PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) —Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is speaking out, days after asking Pennsylvania courts to step in and halt the impeachment process against him.
Krasner’s filing in Commonwealth Court Friday argues the impeachment process is unlawful for three main reasons.
The first, his attorney says, is that the legislative session ended at the end of November.
“Under Pennsylvania law, all matters pending at the end of a general session of the General Assembly do not carry over to the next General Assembly,” said Krasner’s lawyer, Michael Satin.
His second argument is that the General Assembly doesn’t have the authority to impeach a district attorney. Philadelphia has oversight over potential impeachment and removal of its district attorney, the lawsuit claims.
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And the third argument, he says, the articles do not allege any conduct that rises to the level of “misbehavior in office” required under the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Krasner argues, contrary to what Republicans say in the articles of impeachment, he has never said he is flat-out refusing to prosecute certain crimes, like prostitution or theft.
“You're going to find that we make exceptions,” said Krasner. “We make exceptions, because we use our discretion. And using our discretion, we determined that this is what we should do.”
Satin points out that a prosecutor has, in his words, a tremendous amount of discretion when it comes to charging decisions, and Pennsylvania and federal law prohibit a legislator from interfering with that discretion.
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Krasner sued the Senate's top-ranking Republican, Sen. Kim Ward of Westmoreland County, unnamed members of the Senate committee that will oversee the case and the three impeachment managers designated by the House of Representatives.
The state House voted on nearly party lines to impeach Krasner on Nov. 16, sending the matter to the state Senate for trial next month. Removal will require support from two-thirds of senators.
Krasner's lawyer says they've asked the court to resolve the issues as quickly as possible, but the court hasn't responded, so the timeline is still up in the air.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.