DeSantis says Manhattan DA ‘weaponized’ law for ‘political purposes’
DeSantis says Bragg ‘weaponized’ law for ‘political purposes’
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential nominee, took aim at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Saturday at the Pennsylvania GOP Leadership Conference.
“His whole platform when he got elected was that he was going to downgrade as many felonies as possible to misdemeanors,” DeSantis told a crowd gathered at Camp Hill. “Now he’s turning around, purely for political purposes, and indicting a former president for misdemeanors that they’re trying to convert to felonies.
“That’s when you know the law has been weaponized for political purposes.”
Bragg, a Democrat who succeeded Cyrus Vance Jr., was elected Manhattan District Attorney in 2021 following a campaign that promised to revamp the culture of the office, as well as build confidence in the forces of law. order and the criminal justice system.
In a memo released after taking office, Bragg said he would no longer prosecute certain crimes because “over-incarceration has not made Manhattan safer.”
DeSantis has yet to issue a bid for the 2024 GOP nomination, but he is widely seen as the likeliest alternative to Trump. Many declared or potential rivals of the former president have defended him since his indictment.
Stormy Daniels says Trump is ‘no longer untouchable’
Adult film star Stormy Daniels, in a recent interview with a British newspaper, called Trump’s indictment a “vindication” and said the former president was “no longer untouchable.”
“A person in power is not exempt from the law. And no matter what your job or what your bank account says, you are held accountable for what you have said and done, and justice is served,” Daniels told The Times of London. location for security reasons.
“Whatever the outcome, it will provoke violence, and there will be injuries and deaths,” she said. “There is the potential for a lot of good to come out of it. But in any case, much harm will also ensue.
Supporters gather outside the Trump International Golf Club
More than two dozen Trump supporters gathered outside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, waving flags and playing music from loudspeakers.
A Trump-Pence lawn sign is attached to a nearby vehicle, with Pence’s name crossed out. And a woman is selling honey in the shape of the former president’s head. She says the money will go to a January 6 legal defense fund.
Jeb Bush on Trump’s indictment: ‘It’s very political’
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, son of former President George HW Bush, criticized the grand jury indictment on Saturday, calling it “very political.”
“[Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg’s predecessor did not take over the business,” Bush wrote in a Tweeter. “The Department of Justice did not take up the case. Bragg initially said that he would not take up the case. It is very political, not a question of justice. In this case , let the jury be the voters.”
Bush and Trump were rivals in the 2016 GOP presidential primary, during which Trump often mocked the former governor as “low energy.” Bush said he did not vote for Trump in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu says Trump indictment will help him in 2024
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said he believes Trump’s indictment will boost his chances of winning the GOP nomination in 2024.
“It just helps him,” Sununu, a Republican, said in an interview on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” that aired Friday night. “He shouldn’t be the candidate. He can’t win in 24, but it creates a lot of empathy, sympathy, if you will. It solidifies his base.”
Sununu, who is evaluating his own potential White House bid, predicted last month before Trump’s indictment that the former president would lose the Republican nomination next year.
However, he pledged to support the eventual GOP nominee. “Look, I’ve been a Republican all my life,” he said.
Democratic lawmaker slams Greene’s call to protest
Rep. Jim McGovern condemned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s call to protest in New York.
Greene, a Republican from Georgia and one of Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress, said Friday she would travel to the state next week to protest Trump’s indictment and called on her supporters to join it. “Protest the bullies,” she tweeted.
“It’s sick and wrong. We haven’t even seen the grand jury indictment – so those rushing to Trump’s defense think the law shouldn’t apply to him no matter what. what he did,” said McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, tweeted in response to Greene’s remarks. “Their delusional deference to a career crook is pathetic.”
Michael Cohen would be the key witness in the Trump trial, according to his lawyer
Michael Cohen should be a “primary witness” if Trump is to stand trial after being indicted, according to Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis.
Cohen is Trump’s former “fixer” and attorney who pleaded guilty and served time in prison for crimes that included criminal tax evasion and campaign finance violations for his role in silent money schemes for paying two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump. Payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels are the focus of Trump’s indictment, although the exact charges are not yet known. It’s also unclear whether payments to a second wife, Karen McDougal, are also part of the indictment.
Davis told “Meet the Press NOW” on Friday that Cohen would be a key witness in a trial against Trump after the indictment. Cohen said Trump ordered him to pay Daniels during the 2016 campaign.
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Threats of online violence but little sign of far-right organizing around Trump indictment
Minutes after former President Donald Trump’s indictment was announced, a comment on pro-Trump internet forum Patriots.win, also known as TheDonald, skyrocketed to the top of the message board.
“**** SPEED UP,” the comment, written by a user named TheSpeakerfortheDead, reads in full.
Below this user, others quickly piled in, claiming that the grand jury that indicted Trump is “guilty of treason” and that their personal information should be made public.
The word “accelerate” refers to the term far-right accelerationism, the idea that the state should be abolished, usually violently, and replaced with a new one.
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