State Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre) is asking the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, alleging Krasner has refused “to perform the duties of his office to hold criminals accountable for the crimes that they commit.” 

“His decision to allow more and more criminals to walk free through plea deals and dismissed charges has created an environment in which Philadelphians are no longer safe in their own homes and communities,” Corman wrote in his letter to House leadership.

Jason Thompson, Corman’s communications director, said impeachment in Pennsylvania runs very similar to the process at the federal level.

“The process would begin with the House Judiciary Committee. If they choose to move forward, they would conduct hearings, conduct an investigation, and then they would then move that to the full House [for consideration] if warranted.” 

If the House of Representatives approves by a simple majority vote, the process moves to the Senate.

“The Senate would need a two-thirds vote in order to remove him upon impeachment,” Thompson said.

As many people discovered through the recent impeachments of President Trump, the burden of proof in an impeachment is far more of an individual judgement call than it is in criminal or civil law, so state senators would have tremendous leeway in how to interpret the evidence when trying to determine if Krasner should be removed.

A request for comment to Krasner’s office was not immediately returned.

Thompson said Philadelphia’s 562 homicides in 2021 — the highest number ever recorded in any single year for the city — was a major driver in the decision.

Others panned the decision.

“This is the standard Republican playbook: lose elections and then try to overturn them through less democratic measures. DA Krasner was duly elected by the people of Philadelphia and a State Senator from Centre County has no business trying to remove him,” said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County.

“Philly voters last year approved Krasner’s bid a for [sic] second term in primary/general elections. Using legislature to undo elections must sell well to the base, as Corman runs for governor,” tweeted Philadelphia Inquirer political reporter Chris Brennan.

Although Krasner won re-election last year, political controversy exploded when, in early December, he downplayed rising crime in the city.

“We don’t have a crisis of lawlessness, we don’t have a crisis of crime, we don’t have a crisis of violence,” the district attorney said on Dec. 6. “It’s important that we don’t let this become mushy and bleed into the notion that there is some kind of big spike in crime. There isn’t. There is not a big spike in crime. … There is not a big spike in violent crime. Neither one of these things is true.”

Krasner walked back the remarks, but the controversy grew even larger after former Mayor Michael Nutter castigated Krasner with an op-ed in the Inquirer.

“Do you know what the DA’s nickname is up on State Road — you know Philly, that’s where all of our prison facilities are — his nickname is ‘Let ‘Em Loose Larry.’ That’s a disgrace,” Nutter said in the days following the publication of his op-ed.

Legislative Republicans threatened impeachment against Philadelphia’s City Commissioners last year over several administrative voting issues the office took in carrying out the 2020 election, but ultimately did not follow through. 

The only successful impeachment in Pennsylvania since the 19th century was that of state Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen, who was impeached and removed from office in 1994 following his criminal conviction for illegally conspiring to obtain prescription drugs. 

Todd Shepherd is Broad + Liberty’s chief investigative reporter. Send him tips at tshepherd@broadandliberty.com, or use his encrypted email at shepherdreports@protonmail.com.

7 thoughts on “Pa. state Senator seeks impeachment of Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner”

  1. A focal point of the impeachment hearing needs to be the gross/massive campaign finance violations by Krasner, which allowed him to illegitimately win the two elections. This is definitely an impeachable offense.

    That in addition to the obvious DERELECTION OF DUTY which is also impeachable.

    I hope Democrats wake up to the damage this guy has done and do the right thing for citizens by voting for impeachment. Even the Philadelphia Democratic Party refused to give Krasner a re-election endorsement, a rare snub from the party that almost always supports incumbents.

  2. January 15, 2022. Just released audit by the official Philadelphia Office of the Controller. See link below. https://controller.phila.gov/philadelphia-audits/data-release-gun-violence-trends/

    Key takeaways:

    “As the city’s gun violence crisis has worsened, illegal gun possession offenses also increased across the city. Between 2015 and 2020, VUFA (violations of the Uniform Firearms Act) arrests made by the PPD increased by more than 100%. Over this same period, conviction rates for VUFA cases prosecuted by the DAO declined significantly, from 65% in 2015 to 42% in 2020. This decline was driven primarily by an increase in dismissals (a decision by a judge to end prosecution) and withdrawn cases (a voluntary decision by the DAO to end prosecution). The share of these dropped cases grew from 25% in 2015 to 49% in 2020.”

  3. Finally! There is at least a step forward in the interest of safety and justice for law abiding and now fearful Philadelphians. Let’s get this done and give Kooky Krasner the boot!

  4. Kara’s er is an excellent DA. Republicans, aka “cop supporters” don’t like him because he is actually doing his job and he’s making the police do theirs as well. He’s not allowing the police to taint the evidence or strong arm the witnesses. If the police did there jobs by the law as they are supposed to (instead of being spoiled by past DA’s that allowed them to “cut corners” making the cops lazy and fraudulent) then Krasner would be able to prosecute more criminals. He’s not not doing his job.. he’s doing his job right and this is exposing all you law enforcement who are NOT doing their jobs properly. Stop blaming someone else for your unskilled, unconstitutional work skills!!!

    1. BUNCH OF BULL. HE IS NOT DOING HIS JOB. HE IS LETTING CAREER CRIMINALS LOOSE EVERY SINGLE DAY. THE POLICE ARE DOING THEIR JOBS AND ARRESTING THESE CRIMINALS AND LET EM LOOSE LARRY SENDS THEM RIGHT BACK TO THE STREET TO COMMIT MORE CRIMES. ARREST UP 100% FOR GUN CRIMES YET CONVICTIONS ARE WAY DOWN.

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