Florida’s Republican establishment raced to the defense of former President Donald Trump following his indictment this week, with Gov. Ron DeSantis denouncing “an uneven application of the law depending on political affiliation.”
“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 wrote in a tweet posted Thursday night regarding Trump, a former patron turned political rival.
“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,” wrote the governor.
Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, didn’t comment directly but retweeted a post by Andrew Warren, ousted by DeSantis in August as state’s attorney for Hillsborough County.
“Says the governor who sent armed deputies to remove a duly elected prosecutor in a shameless political stunt that a federal court concluded broke federal & state law,” Warren posted, citing the governor’s tweet. “‘Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue.’ (That means you know you’re guilty of what you criticize.),” Warren added.
Other elected Republicans posted sentiments similar to the governor’s after Trump announced Thursday that he had been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“@RonDeSantis is right. A government must first and foremost protect its citizens. Instead, the Biden regime is using federal law enforcement to go after political opposition. This is a corrupt and intentional misuse of power that threatens the rule of law,” Lt. Gov. Janette Nunez echoed.
‘No limit’
“There is no limit to what these people will do to protect their power & destroy those who threaten it, even if it means ripping our country apart & shredding public faith in the institutions that hold our republic together,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott noted that President Joe Biden also stored classified documents in unsecured areas.
“Joe Biden says he did nothing wrong after classified documents were found in his garage. Yet his DOJ indicted former President Trump for doing the exact same thing. You can’t get more corrupt than that,” Scott wrote.
Former Vice President Mike Pence found similar documents, too. But Scott didn’t mention that, unlike Trump, Biden and Pence notified authorities and returned the documents. A special counsel is looking into the Biden matter and authorities plan no action against Pence, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for president.
“They’re ripping this country apart and they know it. He’s a former President for God sakes… beloved by tens of millions of Americans. He faced ALL the scrutiny while corrupt FBI officials are on MSNBC and CNN. Meanwhile, the Biden family was making millions selling out America,” Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, wrote on his Twitter feed.
State Attorney General Ashley Moody said on Fox News that the indictment “shatters the appearance of integrity, the apolitical nature, equal application of the rule of law in this nation. That is what we are founded on. That is a pillar of a government by the people and it is shocking that this is coming in a nation as great as ours that has a history of fairness within our institutions,” Moody said, noting that she’s a former federal prosecutor, herself.
‘Security risk’
Meanwhile, state House Democrat Anna Eskamani of Orange County noted on her Twitter feed that the unsealed indictment alleges that Trump twice shared classified material related to “a military operation” with unauthorized persons.
“Trump has and always will be a security risk. His ego is just too big to manage anything else,” Eskamani wrote.
“Fundamental to our democracy is that no one – even a former president – is above our laws. Neither fear nor standing must blind the pursuit of justice,” Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz tweeted.
“Every craven Republican, including DeSantis, who went out on a limb to defend Trump is now on record supporting espionage against the United States, our military, and intelligence assets. They’re undermining our democracy — in more ways than one,” state Sen. Lori Berman wrote.
Regarding the GOP references to Hunter Biden, Republicans on the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee have alleged that Biden family members, not including Joe Biden, received millions from foreign nationals funneled through other entities, some of which coincided with Joe Biden’s time as vice president that ended in January 2017. But they’ve been light on hard evidence.
–Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix
Carol says
Biden didn’t do anything wrong either when he took classified documents as VP and left them in his garage, China Town and a library.
Dennis C Rathsam says
And when he took classified documents from the sciff, when he was a senator….He,s been a thief all his life, and a liar too!
DaleL says
Clinton’s email threads were ultimately found to contain just three which contained low level confidential information AND were correctly marked so that they should have been flagged. Biden’s attorneys found some classified documents while moving his presidential records at a nonprofit he is associated with. They (Biden and his attorneys) immediately notified DOJ. DOJ conducted a search of Biden’s vacation and regular homes and found a few more classified documents. 20 documents were found. Pence, upon learning of Biden’s documents, ordered his attorneys to go through his records. Upon finding some classified documents, Pence and his attorneys immediately notified DOJ. DOJ conducted a similar search of Pence’s home and offices. 12 documents were found.
