By Perla Brito and Alexis Rios-Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office released a statement this week stating he’d accepted an invitation to testify in front of the PA House Select Committee in an open hearing this Friday, Oct. 21—but only if the committee agreed to have the hearing open to the public.
The Select Committee had reached out to DA Krasner’s impeachment counsel to have him testify privately with no public access to the testimony transcript. This comes as the Pennsylvania House is set to reconvene next week before breaking again right before the Nov. 8 election.
DA Krasner’s counsel representing the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office sent a letter to Select Committee Chair Representative John Lawrence stating, “District Attorney Krasner accepts the Chairman’s invitation – provided he may do so at a hearing that is public and transparent.”
His legal counsel added, “The proposed hearing involving District Attorney Krasner should be no different. District Attorney Krasner should be afforded the same opportunity to give a statement and answer questions at a public hearing,” and emphasized it was not only “improper and unfair” to the DAO and DA Krasner, but improper and unfair to exclude the public from a hearing that involved public concern.
Select Committee Chair Representative John Lawrence said DA Krasner “willfully neglected” the subpoena and was treating it like “a worthless piece of paper.”
There have been two days of hearings held by the Select Committee at the Philadelphia Navy Yard where no members of the public were allowed to enter.
According to media reports, the criticisms and legal expert testimonies which were specifically chosen by the Select Committee did not support the opinion or evidence supporting the committee’s efforts to impeach DA Krasner. 
In a statement, District Attorney Krasner reasserted his willingness to answer questions from the PA House Select Committee in a public hearing.
He said, “Chair Lawrence’s invitation for me to appear before the committee (is) in secret behind closed doors and out of view of the public, just days before the House returns to session next week, possibly to vote for my impeachment at the whim of the House Republican Speaker, is curious.”
A Democrat, Krasner has been fighting off scathing rebukes for his reform minded policies many Republican and conservative-leaning legislators claim are contributing factors in the spike in homicides that have gripped the state in recent years.
In response to the increase of violent crime, a resolution was passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to set up a Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order. The committee would subpoena DA Krasner for documents relating to his approach on prosecuting crime.
DA Krasner refused to comply, stating he believed the legislature’s investigation anti-democratic, and illegitimate. On Sept. 13, he was found in contempt by a margin of 162 to 38.
Now, after two days of impeachment proceedings and Krasner’s call for a public hearing over one behind closed doors, House Republican spokesperson, Jason Gottesman dismissed the DA’s comments, arguing, “The District Attorney does not decide the manner in which the Select Committee operates.”
Going further, Gottesman cast doubt on whether there would be a meeting held on Friday, leaving many observers questioning why the Committee opposed a public hearing.
DA Krasner said, “Philadelphians and all Pennsylvanians who love democracy and cherish their right to vote deserve a transparent and public hearing, before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives takes any action aimed at erasing Philly’s votes.”
