Ron DeSantis on Thursday criticized the indictment of his 2024 Republican presidential nomination competitor and former U.S. President Donald Trump.
What Happened: The Governor of Florida dubbed the indictment as”un-American” and declared that the state would not help carry out an extradition request.
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"The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American," DeSantis tweeted after news of the indictment broke.
"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," DeSantis said, adding that Florida would not assist in an extradition request "given the questionable circumstances at issue."
On Thursday, a Manhattan grand jury decided to indict Trump on criminal charges for his role in a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump, who is a Florida resident, is expected to be arraigned next week.
What's The Case About: Initially, Trump denied having paid his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 hush money to Daniels in 2016 to keep the alleged affair a secret.
Later, he admitted to reimbursing his lawyer for that payment on the eve of the 2016 election but denied any sexual encounter with Daniels and claimed it was not connected to his campaign.
DeSantis had previously made similar comments criticizing the investigation into hush money payments as having political motivations. He had mentioned last week that he was not interested in being a part of "some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA."
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