Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pledged on Thursday evening to revamp the US Department of Justice (DOJ) if elected president in response to the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
In a Twitter statement, DeSantis criticized the Biden administration’s law enforcement agency, accusing it of “weaponization” and asserting that it posed a significant threat to a free society. Trump’s indictment marked the first instance in American history of a former president facing federal criminal charges.
In addition, DeSantis also highlighted the perceived disparity in law enforcement’s application based on political affiliation, questioning the DOJ’s vigorous pursuit of Trump while appearing less active in cases involving Hillary Clinton or Hunter Biden. He emphasized his administration’s commitment to instilling accountability, eliminating political bias, and putting an end to the alleged weaponization of the DOJ.
“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 administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias, and end weaponization once and for all.” DeSantis lamented.
As the frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, DeSantis has increasingly voiced criticisms of Trump since officially announcing his candidacy on May 24. While he has previously alluded to the “drama” surrounding Trump, DeSantis has directed his attacks toward Trump’s immigration policies, his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and his electoral track record.
Unlike Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas and another 2024 candidate, DeSantis did not call for Trump to withdraw from the race due to the indictment. Instead, he echoed sentiments shared by many Trump supporters, raising concerns about Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for official communication and referring to a Fox News report alleging that President Joe Biden received $5 million from an executive at Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, where his son Hunter Biden served on the board.
DeSantis did not explicitly state whether he would pardon Trump if elected, in contrast to 2024 contender and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who publicly expressed his intent to do so.
According to various reports, federal prosecutors have filed seven criminal charges against Trump, including obstruction of justice and false statements, which carry significant prison terms if convicted. The public first learned about the investigation in August 2022 when the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, seizing boxes of documents, some of which were labeled as “top secret.”
Meanwhile, former President Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he would appear before a federal court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon and enter a plea of “not guilty,” as he confirmed in an interview with Fox News Digital.
