Philly DA Larry Krasner said the federal investigation into his office ‘does not concern me at all’
Krasner said his office had acted appropriately in a controversial post-conviction case, and sought to cast the probe as a politically motivated effort to target an opponent of President Donald Trump.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner — whose office is now the subject of a federal grand jury investigation over potential obstruction of justice— said Thursday that he is not worried about the prospect of facing criminal charges, saying: “There is not a jury in the world that is going to find me guilty of anything.”
Speaking just days after sources said his office received subpoenas from federal prosecutors seeking documents and emails connected to a controversial post-conviction case, Krasner said in a defiant radio interview with WHYY’s Studio 2 that his office had acted appropriately in the matter.
“Not only did we do nothing criminal, we did nothing that was deliberately wrong,” he said. “That does not concern me at all.”
He also sought to cast the probe as part of President Donald Trump’s penchant for targeting political opponents, saying: “We are living in an era of revenge prosecution. We are living in a time when we have a compromised attorney general, who [was] the personal attorney for the President of the United States, and there is an enemies list ... and they are doing what they can do to come after these people.”
Still, there has been no indication to date that either Trump or Attorney General Todd Blanche has directed an investigation of Krasner. And the probe was primarily spurred by a Philadelphia-based federal judge, who said he believed the U.S. Attorney’s Office should look into whether Krasner or one of his supervisors committed conspiracy, obstruction, or perjury.
Krasner’s remarks served as some of his most extensive public comments on a matter that has roiled his office for months. The saga has also put him in the unusual position of serving as the city’s chief law enforcement officer while his office is under investigation for potential criminal misconduct.
Krasner has previously denied wrongdoing in court filings. And he has said the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Paul S. Diamond to refer the matter to federal prosecutors was improper, unfair, and legally unsupported.
The controversy stemmed from a post-conviction matter before Diamond in which a man named Dennis Johnson sought to overturn his 2009 murder conviction.
This spring, Krasner’s office discovered one of its prosecutors made critical mistakes in key documents filed in the case. After that discovery, Krasner and some of the prosecutors who work for him met for a series of contentious internal deliberations. And Diamond said testimony from the staffers showed Krasner was seeking to do damage control and took actions that could have amounted to conspiracy or obstruction of justice.
During Thursday’s interview, Krasner, a Democrat, denied that, and even said he believed Diamond might have defamed him.
He also went on to say that many of his critics — in this matter and others — have been motivated by either political or personal animosity. As support, he brought up an at-times scattershot list of clashes he’s been a part of over the years, including a lawsuit he filed against Republican megadonor Elon Musk, heated criticism he’s directed toward Trump, and even disputes he had with former Philadelphia power broker John Dougherty, who recently became a registered Republican after Trump commuted his prison sentence for corruption.
Krasner said his critics have “certain characteristics — they are either Republicans or very close to.” He then added: “Let’s get real about what’s going on here. And this is not just a local pattern, this is a national pattern of a certain president doing the kinds of things he wants to do.”
Federal prosecutors have declined to comment on their probe against Krasner. Such investigations can often take months or longer.
Krasner also declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation, except to say: “I know what I did, and I know there’s not a jury in the world that’s going to think I did something wrong here.”
