Philly DA impeachment trial managers named

Backlash over move against Krasner continues to grow

The state House announced Friday the three lawmakers who will serve as prosecution managers for the impeachment trial of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, which is expected to begin later this month in the state Senate.

House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, named a three-member trial team of House members who are also attorneys: Tim Bonner, R-Mercer/Butler, Craig Williams, R-Delaware/Chester, and Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia.

In a statement Friday, Mr. Cutler said the managers “exemplify the competency and character required in this moment” and that “each of their diverse experiences and education will help ensure this process is treated with the utmost professionalism and thoroughness.”

Backlash to Mr. Krasner’s impeachment — the first time in over a quarter-century that the power has been used — grew on Friday, as a group of 80 current and former attorneys general, sheriffs, and other law enforcement officials from across the country released a letter saying the move “constitutes a deeply alarming attempt to disenfranchise voters, a rejection of democratic values, and a potential threat to public safety.”

The lone Democrat among the managers, Mr. Solomon, voiced his opposition to the impeachment in a judiciary committee debate Tuesday, saying “we all need to reject this move and uphold our constitution by voting no on these articles of impeachment.”

The House voted 107-85 Wednesday in favor of the impeachment resolution against Mr. Krasner — who was first elected in 2017 and re-elected by Philadelphia voters last year — with no Democratic support and all but one Republican voting affirmatively.

Mr. Cutler’s office consulted with Democratic leadership to select Mr. Solomon, Mr. Cutler’s spokesman Mike Straub said Friday,

with both parties well aware that the resolution’s requirement for a bipartisan trial team would mean someone who voted against the impeachment would be trying the case.

The final vote on the impeachment resolution followed several months of investigation by a Republicanled select committee that was convened specifically to create grounds for Mr. Krasner’s impeachment.

Mr. Krasner and other Democrats have described the effort as a partisan witchhunt, pointing to a bevy of pro-Republican advertising in the lead-up to the 2022 election which attempted to link vulnerable Democratic candidates to Mr. Krasner, his progressive policies, and to increased crime in Philadelphia for which Republicans blame him.

Republicans charge that Mr. Krasner has overstepped his authority, and usurped that of the Legislature, by issuing broad edicts on how certain types of criminal cases are to be handled, something they portray as uniquely impeachable.

This includes Mr. Cutler himself, who in a floor speech Wednesday said Mr. Krasner’s actions extend beyond the reasonable discretion prosecutors have in handling cases.

“What is happening is very different,” Mr. Cutler said. “The district attorney is currently acting in a legislative capacity by simply declaring whole sections of law void, non-prosecutable, will not go after them.”

Republicans have identified Mr. Krasner’s progressive criminal justice reform polices — such as not pursing low-level drug and prostitution arrests, cutting cash bail requests for certain offenses, and offering plea deals with less supervision — and attempted to link them to Philadelphia’s crime problem.

Democrats, as well as Mr. Krasner himself, have questioned how Republicans are laying the issues entirely at Mr. Krasner’s feet, given that Philadelphia’s increase in violent crime is in line with the national trend since 2020, and they point out that other counties in Pennsylvania have actually seen a greater rise in homicides over the period.