Gov. Ron DeSantis Responds to Trump Indictment

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to breaking reports of Donald Trump’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.

BREAKING: Manhattan Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump!

DeSantis said "Florida will not assist in an extradition request" [for Donald Trump].

🚨#BREAKING: Governor Ron DeSantis says "Florida will not assist in an extradition request" for Donald Trump

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 30, 2023

"The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American," DeSantis wrote.

"The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent. Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda," he added.

The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head.

It is un-American.

The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct. Yet, now he is…

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 30, 2023

The Hill reported:

A Manhattan grand jury on Thursday voted to indict Trump on criminal charges for his role in organizing hush money payments made to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign.

Trump, who is a Florida resident, is expected to be arraigned next week.

DeSantis’s remarks echoed his previous comments decrying the hush money investigation as politically motivated. He said last week that he had no interest in involving himself in “some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA.”

Florida law allows the governor to intervene in extradition matters if they are contested, though Trump’s lawyers have previously indicated that they have no plans on fighting the former president’s extradition.

After DeSantis said last week that he wouldn’t intervene in the case against Trump, the former president and his allies lashed out, accusing DeSantis of showing political weakness by not defending Trump more forcefully.

Prior to that, some of Trump’s allies had called on DeSantis to intervene in the extradition process if the former president was ultimately charged in New York.

President Trump issued his response on Truth Social shortly after the indictment's announcement:

Georgia Guidestones Exposed: “Maintain Humanity Under 500 Million People”

This may be easier to read:

This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history. From the time I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower, and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the Radical Left Democrats – the enemy of the hard-working men and women of this Country – have been engaged in a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement. You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this.

The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable – indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference.

Never before in our Nation’s history has this been done. The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros, is a disgrace. Rather than stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he’s doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on. This is how Bragg spends his time!

I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden. The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!