PHILADELPHIA (November 16, 2022) – District Attorney Larry Krasner issued the following statement after the Pennsylvania House Republican majority voted for an impeachment resolution despite there being no recommendation by a Select Committee authorized to investigate and find misconduct by the DA:
“In the hundreds of years the Commonwealth has existed, this is the only time the House has used the drastic remedy of impeachment of an elected official because they do not like their ideas.
“Those ideas are precisely why Philadelphia voters elected and re-elected me to serve as the Philly DA – in two landslides. These ideas include doing more and doing better for victims and survivors, solving crime through modern scientific enforcement, and investing deeply in the prevention of violence. And they are why elected officials who do not live or vote in Philadelphia are trying so hard to erase the votes of Philadelphians: because they preferred the status quo. They have impeached me without presenting a single shred of evidence connecting our policies to any uptick in crime. We were never given the opportunity to defend our ideas and policies – policies I would have been proud to explain. That Pennsylvania Republicans willfully avoided hearing the facts about my office is shameful.
“Each Philadelphia voter is not just 3/5ths of a voter. Philadelphia is not Pennsylvania’s colony. Philadelphians get taxation AND representation. Philadelphians’ votes, and Philadelphia voters, should not be erased.
“History will harshly judge this anti-democratic authoritarian effort to erase Philly’s votes – votes by Black, brown, and broke people in Philadelphia. And voters will have the last word.”
The DA’s Office yesterday released a factcheck of PA House Republicans’ claims. DA Krasner’s lawsuit against House Republicans, and other documents, are available here: https://linktr.ee/phillydalarrykrasner.
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The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is the largest prosecutor’s office in Pennsylvania, and one of the largest in the nation. It serves the more than 1.5 million residents of the City and County of Philadelphia, employing 600 lawyers, detectives, and support staff. The District Attorney’s Office is responsible for the prosecution of approximately 40,000 criminal cases annually. Learn more about the DAO by visiting PhillyDA.org.