HARRISBURG (TNS) — 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, 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 Krasner’s impeachment — the first time in over a quarter-century that the power has been used — grew on Friday, as a bipartisan group of 80 current and former attorney generals, 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.”
Solomon, the lone Democrat among the impeachment managers, voiced similar opposition 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.”
Cutler’s office consulted with Democratic leadership to select Solomon, Cutler’s spokesman Mike Straub said Friday, with both parties well aware that the resolution’s requirement for a bipartisan trial team meant someone who opposed the impeachment would be trying the case.
The House voted 107-85 Wednesday in favor of the impeachment resolution against 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.
The final vote on the impeachment resolution followed several months of investigation by a Republican-led select committee that was convened specifically to create grounds for Krasner’s impeachment.
Krasner and other Democrats have described the effort as a partisan witch-hunt, pointing to Republican candidates who campaigned heavily in 2022 on attempts to link vulnerable Democratic candidates to Krasner, his progressive policies, and to increased crime in Philadelphia for which Republicans blame him.
Republicans charge that 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 Cutler himself, who in a floor speech Wednesday said Krasner’s actions extend beyond the reasonable discretion prosecutors have in handling cases.
“What is happening is very different,” 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 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.
