Rep. Matt Gaetz on Wednesday called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to resist any attempt to haul former President Donald Trump back to New York to face criminal charges.
In an interview with News Nation, the Fort Walton Beach Republican said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s efforts to indict Trump are politically motivated and will likely make Trump stronger in the long run.
But, Gaetz added, “If I were governor of Florida, I would not allow any Floridian to be hauled before some [George] Soros-backed prosecutor in a blue city over politics.”
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“And I wouldn’t make an exception to not protect the president of the United States,” said Gaetz.
“Ron DeSantis should be standing in the breach to stop any sort of expedition of President Trump from the state of Florida,” Gaetz continued. “And the fact that he’s not doing so puts every Floridian at risk who could be the subject of a false allegation.”
DeSantis recently criticized Bragg for pursuing the case calling it a “Soros Circus,” but he also said he would not be “involved” in the legal brawl between Trump and Bragg.
Gaetz added that he considers the Republican governor a friend, but, he added, DeSantis has not been targeted to the same level of “false and persistent allegations” as Trump, and so DeSantis doesn’t really understand the nature of this fight.
He called it “a bit uncouth” for DeSantis to “take a jab” at Trump with the comment about not knowing what was involved in paying off a stripper — which DeSantis made at a recent press conference.
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Bragg seeks to indict Trump over a $130,000 payment to former stripper Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. Authorities allege he did so to keep Daniels quiet about an affair.
Trump’s lawyers counter that the former president was acting on the advice of his discredited former lawyer Michael Cohen, who actually received the money from Trump. They say Trump paid Cohen legal fees, and they deny any wrongdoing.
“There’s a role for the governor here, to stand up for our state, for the rule of law, and to push back against the Sorosization of the criminal justice system,” Gaetz added.
“I’m concerned about the message that this sends all over the world: that America’s moral authority will be zapped, when there are despots in other parts of the globe who want to jail their political enemies, who want to arrest the prior administration, who want to ensure that their upcoming rivals don’t have the opportunity to stand for election,” Gaetz said.
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