Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has taken fire over the last two days for his silence regarding rumors that former President Donald Trump might be indicted by New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg for alleged hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, in 2016.
His response managed to upset both Trump supporters and critics alike.
Asked to weigh in at a Monday morning event, the Florida governor replied:
I’ve seen rumors swirl. I have not seen any facts yet, and so I don’t know what’s going to happen. 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.
He has downgraded over 50% of the felonies to misdemeanors. He says he doesn’t even want to have jail time for the vast, vast majorities of crimes. …
In what was perceived as a swipe at Trump, DeSantis said, “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.” The audience chuckled over this remark.
He continued:
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 also reminded reporters that he had fired the Soros-backed Hillsborough County, Florida, state attorney Andrew Warren last summer. He said, “The Soros district attorneys are a menace to society and I’m just glad that I’m the only governor in the country that’s actually removed one from office during my tenure.”
The reporter asked whether he planned to protect Trump from extradition to New York should he actually be charged. DeSantis, who is expected to enter the 2024 race for the Republican presidential nomination when the Florida legislative session ends in May, replied:
We won’t be involved in this. I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA…He’s trying to do a political spectacle. He’s trying to virtue signal for his base. I’ve got real issues I got to deal with here in FL.
…
I’ve got to spend my time on issues that actually matter to people. I can’t spend my time worrying about things of that nature. …
So, he slammed Soros-backed DAs, which irritated the left.
And still managed a couple of swipes at Trump. He showed his disapproval of Trump’s alleged dalliance with Daniels and downplayed the significance of his possible indictment as not being a “real” issue.
This didn’t sit well with Trump supporters:
(Via Twitchy)
Well they wanted him to address it, just not like this.
At any rate, Business Insider reported that the anticipated indictment may not occur on Tuesday as rumored. A source who has “knowledge of the investigation” told BI that a final witness is scheduled to appear before the grand jury on Monday. The grand jury apparently convenes for three hour sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The source said the jury might not have sufficient time to deliberate after hearing the witness testimony and being “charged” by the prosecutors, which means they will “go through the potential counts on a charge sheet one by one, explaining each count in the potential indictment.” So, they would have to reconvene on Wednesday before reaching a decision.
According to BI, the grand jury presentation has lasted for two months. The star witness for the prosecution is former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen. Former Trump advisors Kellyanne Conway and Hope Hicks have also been called to testify.
The New York Post has identified Monday’s witness as Robert Costello, an attorney whom they describe as “loyal to Trump.”