Federal grand jury subpoenas have reached Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's office after a judge's criminal referral.

A grand jury subpoena asks for evidence, and it is not an indictment. Fox News and the New York Post reported that neither Larry Krasner nor Matthew Stiegler has been charged. The referral underneath is Judge Paul Diamond's Sept. 16 memo, which disqualified both men from one habeas case and sent the question to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Fox News reported on Oct. 20, 2026, citing two sources briefed on the matter, that the Justice Department sent grand jury subpoenas to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's office in recent days. The network reported that the subpoenas are tied to potential obstruction of justice in the handling of cases before federal judges, and that they followed a judge's referral of Krasner and his top deputy. The New York Post, citing a source, reported that the subpoenas relate to possible obstruction, perjury, and conspiracy, and that it is not clear whether Krasner and Conviction Integrity Unit chief Matthew Stiegler received the subpoenas themselves. The Post credited Fox News with reporting the subpoenas first. Krasner's office did not respond to Fox News or the Post on Tuesday. The Justice Department declined comment. A grand jury subpoena is a demand for records or testimony. Neither outlet reported an indictment.

The referral those accounts describe is a memorandum U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued on Sept. 16, 2026. Fox News and the New York Post reported that Diamond referred Krasner and Stiegler to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The judge wrote that he had reluctantly concluded they may have broken the law, and he cited possible false statements, perjury, obstruction, and conspiracy. He disqualified both men from the case in front of him. He did not disqualify the district attorney's office as a whole. The Philadelphia Inquirer, CBS Philadelphia, and FOX 29 have also covered the referral and the prosecution file under it. A referral asks prosecutors to look at conduct. It does not itself charge anyone.

The case under the referral is habeas litigation over Dennis Johnson. Johnson was convicted in 2009 in the killing of Kenyatta Smith during a robbery in 2007, and he was sentenced to life in November 2010, Fox News and the New York Post reported. In November 2022, Krasner's office supported Johnson's habeas petition and cited ineffective assistance of counsel. In June 2026, the office moved to withdraw that support and cited material misstatements. The support, and the later request to take the support back, are filings. They are the record the judge was examining when he made the referral.

Fox News and the New York Post reported what the judge said he found in that record. He found that Krasner and Stiegler sought to place those misstatements on former Assistant District Attorney Jaclyn Mason, who has since resigned. He found that Krasner warned of consequences if staff told the court about an internal conflict, and that Krasner opposed sending the case to the Pennsylvania attorney general's office. When the ruling came down, Krasner said he respectfully and vigorously disagreed and that he would appeal. That sentence is his answer to the referral and the disqualification. It is not an answer to a charge, because the outlets have not reported one.

Krasner is in his third term as district attorney. The New York Post reported that the Pennsylvania House impeached him in 2022 and that the Senate never tried the articles. No charges have been filed against Krasner or Stiegler. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.