The Justice Department has sent grand jury subpoenas to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who was slapped with a criminal referral back in September. This stems from a 2009 murder case where Krasner and one of his top deputies allegedly forced prosecutors to lie about the case.
U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond issued a 40-page memo that said testimony given in his court raised concerns about Krasner and a supervisor possibly pressuring prosecutors to lie. The case involves Dennis Johnson, who was seeking to have his murder conviction thrown out.
Johnson was sentenced to life for the 2007 murder of Kenyatta Smith during a robbery at a North Philadelphia convenience store. During federal habeas proceedings challenging Johnson's conviction, Judge Diamond heard testimony from multiple District Attorney's office employees that led him to conclude that Krasner and Conviction Integrity Unit chief Matthew Stiegler may have threatened consequences for staff who raised conflicts, pressured prosecutors to present false narratives, and acted in ways that could amount to perjury, false statements, and obstruction of justice. Judge Diamond disqualified Krasner and Stiegler from the case and made the referral to the U.S. Attorney's Office for investigation.
BREAKING: DOJ sends grand jury subpoenas to Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner after federal judge referred him for possible criminal investigation noting allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice, sources tell Fox News pic.twitter.com/k0hAD11qDl
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 20, 2026
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Two sources briefed on the subpoenas say they are related to potential obstruction of justice relating to the handling of cases before federal judges. The sources said the subpoenas came as a result of a federal judge referring Krasner and his top deputy to the DOJ for possible criminal investigation.
Krasner's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The DOJ declined to comment.
Reports of the subpoenas come more than a month after U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond referred Krasner and his deputy, Matthew Stiegler, to the DOJ, saying evidence uncovered in a murder conviction case could constitute false statements, perjury, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.
Neither man has been charged.
"And I think this is the tip of the iceberg, because remember in that referral, in that 40-page opinion by the judge, they talked about Stiegler, one of the henchmen who works for Krasner," said Cully Stimson, legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation. "And he ran the Conviction Integrity Unit, but what it really was was the 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' Unit."
"They unwound dozens and dozens of solid murder convictions when they were in bed with the Innocence Project," Stimson continued. "And Krasner was elected in 2017 with $1.5 million of Soros money the first time, he said at his victory party that he was a ... a public defender with power. That's how he views himself. So I think there's going to be a lot of unspooling of this other stuff in the Conviction Integrity Unit."
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) October 20, 2026
Krasner has vowed to appeal, and will likely put up a fight. But the DOJ isn't playing around.
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