Pennsylvania House Republicans are calling for an investigation into Krasner’s withdrawal of the arrest warrant against Rep. Boyle

HARRISBURG – House Republicans in Pennsylvania called on the attorney general to investigate Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner for withdrawing an arrest warrant against Rep. Kevin Boyle last month.

Boyle, whose district includes northeastern parts of Philadelphia, was wanted by police in April for allegedly violating a protection from abuse order. Less than a week later, Krasner’s office withdrew the warrant after they said new information revealed the order was no longer in effect when Boyle allegedly violated the warrant.

The decision to revoke Boyle’s arrest warrant came a day before the Pennsylvania primary, which he ultimately lost to Democratic challenger Sean Dougherty. In a letter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, Republicans said the district attorney’s decision just before Election Day “raises serious questions.”

“The involvement of District Attorney Krasner and his office in issuing and revoking the arrest warrant for Rep. Boyle on the literal eve of a primary election in which he was running for office raises serious questions,” said Republican Leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster). “Given the notoriously partisan and unprofessional manner in which Attorney General Krasner has conducted his office, a government investigation into how this high-profile matter was handled is appropriate.”

Krasner, a Democrat, did not clear Boyle of any wrongdoing during a news conference announcing the decision to suspend the warrant, but said “more complete” information would have helped them reach an eventual resolution.

“I would like to say, that being said, this does not mean – one way or another – that Mr Boyle did not commit a crime. This is a matter that needs to be resolved later,” Krasner said in April. “But based on the information we have today, which is more complete than the seemingly accurate information we had previously, we find no probable cause to justify a warrant for Mr. Boyle’s arrest for violating a protective abuse order on the dates in question.” .”

Republicans questioned how “false information” led the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to approve Boyle’s arrest warrant without “exercising due diligence in making the decision,” calling it “astonishing” that the reversal took nearly a week .

They believe the “intense media and public scrutiny” of Boyle caused by “false information” during and around Election Day may have influenced voters and led to Boyle’s loss in the 172nd District.

“While Krasner has promised an internal investigation into what he calls “simply an information gap,” internal actions are insufficient to address such a serial matter,” House Republicans wrote. “If news organizations exercise more care than Larry Krasner and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, a thorough, outside investigation is necessary to determine how something like this happened and to ensure it never happens again.”

Krasner’s office called the state Republicans’ move “just another example of political theater by enemies of democracy” and a “false attempt at diversion.”

“The call for an investigation by Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is just another example of political theater by enemies of democracy. “It’s ironic that many of those pushing for this investigation were also involved in the fight over the 2020 election, as the nonpartisan States United Democracy Center reports.” Representatives George Dunbar, Bryan Cutler, Martina White, Seth Grove and Joshua Kail were among those who contested the election. Perhaps we should investigate actual attempts to undermine the integrity of our democratic process and instead continue the attempts to silence Philadelphia voters. From these bogus attempts by Republicans to distract, we will continue to fight crime because they require us to we fight stupidity.”

Boyle, 41, was previously arrested for the same offense in September 2021. His brother, Congressman Brendan Boyle, said it was the same year that Kevin showed signs of “very serious” mental illness. Brendan Boyle claims his brother made a full recovery and showed “no symptoms” for the next two years, but these mental health problems have since returned.

“In recent weeks his mental health has deteriorated even further. “It was painful to watch an intelligent, educated person with a big heart decline so abruptly,” Congressman Boyle wrote.