(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday over his reported impending charges against former President Donald Trump, but said he won’t get involved in what he said amounts to a “political spectacle.”
DeSantis spoke Monday at a Panama City press conference as Bragg reportedly readies to arrest Trump over an alleged bribery scheme and hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I can’t speak to that,” DeSantis said in an apparent jab, before turning serious.
“But what I can speak to is if you have a prosecutor who’s ignoring crimes happening every day in his jurisdiction, and he chooses to go back many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments,” he added. “That’s an example of perusing a political agenda and weaponizing the office.”
DeSantis repeatedly called Bragg a “Soros-funded prosecutor,” a reference to the fact that the D.A. is one among dozens of far-left prosecutors backed by the Hungarian oligarch in recent elections—often with instructions not to enforce the rule of law as a way to undermine and destablize the American justice system.
The governor added that he has no plans to get involved in the impending case.
“I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA,” DeSantis said. “He’s trying to engage in a political spectacle and virtue signal to his base.”
This last remark drew the ire of pro-Trumpists such as Donald Trump Jr., who criticized DeSantis for not intervening.
So DeSantis thinks that Dems weaponizing the law to indict President Trump is a "manufactured circus" & isn't a "real issue"
Pure weakness. Now we know why he was silent all weekend. He's totally owned by Karl Rove, Paul Ryan & his billionaire donors. 100% Controlled Opposition. https://t.co/3fT06rlbH5
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 20, 2023
DeSantis would potentially benefit from a Trump prosecution, which might pave the way for him to run as the 2024 GOP presidential candidate if Trump decided to withdraw.
There is no provision in the U.S. Constitution, however, that would prevent Trump from running even with a criminal conviction to his name.
DeSantis, who has yet to formally enter the GOP primary race, said he won’t intervene in the Trump matter because he has other issues to focus on as Florida governor.
Others also came to Trump’s defense on Monday. Prominent George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote on his blog that the case against the former president was “legally pathetic.”
“Bragg is struggling to twist state laws to effectively prosecute a federal case long ago rejected by the Justice Department against Trump over his payment of ‘hush money’ to former stripper Stormy Daniels,” Turley wrote.
“In 2018 (yes, that is how long this theory has been around), I wrote how difficult such a federal case would be under existing election laws,” he continued. “Now, six years later, the same theory may be shoehorned into a state claim. More importantly, Bragg himself previously expressed doubts about the case, effectively shutting it down soon after he took office.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
