for BigTrial.net
In a conference room at the luxurious Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C., Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was on a national stage, but he was getting annoyed.
Krasner was a guest speaker last November at a National Lawyers Convention sponsored by the Federalist Society. And he was silently stewing as he listened to McGregor Scott, a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor from California, complain about how billionaire George Soros was spending millions to buy elections across the country for the benefit of progressive prosecutors like Krasner.
"It's an arms race to raise money that traditional prosecutors can't keep up with," Scott said.
That set Krasner off.
"Alright, now I do have to jump in," Krasner said. He proceeded to rattle off some facts about campaign finances from his own race for Philly D.A., none of which were true.
"I was outspent for the most part in this last election," Krasner claimed. "I had very, very little support coming from the outside. Of the couple million dollars that came in only about $200,000 were coming from an outside source like that [Soros]."
All of these statements are false, but at a national forum, the Philly D.A. was just getting warmed up. After he got through lying about campaign finances in the Philly D.A.'s race, Krasner proceeded to make some provably false claims about his own horrible record in fighting crime.
Why? Because when you're Larry Krasner, the truth is never an option. Because when the subject is Larry Krasner, the truth is pretty damaging.
The topic of the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention was Criminal Justice 2021 and the Rule of Law. The panelists included Krasner; McGregor Scott, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California; Tracey Meares, a professor at the Yale Law School; and Richard Stanek, a retired sheriff from Hennepin County in Minnesota.
A video of the 90-minute conference is posted online on youtube.com. The relevant discussion begins at the one-hour mark.
An argument began when Krasner proudly claimed that in recent years the number of people who lived in cities where progressive prosecutors had been elected and reelected has basically doubled.
Then, Scott spoke up about why those progressive prosecutors were winning so many elections, because they were backed across the country by deep-pocket carpetbagger donors like Soros.
Krasner took offense at that, and blamed the money flowing into local races for D.A. on the landmark 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case. That's when the nation's highest court decided, in the name of free speech, that the government can't restrict corporations, associations and labor unions from spending money in support or opposition to political candidates.
So don't blame me for the spending spree, Krasner said.
"If it's gonna be an infinite river of money going somewhere, guess what?" Krasner told The Federalist Society. "I can't stop a rich guy from liking me, and as it turns out, he did."
Then, Krasner cited some bogus stats about campaign finances in the Philly D.A.'s race:
"I was outspent for the most part in this last election," Krasner stated. "I had very, very little support coming from the outside. Of the two million or so that came in only $200,000 were coming from an outside source like that," referring to Soros.
None of this is true.
Krasner is the poster child for the progressive prosecutors with big war chests that Scott was talking about. Krasner was first elected in 2017 after George Soros gave him nearly $1.7 million.
When he got reelected in 2021, Krasner's main campaign benefactor was the progressive Real Justice PAC of San Francisco, which bragged online about how they had raised a total of $1.3 million to re-elect Krasner.
Soros, according to campaign finance reports, contributed another $274,100 to Krasner's reelection campaign through his Pennsylvania Justice & Public Safety PAC.
Ok, but was Krasner really outspent in the race for D.A., as he told The Federalist Society?
Nope.
Campaign finance reports on file with the Philadelphia Board of Ethics show that between Jan. 1, 2020 and Sept. 13, 2021, Krasner raised and/or incurred debts of $1,399,043 during his Democratic primary victory over Carlos Vega, who raised $888,442.
So Krasner was not outspent by his opponent. But regarding his campaign treasure chest, did Krasner really get "very, very little support from the outside?"
Nope again.
On Krasner's campaign donations in 2021 where the addresses of the donors who gave $25 or more were disclosed, a total of $547,058 flowed to Krasner's campaign from donors outside of Philadelphia, while $213,786 came from Philadelphia donors.
So Krasner wasn't telling the truth about outside donations either.
At the Federalist convention, former prosecutor Scott and Krasner also clashed over the sentencing of violent offenders.
"We also need to hold people who commit violent crimes and murder other people, assault other people, rob other people, accountable for what they have chosen to do," Scott said.
Once again, Krasner was riled.
"I don't understand where the idea comes that we're not doing that," he said. "Every progressive prosecutor I know has been very clear that they want to clear the decks on the nonsense so they can focus on the most serious crimes."
"Where is the study, where is the data, where is anything to show me that George Gascone or Rachel Rollins or someone like me is anything less than very serious," Krasner stated, about violent crime.
When Krasner took over as Philly D.A., he announced that his office would no longer prosecute crimes such as drug possession, prostitution and retail theft under $500.
The number of crimes charged by the D.A.'s office subsequently plunged. For example, in 2014, under former D.A. Seth Williams, the D.A.'s office charged a total of 43,228 cases.
But by 2021 under D.A. Larry Krasner, the total of all cases charged by the D.A.'s office had fallen by 47%, all the way down to just 22,867 cases.
What happened to the conviction rate?
In 2014 under Seth Williams, the conviction rate in the D.A.'s office for all crimes was 50.7%.
