DeSantis calls possible Trump indictment ‘manufactured circus,’ attacks top prosecutor

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday he would not be involved in what he called a “manufactured circus” over a possible indictment of former President Donald Trump by a New York prosecutor over allegations that Trump paid hush money to a porn actress before he was elected in 2016.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just I can’t speak to that,’’ DeSantis told reporters at a news conference in Panama City, but he instead accused Manhattan’s district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, of being funded by George Soros, a liberal billionaire donor to progressive prosecutors, and suggested that he was not aggressively pursuing routine prosecutions.

“...I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA,’’ DeSantis said, referring to Bragg. “He’s trying to do a political spectacle.”

The Florida governor, who is expected to challenge Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, also suggested that if the former president, whose permanent residence is in Palm Beach, refuses to travel to New York, the governor will not be engaged in extradition proceedings.

“I’m not aware of anything,’’ he said.

Over the weekend, Trump’s political team made known their disapproval that DeSantis had not commented. After DeSantis’ comments, Donald J. Trump Jr., turned to Twitter to respond: “So DeSantis thinks that Dems weaponizing the law to indict President Trump is a ‘manufactured circus’ & isn’t a ‘real issue.’ Pure weakness. Now we know why he was silent all weekend. He’s totally owned by Karl Rove, Paul Ryan & his billionaire donors. 100% Controlled Opposition.”

As the governor was speaking, Jason Miller, a Trump aide, tweeted: “Somebody got some polling back.”

And by Monday afternoon, Trump revived his previous attack on DeSantis, reposting on Truth Social, a social media post of the governor with students when he was a teacher at a Georgia school and adding some color.

“Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are “underage” (or possibly a man!). I’m sure he will want to fight these misfits just like I do!’’ Trump wrote on his website.

Trump’s post includes a photo of DeSantis that appears to be from when he was 23 and a high school teacher at a boarding and day school in Georgia. DeSantis is surrounded by young women in the shot, one of whom is holding a brown glass bottle. The photo first surfaced on a blog run by a Democratic political organization, and The New York Times reported last year that students remember DeSantis attending at least two parties at which people drank alcohol.

Attacking ‘Soros-funded prosecutors’

DeSantis’ response came at a news conference on “digital dollars” to criticize rising interest rates and the federal bailout of Silicon Valley Bank.

DeSantis renewed his criticism of what he called “Soros-funded prosecutors,” a frequent criticism that he used as the rationale last year to oust former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren.

Soros’ Color of Change PAC provided funds and support for Bragg’s campaign for Manhattan district attorney. Bragg, a former federal prosecutor and Manhattan’s first Black district attorney, was heavily criticized for a policy memo he released in his first week in office that presented a more lenient approach to some crimes.

DeSantis campaigned with the unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor of New York, Lee Zeldin, who blamed Bragg for the increase in crime in New York and vowed to remove the newly elected prosecutor from office.

DeSantis followed a similar playbook with Warren but succeeded. AfterWarren sued to get his job back, a federal judge ruled that although the court did not have the authority to restore Warren to his job, the governor “violated the First Amendment by considering Mr. Warren’s association with the Democratic Party and alleged association with Mr. Soros as motivating factors in the decision.” The ruling is on appeal.

DeSantis revived the criticism even as he needled Trump for allegedly paying “hush money.”

“I’ve seen rumors swirl. I have not seen any facts yet, and so I don’t know what’s going to happen,’’ DeSantis said Monday. “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.”

A Manhattan grand jury is expected to indict Trump on the pending charges but the timing is unclear.

Trump predicted the indictment on his site, Truth Social on Saturday morning in a lengthy post that ended: “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”

DeSantis’ removal of a top prosecutor

By shifting the attack to Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, DeSantis is attempting to revive the political narrative he used to remove Warren.

DeSantis offered no examples but said that prosecutors who have received the support of Soros pursue a “reckless political agenda.”

“They ignore crime and they empower criminals and that hurts people, hurts a lot of people, every single day,’’ he said. “The Soros district attorneys are a menace to society.”

It is an argument that the court said did not justify suspending Warren. U.S. Federal District Court Judge Robert Hinkle included in his ruling that when DeSantis aide Larry Keefe drafted the executive order suspending Warren, he “referred to Mr. Soros’ indirect financial support of the Democratic Party and, in turn, Mr. Warren.”

DeSantis’ deputies testified in trial last year that the deciding factor in removing Warren by executive order was Warren’s decision to sign his name to a June 24 letter by a national criminal justice reform group pledging not to prosecute abortion cases.

They also admitted that before DeSantis removed Warren, his attorneys never contacted anyone in his office. They did not request the office’s policies, and they did not request any data from his office to show what effect his policies were having on prosecutions.

McClatchy Washington Bureau reporter Alex Roarty and Tampa Bay Times reporter Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@miamiherald.com and @MaryEllenKlas