Posted on 03/20/2023 8:28:21 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) weighed in Monday on Donald Trump’s possible criminal indictment in New York, breaking a two-day long silence on the former president’s claim that he will be arrested this week.
Asked about the rumored indictment during an event, DeSantis lambasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is investigating hush money paid to a porn star on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 campaign, calling him a “Soros-funded prosecutor” and accusing him of “weaponizing” his office.
“I’ve seen rumors swirl. I have not seen any facts yet, and so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said DeSantis, a likely 2024 Republican presidential hopeful. “But I do know this: The Manhattan district attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor and so he, like other Soros-funded prosecutors, they weaponize their office to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law and public safety.”
DeSantis didn’t mention Trump by name, choosing instead to grill Bragg over his approach to crime in New York City, though he drew a laugh from the audience when he quipped that he doesn’t “know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”
“But what I can speak to is if you have a prosecutor, who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction, and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office,” he said.
Still, DeSantis also noted that his office would not be involved in the case “in any way,” signaling that he has no plans to help Trump fight extradition to New York should he face charges.
The remarks were DeSantis’s first on the potential indictment since Trump claimed in a Saturday post on his social media site that he would be arrested on Tuesday and urged his supporters to protest any possible criminal charges against him.
DeSantis’s initial silence on the matter kicked off a pressure campaign by Trump’s allies, who raised questions about why the Florida governor hadn’t chimed in on the former president’s claims.
Other current and prospective Republican presidential candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, came out in defense of Trump over the weekend, casting Bragg’s investigation as politically motivated.
Ramaswamy specifically sought to pressure DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, one of the few declared Republican presidential candidates, to condemn Bragg’s “political persecution through prosecution” of Trump.
Won’t be going remotely, anywhere DeSantis will be.
You’re dismissed. You may leave the room
I don’t think you agree with me, because I don’t agree with you.
The threats alone and the entire witch hunt from the Manhattan DA are tyrannical.
Yea, I suspect that’s his thinking too which is why he shouldn’t be considered to be the leader of the country. Trump very much sees the destruction of the judicial system as “something to do with him”
What a sketchy guy. He talked about Bragg in general terms, not the Trump case or indictment. Then he trashes Trump by talking about hookers and payoffs. Many Dems and Never Trumpers condemned Bragg over the weekend for what he is doing. But not RDS. Nope. He shoved the knife into his political opponent even further knowing full well how bad this is for the country, not just PDJT. As I’ve said all along, he can’t be trusted. He back stabbed Trump and hangs out with the lowest of the low GOPe. Back him at your own peril.
“If either you or DeSantis can’t figure out what this kind of tyrannical behavior by a DA has to do with everybody, then you’re lost.”
Well it seems pretty clear to me based on DeSantis’ response that he can figure that out, and called it out accordingly. So what’s the problem, exactly?
News Flash. This isn’t about Trump. It’s about our country and the political weaponization of our judicial system. As a lawyer, RDS should understand how dangerous this is. Unless of course, he’s in favor of it as a political tool.
“Agree. Can you imagine if the roles were reversed? Trump would go nuclear on DeSantis.”
Bingo.
Truo should truth this. These crooks need it shoved in their faces
Since you’ve never been powerful or wealthy you likely don’t realize that they encounter these shakedown scenarios all the time and they and their lawyers have to make judgement calls about how to handle them.
To you it's all about Trump. Don't help bad Trump. That's your straw man fallacy.
To an objective person it's mostly about a tyrannical DA carrying out a witch-hunt investigation threatening a bogus charge.
It of course isn't about Ron "owing" Don. It's about all of us defending against tyranny. And it's about somebody who most likely wants to be president, who should be participating in that defense.
Well said.
Really? And you can read his mind and predict the future?
Bingo.
Yes, or no.
Well said.
McCarthy’s response was more aggressive than DeSantis…..what more do you need to know?
Get your ears checked. No, he didn’t. He used weasel words to avoid having to do so while simultaneously stabbing his political opponent and his country in the back. Make no mistake about this: RDS is fine with what is happening with the judicial systems attack on Trump and MAGA as long as he gets what he wants out of it.
Unfortunately Trump has a nasty personality that almost invites such mockery, so I cannot blame DST here.
I could definitely see this
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