By 2021 under Larry Krasner, the conviction rate in the D.A.'s office for all crimes had fallen all the way down to 22.6%.
How about the conviction rate for violent crime, since Krasner's plan supposedly was "to clear the decks on the nonsense" so he could focus on serious violent crime.
In 2014, under former D.A. Seth Williams, the conviction rate for prosecuting violent crime was 41.0%.
By 2021 under Larry Krasner, the conviction rate for prosecuting violent crimes had fallen to just 24.1%.
As someone who has investigated Krasner's sentencing for gun crimes, I can tell you that the D.A.'s office under Krasner routinely gives out sentences that are below state sentencing guidelines. When they're not letting criminals caught with illegal guns out of jail, or dropping the charges, or watching as judges toss their cases for lack of evidence.
But by 2021 under D.A. Larry Krasner, the total of all cases charged by the D.A.'s office had fallen by 47%, all the way down to just 22,867 cases.
What happened to the conviction rate?
In 2014 under Seth Williams, the conviction rate in the D.A.'s office for all crimes was 50.7%.
By 2021 under Larry Krasner, the conviction rate in the D.A.'s office for all crimes had fallen all the way down to 22.6%.
How about the conviction rate for violent crime, since Krasner's plan supposedly was "to clear the decks on the nonsense" so he could focus on serious violent crime.
In 2014, under former D.A. Seth Williams, the conviction rate for prosecuting violent crime was 41.0%.
By 2021 under Larry Krasner, the conviction rate for prosecuting violent crimes had fallen to just 24.1%.
As someone who has investigated Krasner's sentencing for gun crimes, I can tell you that the D.A.'s office under Krasner routinely gives out sentences that are below state sentencing guidelines. When they're not letting criminals caught with illegal guns out of jail, or dropping the charges, or watching as judges toss their cases for lack of evidence.
So according to the stats taken from Krasner's own D.A.'s own Public Data Dashboard, Krasner isn't serious about prosecuting violent crime.
At the Federalist convention, when the discussion turned to the surge in violent crime nationwide, Krasner made one more ridiculous statement.
At the Federalist convention, when the discussion turned to the surge in violent crime nationwide, Krasner made one more ridiculous statement.
Richard Stanek the former sheriff, talked about how the average increase in gun violence was 42% nationwide.
That's when Krasner bragged, "It's 11% in Philly. If you want me to fix your town just give me a call."
This is how Krasner fixed Philly.
Last year, the city set an all-time record for homicides with 562. Since Krasner was elected in 2017, homicides are up 78%, from 315 in 2017 to 562 last year.
This is how Krasner fixed Philly.
Last year, the city set an all-time record for homicides with 562. Since Krasner was elected in 2017, homicides are up 78%, from 315 in 2017 to 562 last year.
Non-fatal shootings are also up from 1,028 in 2017, the year before Krasner took office, to 1,846 in 2021, a 79% increase.
This Easter weekend, a total of 33 people were shot in Philadelphia, including a three-year-old, who was shot in the hand. Five of the victims were murdered, bringing Philadelphia's murder rate as of Sunday night to 140.
If there's a silver lining, its that so far, the murder rate is actually down 5% over last year's historic rate.
Krasner, as usual, did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did his spokesperson, Jane Roh.
Unfortunately for Krasner, lying is habitual. It's what he did when he hosted a virtual press conference to use some BS and bogus crime stats to con the public about crime.
It's what he did when he was called to a City Council hearing on gun violence, and he served up yet another batch of lies and bogus stats to cover for his horrible record.
It's what Krasner did when he tried to claim at a press conference that a Big Trial report that G. Lamar Stewart, his chief of community engagement, had pulled over an FBI agent after an alleged road rage incident, wasn't reliable, when a police report stated that's exactly what Stewart was accused of doing.
So instead of lying to Big Trial, Krasner continues to stonewall.
Meanwhile, at the Federalist Society, a group of conservatives and libertarians that boasts more than 65,000 members nationwide and a $20 million budget, it's officials were similarly reluctant to discuss Krasner's performance at their annual convention.
On its website, the society states that its "main purpose is to sponsor fair, serious, and open debate about the need to enhance individual freedom and the role of the courts in saying what the law is rather than what they wish it to be."
According to Federalist Society, they're all about ideas, and not engaging in "activism of any kind," which apparently includes commenting on when invited guests lie at their conventions.
The list of the officials over the past week who did not respond to emails, phone calls and text messages requesting comment include former federal prosecutor McGregor Scott; Federalist Society Co-Chairman Steven Calabresi and Leonard Leo; Vice Chairman David McIntosh; Senior Vice President Dean Reuter; Secretary Gary Lawson, and even Keith Appel, the official spokesperson for the Society, who apparently is paid to do nothing when reporters come calling.
So Larry, when you're going out of town on your next speaker's gig, why don't you try a novel approach, such as telling the truth.
It would be such a refreshing change, instead of listening to your usual lies.