Pa. House committee votes to hold Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in contempt
HARRISBURG, Pa. - A Pennsylvania House committee has voted to hold Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in contempt.
The House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order says committee members unanimously recommended that Krasner be held in contempt due to his failure to comply with subpoenas issued by the committee last month.
"This is not a decision we, as a committee, came to lightly," Representative Torren Ecker said. "This committee is steadfast in its intention to get to the bottom of the current unrest in Philadelphia and being denied access to important documents hinders progress in achieving that goal."
According to the committee, Krasner declined to accept hand-delivered subpoenas issued by the committee twice.
An electronic copy of the subpoena was accepted by Krasner's attorneys, but his office said they will not comply, officials say.
As a result, the committee approved support to recommend that he be held in contempt.
"No one, including Philadelphia's top law enforcement official, is above the law, or above being held accountable," Ecker said. "It is extremely rare for the House to take up such a measure and this showcases the gravity of the situation in which we find ourselves."
This comes three months after Ecker and two other Pennsylvania House Republicans, Josh Kail and Tim O'Neal, announced plans to draft articles of impeachment against Krasner, citing his handling of crime in Philadelphia.
While Ecker, Kail and O'Neal do not represent constituents in the Philadelphia area, Rep. Amen Brown does represent Philadelphia's 190th District and was among those who voted ‘yes’ on Tuesday.
"The message was sent today that no one is above the law and it is not okay for any person in the stat of Pennsylvania to think they can be above the law," Brown told FOX 29's Jeff Cole.
Brown, a democrat, said he would consider voting to impeach Krasner if "the findings were that it's recommended."
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Krasner, who is on his second term, was first elected to the role in 2017 with a focus on supporting victims, exonerating innocent people wrongly convicted of crimes and reducing the population of local jails.
A spokesperson for Krasner's campaign issued the following statement:
"The House Committee continues to operate outside the bounds of the law. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has said that when a party receives a subpoena that it believes is improper-- as we do-- you should seek review in court. That is exactly what we have done. It is telling that the "Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order" refuses to follow it. This is, of course, the same committee that asked us to break the law by turning over grand jury material."