Clinton: careless handling of classified information, but just 3 email threads, no physical documents. Pence: 12 documents, full cooperation. Biden: 20 documents, full cooperation. It is false and a lie to equate the handling of sensitive government documents by Clinton, Pence, & Biden with that of Trump.
David Schaefer says
Prove it Mr Holmes….
Laurel says
David Schaefer: Jack Smith just may do that, Moriarty.
Bill C says
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the usual MAGA deflection. If you believe in our Constitution and the rule of law, let the jury decide Trump’s guilt or innocence.
Sherry says
@ carol and dennis . . . Apparently since there is no reasonable defense of your lord and master trump, all you are left with appears to be a waaaaaaaaa “Whataboutism”. . . . pathetic!
Not to confuse anyone with the facts:
trump, obstructed justice by hiding and, suggesting his attorney lie, about the classified DOD documents. trump also personally “showed off” highly secret DOD documents to those without security clearances . . . along with having many boxes of classified documents stacked in “public” places like bathrooms and on the stage of a ballroom. May true Justice be served!
Where as, President Biden’s attorneys and staff have “READILY RETURNED” all known classified documents to government officials. There is an ongoing investigation into this situation by the Attorney General’s special counsel, AND by partisan Republicans in Congress. BTW. . . the documents in an office that happened to be in Chinatown does not mean they were given to the Chinese, or left in some kind of open public place there.
Between November 2022 and January 2023, approximately 25 to 30 classified government documents were discovered by President Joe Biden’s attorneys in his former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and in his personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware, dating to his time in the Senate and his vice presidency in the Obama administration.[1][2][3]
On November 2, 2022, Biden’s attorneys discovered the first set of classified documents in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center; they reported them that day to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which retrieved them the next day. The classified documents included intelligence material and briefing memos on Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom.[4] In coordination with the Justice Department (DOJ), Biden’s attorneys discovered a second set of documents at Biden’s home on December 20, followed by several more on January 9 and January 12, 2023. Biden’s personal attorney said on January 21 that the Justice Department discovered six items containing classification markings during a consensual search of his home the previous day, some of which dated to his tenure in the Senate; investigators also seized some of Biden’s handwritten notes from his vice presidency.[5]
On November 14, 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. to conduct an initial investigation. On January 12, 2023, Garland appointed Robert K. Hur as special counsel to investigate “possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records”. The next day, the House Judiciary Committee opened a separate investigation into the documents.
Jimbo099 says
Amazing. This guy did this all to himself. He created this issue. Read the docs. Had every chance to make this not happen but his ego always gets in the way.
This is huge national security issue. Sharing classified info with people just to show off. Keeping these things in the open for anyone to walk up and open. Lying to authorities about not having any more.
He is one of the U.S. biggest security threats all created by himself.
He should be. Held until trial. No bail. If it was you or me we would be in jail now with no bail set.
It’s amazing people who are backing him. Compared ing to others. These “others” should have the same review and as a matter of fact Biden has a special counsel on him too.
Republicans backing this traitor are showing they are traitors too. What happen to my Republican Party from the 80’s and 90’s. Even these Florida Senate and Reps. Following Desantis done these holes instead of working on things like house and car insurance rates and taxes.
Let’s get back to reality.
Laurel says
Jimboo099: First, are you and Jimbo99 two different people?
Other than that, the current Republicans, who are not your true party anymore, are seriously busy distracting us from the problems they cannot tackle, such as the ones you mentioned. Also, there is so much going on in the world between Russian, China, Iran, Israel, US, South America, Arabia, and so on, that culture wars are easier to deal with for the current party, to get these jokers elected. People have no clue as to how Trump has screwed things up in the world. He does not know what he is doing besides just, plain marketing. They are trying to convince us that cultural differences are scarier than what is really possible world wide. The newbie Republicans are completely clueless, but they can shoot Bud Lite cans.
