Within hours, Pa. Republicans make Larry Krasner impeachment drive a midterm issue

HARRISBURG — When Pennsylvania Republicans announced they were introducing articles of impeachment against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Wednesday, they said the crime situation in the city had gotten so dire, they couldn’t wait any longer to act.

Asked if the unprecedented move had anything to do with the midterm election in 13 days — when every seat in the House will be on ballots — Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R., Centre) was unequivocal.

“Our caucus has been consistently concerned about crime, regardless of where it occurs,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the elections.”

And then, within hours, statewide Republicans tied it to the election.

The Pennsylvania GOP blasted Krasner and his office, immediately linking him to Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate John Fetterman, as well as calling the Democrat running for governor, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a “coconspirator.” And Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, made Krasner a central part of a news conference in Harrisburg on Wednesday afternoon, saying the DA is “in a little bit of trouble.”

It all comes amid uncertainty over how the impeachment process could play out. Wednesday was the last scheduled House session before the Nov. 8 election, and lawmakers left Harrisburg without voting on impeachment or any other legislation related to Krasner, including a resolution that would direct an audit of his office.

It means any preelection attempt at forcing House Democrats to take a side — impeach Krasner or no? — seems increasingly unlikely.

» READ MORE: Democrats think redistricting means they have a shot at taking the state House

Still, the filing of the articles of impeachment and the political discourse that followed underscored how Republicans are centering their message on rising rates of crime with less than two weeks until Election Day. Krasner, an unabashed progressive Democrat in a city experiencing a severe gun violence crisis, is an obvious foil.

Some in the state House have been telegraphing their intentions for longer than the last few weeks as impeachment talk ramped up. Three Republican lawmakers — none from Philadelphia — said in June they would try to impeach Krasner, an announcement that served as a precursor to the establishment of a select committee of House members investigating his office.

And State Rep. Martina White, a Republican who represents Northeast Philadelphia and the prime sponsor of the articles of impeachment, has long been critical of Krasner’s approach and earlier this year backed legislation to term-limit Philadelphia’s district attorney.

» READ MORE: GOP push for audit of Krasner nearly overshadowed by political drama

But Wednesday represented the most extraordinary play against Krasner thus far. And Republicans seized on the news.

Hours after the articles were introduced, the state Republican Party blasted out a statement referring to the “Wolf-Fetterman-Shapiro-Krasner cartel.” The statement said, “John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro continue to run from their records on crime.”

“Defeating violent crime should be the top priority for law enforcement officers like Larry Krasner and Josh Shapiro, but, sadly, they failed Pennsylvanians,” state party chairman Lawrence Tabas said in the statement.

Shapiro, for his part, has tried to keep his distance from Krasner. The two prosecutors have frequently clashed and differ in both substance and style. Shapiro’s opponent in the governor’s race, State Sen. Doug Mastriano, has made rising crime a central part of his campaign, but did not appear to speak at length Wednesday about Krasner following the impeachment news.

Oz, on the other hand, went all in.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Oz slammed Fetterman for praising Krasner’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which reviews old cases and aims to free the wrongfully convicted. The unit faced scrutiny this week after a man whose 2012 murder conviction was overturned was arrested in connection with an unrelated fatal shooting.

He also accused Fetterman of trying to use the Board of Pardons, a five-member panel that hears applications for clemency from prisoners, as a means of re-litigating convictions.

Oz said Fetterman tried to turn the board “into the equivalent of the Conviction Integrity Unit ... an approach that seems to give more credibility and seems to care more about the criminals than it does about the innocent.”

The Republican has consistently made crime and drugs in Philadelphia a central theme of his campaign, and some strategists point to a barrage of advertisements focused on crime as part of what helped him close an early gap in the race. In stump speeches, he often brings up the record-high homicide rates in Philadelphia.

He brought Maureen Faulkner, the widow of the slain Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, to Tuesday’s debate. And during it, he said Fetterman has taken Krasner’s policies “to a new extreme.”

Fetterman has tried to dismiss the attacks by pointing to his 13 years as mayor of a small town that had experienced a disproportionate level of crime.

”I’m the only person on this stage right now that is successful about pushing back against gun violence,” Fetterman said at the debate. “All he’s done is just put a plan up on his website in the last 24 hours.”

Meanwhile, despite House Republicans predicting a bipartisan vote to impeach Krasner, down-ballot Democrats from across the ideological spectrum have castigated the effort.

Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Philadelphia) called the effort a “witch hunt” and said Republicans never alleged illegal or unethical behavior but instead “just didn’t like what he was saying or what he was doing as the duly elected district attorney.”

Rabb has been a longtime supporter of Krasner’s. But even Democrats who have clashed with him came down against impeachment.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney — who is not up for election but has openly disagreed with Krasner’s approach on prosecuting some gun-related cases — “firmly believes that certified elections shouldn’t be overturned by legislative bodies,” according to a statement from his office.

And State Rep. Danilo Burgos (D., Philadelphia), who sits on the committee investigating Krasner and voted to hold him in contempt of the House in September, said the committee hasn’t uncovered impeachable behavior.

“It’s starting to look like it’s been their plan all along to undermine the electoral process of the voters of Philadelphia,” he said. “The Republican leadership just wants to continue to create theatrical appearances.”