In response to the Republican-led drive to impeach and remove him from office, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Monday it was part of a “generalized authoritarian attack” being waged by the GOP on democracy across the U.S., the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Krasner, a Democrat, held a news conference to address a legal challenge he filed Friday. In that lawsuit, Krasner and his lawyers argued the impeachment drive against him should be thrown out for several reasons, including that Republican legislators haven’t accused him of an impeachable offense and don’t have the legal grounds to oust a locally elected official. Krasner went further Monday, saying he believed the tactics being used against him resembled efforts by the GOP nationally to “try to undo elections” or improperly target Democratic officeholders. He brought up a sprawling array of examples, including efforts in other cities to recall or remove progressive prosecutors, and the possibility that the new Republican majority in the U.S. House may seek to impeach President Biden. “You don’t have to do this stuff when you’re winning elections,” Krasner said.
The district attorney’s remarks were another example of the contentious political and legal fight over the impeachment drive. Krasner has frequently cast the effort as illegal, antidemocratic, and politically motivated. Republicans pursuing impeachment have accused Krasner of enacting policies that have fueled the city’s shooting crisis, obstructing a legislative committee investigating him, and other offenses. The state Senate last week voted to accept the articles of impeachment approved by the state House, setting the stage for a January trial on whether to remove Krasner from office. Jason Gottesman, a spokesperson for House Republicans, said, “Larry Krasner has been impeached by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for misbehavior in office and nothing he says at a news conference can change that.” Krasner’s lawyers said the court should end the impeachment proceedings against him. Lawyer Michael Satin, said Monday that the House articles of impeachment “don’t come close” to naming an impeachable offense. Satin said the legislature does not have the ability to impeach and remove a local officeholder, and that the process is fatally flawed because the House approved impeachment at the end of a legislative session, while the trial isn’t scheduled to begin until after a new legislature is sworn in next year.
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