DeSantis Issues Response to Trump Indictment, Vows Retribution
Corrupting the law for political purposes poisons democracy, Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in the aftermath of the indictment of his main rival in the 2024 primary race, former President Donald Trump.
In a statement Thursday night on Twitter, DeSantis offered no defense of Trump, who faces a seven-count indictment related to his handling of classified material. Instead, he focused on the issue of warping the law to suit partisan ends.
“The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society. We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation,” the governor wrote.
“Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?” he said, referring to the lack of charges against former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in her email scandal and the long-running barren probe of President Joe Biden’s son.
DeSantis closed by saying as president, he would overhaul the Department of Justice.
“The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all,” he said.
The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society.
We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.
Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?
The DeSantis…
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 9, 2023
Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is also seeking the GOP nomination, said making the justice system a political animal debases America.
“One thing that makes America a city on the hill is confidence in our justice system. And today, what we see is a justice system where the scales are awaited. That seems to be the outcome of where we are today,” Scott told Fox News.
“As president of the United States, I would purge all of the injustices and impurities in our system so that every American can have confidence that they will be seen by the lady of justice with a blindfold on. That is what we need in this nation,” he said.
Others, including Twitter owner Elon Musk, said it appeared the justice system was no longer about justice.
There does seem to be far higher interest in pursuing Trump compared to other people in politics.
Very important that the justice system rebut what appears to be differential enforcement or they will lose public trust.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 8, 2023
My full statement on the indictment of President Trump:
America has crossed a Rubicon. A sitting President of the United States weaponizing federal law enforcement and the justice system to attack his political opponent, a former President of the United States, reeks of third…
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) June 9, 2023
Indicting Donald Trump is the culmination of what Merrick Garland has been pushing for since he became Attorney General.
The weaponization of our Department of Justice against enemies of the Biden admin. will do enormous damage to the rule of law & have a lasting impact. https://t.co/CxJGyc63yj
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 9, 2023
Trump himself railed against what he called “warfare for the law.”
“They’re trying to destroy a reputation so they can win an election,” the former president said in a video on his Truth Social platform.
“I’m an innocent man. We will prove that again. Seven years of proving it and here we go again. Very unfair, but that’s the way it is,” he said.
Former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax the case is worrisome because it could set the stage for dueling political prosecutions depending upon who holds the reins of power.
He said he fears the United States could become “Turkey, or it becomes Iran, or it becomes a country where a suspicion is equivalent to conviction of guilt on one side of the political spectrum, rather than the other. But the key is, you have to have one system and one standard of law enforcement.”
“If there is a certain level of evidence of serious crime against anybody on either side — whether it’s the sitting president, the son of the sitting president, the former president, the same rule has to be applicable to all of them,” Dershowitz said.
“The Justice Department cannot be allowed to use its enormous power of the criminal justice system to influence political elections,” he said.
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