Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the indictment of former President Donald Trump is "un-American" and that his state will not help in extraditing the former president to New York.
DeSantis, who is expected to challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, tweeted "the weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head."
"Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda," DeSantis said.
Trump became the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges when a grand jury empaneled by Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg voted to indict him on charges centering on a $130,000 payment former Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006.
DeSantis pointed to Bragg being supported by liberal philanthropist George Soros, who has vowed to elect left-wing district attorneys across the country. Color of Change, a left-wing criminal justice group funded by Soros, endorsed Bragg for election in 2021 and promised to spend $1 million on his election campaign, according to The New York Times.
"The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct," DeSantis wrote. "Yet now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent."
Trump resides at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and DeSantis added, "Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda."
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