PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 22, 2022 – District Attorney Larry Krasner has formally requested that “hearings” scheduled by a Pennsylvania House Republican-controlled select committee be accessible to Philadelphia residents and that he, the political target of the committee, be permitted to attend and testify.
On September 2nd, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office filed a legal challenge to the select committee’s abuse of its authority. The committee has yet to respond in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Instead, the PA House GOP held an unannounced resolution vote to hold DA Krasner in contempt after falsely accusing him of not responding to a subpoena, when in fact materials requested by the subpoena are covered by grand jury protections and would unlawfully and inappropriately interfere in a pending criminal jury trial scheduled for the fall.
Upon information that the select committee plans to hold two days of hearings on September 29-30 at the Naval Yard (a remote and secured facility, which is not easily accessible to most Philadelphians) and that DA Krasner was not invited to attend and speak, the DAO through legal counsel formally requested the following:
Conduct the Hearings at a Large Venue that is Accessible to Most Philadelphians. In addition, the DAO offered “four suitable options, each of which can accommodate more than 500 people, is accessible by public transportation, is located in a community that is representative of Philadelphia’s diverse population, and will be provided at no cost to the taxpayer.”
Give District Attorney Krasner the Opportunity to Speak and to Answer Questions from the Select Committee.
Afford Philadelphians – Not Just the Ones Handpicked by the Select Committee – Ample Opportunity to Be Heard During these Hearings.
The letter to the select committee is available here: https://bit.ly/LetterToSelectCommittee.
The DAO’s lawsuit and other non-privileged responses to the committee’s politically motivated effort to unconstitutionally override the will of Philadelphia voters are available here, https://linktr.ee/phillydalarrykrasner.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is the largest prosecutor’s office in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the nation. It serves the more than 1.5 million residents of the City and County of Philadelphia, employing 600 lawyers, detectives, and support staff. The District Attorney’s Office is responsible for the prosecution of approximately 40,000 criminal cases annually. Learn more about the DAO by visiting PhillyDA.org.
