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DeSantis slams Manhattan DA in first remarks on potential Trump indictment
The Hill ^ | March 20, 2023 | Max Greenwood

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.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Florida; US: New York
KEYWORDS: alvinbragg; bragggate; desantis; donatefreerepublic; dumbndumbertrolls; election2024; florida; georgesoros; hushmoney; indictment; newyork; nyc; persecution; remarks; rondesantis; soros; sorosfunded; stormydaniels; trump
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To: PA Presbyterian

The fact that he thinks this is about Trump is the very reason he’s not ready. Plenty of other reasons but this does stand out.


101 posted on 03/20/2023 10:05:47 AM PDT by wiseprince (Me,)
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To: thefactor

That’s fine, only saying: couldn’t find a link in the article leading to the video.


102 posted on 03/20/2023 10:06:16 AM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: vivenne

OK I’ve checked my ears, and this is what he said:

“I don’t know what’s going to happen but I do know this: the Manhattan district attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor. I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA. I’ve got real issues I got to deal with here in the state of Florida. He’s trying to do a political spectacle. He’s trying to virtue signal for his base.”

What exactly is “weasel words” about this? What exactly does DeSantis need to say to help you be able to feel nice and cozy at night?


103 posted on 03/20/2023 10:07:32 AM PDT by DownThe405
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To: DesertRhino
Well, government lawyers are the creme de la creme ... They have legions to do their dirty work.
104 posted on 03/20/2023 10:07:44 AM PDT by Just mythoughts (Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Ha! Finally.

So much for the DS plants, here, who say there is no need for DeSlantis to even comment on this outright infringement of our freedoms/going after political opponents.


105 posted on 03/20/2023 10:19:17 AM PDT by Jane Long (What we were told was a “conspiracy theory” in 2020 is now fact. 🙏🏻 Ps 33:12 )
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To: nikos1121

Spot on!!


106 posted on 03/20/2023 10:20:56 AM PDT by Jane Long (What we were told was a “conspiracy theory” in 2020 is now fact. 🙏🏻 Ps 33:12 )
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"I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA," DeSantis said.
BREAKING: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Finally Reacts to Donald Trump's Potential Arrest [03/20/2023]

107 posted on 03/20/2023 10:21:45 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Magnatron

“ This should have been instinctual — not forced by public criticism.

A DeSantis misstep, but at least he finally stepped up...”

He should have commented sooner on a rumor?
Maybe he can comment on Ben and Jaylo rumors next.


108 posted on 03/20/2023 10:22:22 AM PDT by Gary from Dayton (Scary unvaccinated American )
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To: jeffc

“ Face it: the anti-DeSantis people here on FR have become NeverDeSantis people. Their stance has forced them into a position from which they dare not step back.”

Sadly, that seems to be the case


109 posted on 03/20/2023 10:24:59 AM PDT by Gary from Dayton (Scary unvaccinated American )
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

gotta go to bed, but it appears DeSantis is determined to blow up his campaign before it begins.


110 posted on 03/20/2023 10:31:49 AM PDT by Dana1960
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To: nikos1121

““....that he doesn’t “know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”...

there you have it for all you DeSantis lovers out there.

What a chicken bleep POS remark that is.....

DeSantis can go jump in the lake...’

This is the classic dish it out and can’t take it. Trump calls DeSantis a Globalist, a RINO, an average governor etc etc and that is fine. Hint at something negative about Trump and the Only Trumpers whine and howl like teenagers with their phone taken away.


111 posted on 03/20/2023 10:37:16 AM PDT by Pirate Ragnar (Be calm and act.)
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To: thefactor

Watched the video.

The “Soros-funded DA” issue DeSantis discussed, explaining that it has caused crime to spike and ordinary citizens to suffer needlessly is real, but relatively low on the overall list of issues involved here.

The primary issue is the Deep State blatantly unjustifiably persecuting and threatening with criminal arrest an ex-President and current candidate for the disfavored party’s POTUS nomination. We are on the verge finishing the transition of the U.S. into a Banana Republic. Nothing from DeSantis on that.

DA Bragg and his Brandon-adjacent colleagues are also doing a wash-rinse-repeat routine on the 2016 attempt to ruin Trump’s appeal to adult women. In response, DeSantis rolled out a carefully practiced laugh line. This was a cheap and, yes, sanctimonious shot at Trump, the man.

DeSantis was visiblt luxuriating in Trump’s discomfort.


112 posted on 03/20/2023 10:37:24 AM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: Pirate Ragnar

DeSantis is living up to, and now must wear, the “DeSanctimonious” label.


113 posted on 03/20/2023 10:43:15 AM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: one guy in new jersey
"DeSantis was visiblt (sic) luxuriating in Trump’s discomfort."

You mean a possible candidate is having a little fun at the expense of another candidate who has been talking smack about him for weeks on end? I'm SHOCKED, I tell you. SHOCKED!

114 posted on 03/20/2023 10:46:15 AM PDT by thefactor
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To: SoConPubbie
that the GOP-E and Deep State have lined up behind DeSantis against President Trump.

That's the primary reason I won't support my Governor in the primary. He should just go on being a great Governor down here, INCLUDING more concrete actions, if lawful, to stop Trump's extradition to New York. Those who pay the piper call the tune.

115 posted on 03/20/2023 10:50:12 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (FBI out of Florida!)
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To: Magnatron; All

Sooo... Where are all the other Republican state governors and Republican Senators and Congressmen?


116 posted on 03/20/2023 10:50:41 AM PDT by Cobra64 (Common sense isn’t common anymore.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Careful what you wish for?


117 posted on 03/20/2023 10:52:31 AM PDT by Timber Rattler ("To hold a pen is to be at war." --Voltaire)
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To: SoConPubbie

So what are you still complaining about? You got what you demanded.


118 posted on 03/20/2023 10:54:45 AM PDT by Timber Rattler ("To hold a pen is to be at war." --Voltaire)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

All smart moves...


119 posted on 03/20/2023 10:58:46 AM PDT by Demiurge2 (Define your terms!)
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To: DesertRhino

That’s actually good tactics. Don’t defend Trump... attack Bragg.


120 posted on 03/20/2023 10:59:49 AM PDT by Demiurge2 (Define your terms!)
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