Trump indictment: DeSantis blasts ‘weaponization of federal law enforcement’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blasted the “weaponization of federal law enforcement” in response to the news that former President Trump had been indicted, but he avoided an outright defense of his chief 2024 GOP rival.

“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,” DeSantis tweeted.

“Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary [Clinton] or Hunter [Biden]? The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all,” he added.

DeSantis’s comments came in response to an announcement from Trump, who said his attorneys had been alerted he had been indicted in relation to a probe looking into his handling of classified documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago.

The former president said he was summoned to appear in court in Miami on Tuesday.

Other 2024 Republican presidential contenders also issued statements over the federal indictment, but DeSantis’s reaction was widely anticipated as the Florida governor is seen as Trump’s chief challenger. National polls show Trump as the front-runner, with DeSantis generally polling in second.

---

More Trump indictment coverage from The Hill

• Trump says he’s been indicted in classified documents probe
• What we know about the 7 counts Trump is facing
• What happens next with case, campaign plans
• Democratic lawmakers claim indictment news shows Trump ‘not above the law’
• GOP sees conflict of interest in Trump indictment

---

The Florida Republican’s remarks came within hours of the news of the indictment — a much quicker response than earlier this year when DeSantis waited days before weighing in publicly on charges brought against Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) related to payments Trump allegedly made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

DeSantis criticized Bragg at the time, saying “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.”

But he also drew the ire of Trump when he made an aside, saying he didn’t “know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair” — a reference to allegations that Trump had an affair with Daniels.