DaleL says
Trump claimed just yesterday that: “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you — and I’m just standing in their way,” Mike Pence was also found to have taken some government documents when he left office. The DOJ has ended its investigation in the Pence situation. Pence is also running for President and a Republican.
Just a reminder, the unverified (perhaps unverifiable is more correct) allegation against Hunter Biden was made by an informant supplied by Rudy Giuliani in 2020 (presidential campaign year) while Trump appointees William Barr and Christopher Wray were heading up the Justice Department and the FBI.
The judge, who is to preside over the trial in Miami, was appointed by Trump. The jury will be selected from the Miami area. If Donald Trump is as innocent as he claims, why is he so vocally trying to stop the legal process, which would logically clear his name?
The Republican Party has long claimed to be the party of “law and order”. What I have observed in the last few years has been the exact opposite.
Deborah Coffey says
““There is no limit to what these people will do to protect their power & destroy those who threaten it, even if it means ripping our country apart & shredding public faith in the institutions that hold our republic together,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted.”
The ONLY thing Marco Rubio and other Republicans are good at…PROJECTION.
It’s a sad state of affairs to know we are living in a post-truth world and that so many Americans have chosen to live in that world. It means we are in spiritual warfare…truth vs. lies, good vs. evil. The huge challenge is how to redeem ourselves. And, can we?
Robert Joseph Fortier says
Beautiful day today…I see the sun is coming out. Man it is good to be alive.
Sherry says
@ RJF. . . Right On! Simply a GREAT DAY!
Atwp says
They know he is wrong and they the Republicans support him. Biden and Pence had documents too, but they were mature enough to let the authorities know about it. They did what was right Rick Scott. Most if not all of the Trump supporters are white men, they are so crazy.
Laurel says
Republicans: You claim so much about Clinton, the Bidens, the FBI, the DOJ, the Insurrection, the “steal,” and so much more.
WHERE IS YOUR PROOF?
You are so being used.
David Schaefer says
Laurel the where is your proof was directed at Mr Trumper Humper Dennis Rathsam who doesn’t know what he is talking about as usual.
Laurel says
DS: It helps to address the person, as you did here, since these threads get long.
Dennis C Rathsam says
I dont understand, all you ignorant Biden fans. Didnt you watch as he felt up Eva Longoria, she had to pull away & grab his hands. I cant wait for that bridge Bidens gonna build…From the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. And now he wants to save the Queen? Everyone knows before the China Flu, America was booming, we all made money, no inflation, cheap gas, no bank failures. You may not like Trump, but we were better off 4 years ago. I could go for a mean tweet right now, its better than watching our compramised president falling down on the stage, climing the stairs and falling again 2 times. I watched as he went to shake the hand of the invisable man. Sorry Mr Schaefer, you are the one thats mentally challenged, you & balloon Joe.
Sherry says
This comparison of handling of classified documents/communications by trump, Clinton and President Biden demonstrates the stark difference between sloppy mishandling and trump’s intentional criminal obstruction of justice and endangering the security of our country!
This from the Associated Press:
WHAT SEPARATES THE CLINTON AND TRUMP CASES?
A lot, but two important differences are in willfulness and obstruction.
In an otherwise harshly critical assessment in which he condemned Clinton’s email practices as “extremely careless,” then-FBI Director James Comey announced that investigators had found no clear evidence that Clinton or her aides had intended to break laws governing classified information.
As a result, he said, “no reasonable prosecutor” would move forward with a case. The relevant Espionage Act cases brought by the Justice Department over the past century, Comey said, all involved factors including efforts to obstruct justice, willful mishandling of classified documents and the exposure of vast quantities of records. None of those factors existed in the Clinton investigation, he said.
