guy back in by 70%, shame on them.”

House Majority Leader Kerry A. Benninghoff (R., Centre/Mifflin) said he supported the effort, saying, “Crime is not a partisan issue and fixing it should not be partisan either.”

He rejected criticism that Republicans were advancing a controversial piece of legislation during a lame-duck session.

”Right now, we’re in charge, and we’re going to do what we think is right,” he said.

Democrats on the committee moved to hold the legislation until a hearing could be held on the motion, but the motion was blocked by Republicans.

Rep. Danilo Burgos, a Philadelphia Democrat who was on the committee tasked with investigating Krasner, said it found no criminal wrongdoing by Krasner, and called the move to impeach him “biased and unconstitutional.”

He said House Republicans were being “sore losers” after last week’s election results and questioned why they would wait until the final days of session to introduce the resolution.

“If they cared about the safety of Philadelphians, they would have done something a long time ago, not at the eleventh hour,” he said.

The expected vote will come as Democrats are within inches of winning a majority of the House for the first time in 12 years. The party outperformed expectations in last week’s midterm elections and has come close to erasing the GOP’s majority. Control of the chamber is down to just two districts in the Philadelphia suburbs, where the contenders are separated by just a handful of votes.

Newly elected representatives will not be sworn in until the next session, which begins in January.