HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Republican Lawmakers filed an appeal on the ruling that questioned the legality of impeaching Philly’s district attorney. Late last year Commonwealth Court ruled articles of impeachment against Larry Krasner were unconstitutional because they didn’t rise to the level of “misbehavior in office” as outlined in the Pennsylvania Constitution.
But the House Impeachment Managers chairman, Delaware County Republican Craig Williams, says their appeal, filed with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, “Sets out a thorough dismantling of that position.”
The 85-page brief argues impeachment is a matter exclusively for the General Assembly, saying throughout history, “courts have recognized the inherently political nature” of “determining what constitutes impeachable conduct,” and “assigning those political exercises to political bodies, in this case the state legislature.”
Williams says under Pennsylvania law, it’s a crime “for a public official to knowingly and intentionally deprive another’s legal rights.” He argues the articles of impeachment detail several instances where Krasner, in Williams’ words, “used his office to do exactly that.”
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Krasner has called the impeachment “a political stunt.” House Democrats call it a dangerous misuse of impeachment power.
The House voted largely on partly lines to send the case to the Senate for trial last year when Republicans still held the majority. In January, the Senate voted to delay the hearings until legal challenges are resolved by the courts.
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