Report: Florida Officials Preparing for Possible Trump Indictment, But DeSantis Could Intervene
Florida is preparing for “thorny extradition issues that could arise” from a state statute because of a Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump.
Two county officials told Politico that Palm Beach County police were looking into possible responses in the case that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s investigation will potentially order an indictment of Trump while he is residing at his Mar-a-Lago home.
Florida law permits Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to intervene and determine if Trump should surrender if he is indicted, according to Politico.
“The statute leaves room for interpretation that the governor has the power to order a review and potentially not comply with the extradition notice,” said Joe Abruzzo, clerk of the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County.
“The full extent of the law will be followed and carried out appropriately, without bias,” Abruzzo added, possibly alluding to his relationship with the family of President Joe Biden. (Abruzzo is a former business associate of President Biden’s younger brother, Frank, Politico reported.)
However, Trump is expected to stay at his golf club in New Jersey for the next few months, potentially taking DeSantis’ involvement off the table.
With New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy being a Democrat, help likely would not be offered to Trump if he were to be indicted there.
Trump has expressed his concern about criminal investigations into him and his finances, alleging that his political enemies are out to get him, according to Business Insider.
The New York investigation is looking into allegations that the Trump Organization gave hush-money payments to pornography actress Stormy Daniels, a violation of state law.
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Earlier this year, the Supreme Court allowed Vance’s office to investigate Trump’s tax returns.
A former top deputy in Vance’s office told Business Insider that Vance wants to issue any indictments prior to his retirement at the end of the year.
Vance would not be prone to political attacks in the same way he would if he were running again for office.
“Cy Vance is not running for re-election. Vance is, as they say, a lame duck,” Preet Bharara, former head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, told Insider.
However, the outlet reported that supporters of the former president were less concerned about this investigation, as well as the Capitol incursion investigation by the Justice Department — being more invested in a probe by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in Georgia regarding the 2020 election.
The investigation in Georgia is a result of Trump reportedly asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” additional votes in order for him to secure a win in the November election, according to Insider.
“The people of Georgia are angry — the people in the country are angry,” the outlet reported Trump said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”
“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