That is in direct contrast to the allegations against Trump, who prosecutors say was involved in the packing of boxes to go to Mar-a-Lago and then actively took steps to conceal the classified documents from investigators.
The indictment accuses him, for instance, of suggesting that a lawyer hide documents demanded by a Justice Department subpoena or falsely represent that all requested records had been turned over, even though more than 100 remained.
The indictment repeatedly cites Trump’s own words against him to make the case that he understood what he was doing and what the law did and did not permit him to do. It describes a July 2021 meeting at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, which he showed off a Pentagon “plan of attack” to people without the security clearances to view the material and proclaimed that “as president, I could have declassified it.”
“Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” the indictment quotes him as saying.
That conversation, captured by an audio recording, is likely to be a powerful piece of evidence to the extent that it undercuts Trump’s oft-repeated claims that he had declassified the documents he brought with him to Mar-a-Lago.
WHERE DOES BIDEN FIT IN?
The White House disclosed in January that, two months earlier, a lawyer for Biden had located what it said was a “small number” of classified documents from his time as vice president during a search of the Washington office space of Biden’s former institute. The documents were turned over to the Justice Department.
Lawyers for Biden subsequently located an additional batch of classified documents at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and the FBI found even more during a voluntary search of the property.
The revelations were a humbling setback for Biden’s efforts to draw a clear contrast between his handling of sensitive information and Trump’s. Even so, as with Clinton, there are significant differences in the matters.
Though Attorney General Merrick Garland in January named a second special counsel to investigate the Biden documents, no charges have been brought and, so far at least, no evidence has emerged to suggest that anyone intentionally moved classified documents or tried to impede the probe.
While the FBI obtained a search warrant last August to recover additional classified documents, each of the Biden searches has been done voluntarily with his team’s consent.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, notified Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, earlier this month that it would not bring charges after the discovery of classified documents in his Indiana home. That case also involved no allegations of willful retention or obstruction.
Foresee says
As Lindsey Graham snarled on TV this morning in defense of Trump, it’s how republicans “feel” that Trump is being treated unfairly. Even Judge Judy would reject “feelings” as a legal argument. Trump has a team of top crackerjack lawyers and if they think its relevant what Biden did, or what Hillary did, or what Bill Clinton did, or Hunter Biden did, or if the FBI has been politically weaponized, etc., no doubt his lawyers will present these arguments to the jury in Trump’s defense. Trump will have his day in court to prove his innocence based on evidence, not soap opera drama manufactured by him and his MAGA supporters.
Jimbo99 says
Too funny, bathroom storage of boxes ? Well, that’s a sink or toilet water supply hose burst or leak away from being soggy & worthless storage boxes of paper hard copy. Biden’s garage is a flood away from a similar fate from a failed water heater water line or the house’s water supply line valve faucet to the city water.
End of the day here, Trump not fit to be POTUS, neither is Biden. Either one of these does this as an employee, executive down to hourly temp at any corporation, they’d be fired for that. So why would anyone support & vote for Biden for identical gross violations of an entire career of this same criminality ? One thing anyone learns in a career, keep your personal life separate from business, because employment arrangements change way too often. One has to wonder how many of these documents accumulated over the 4 years Trump was POTUS as nothing more than a Remote location from the White House. Since nobody will ever get a complete list of the documents publicly, what was planted after the fact. All that photo shows is a bunch of document boxes, not the individual contents. Quite often with corporations, temps & staff are hired to handle doc banks for storage of paper. Those documents are purged & shredded eventually, only because every corporation has a document retention policy for things like Accounting & Finance & Corporate Tax, HR & Legal departments.
Pelosi made the statement in 2020, that the D’s were after bigger things when she clarified the “fitness of a POTUS” thing. They’ve been after Trump for 7+ years really. We can only hope they give Biden the same treatment going forward. This is the DC Swamp, D’s primarily that are setting the precedent of going after a POTUS/ex-POTUS at a criminal level. I knew in 2019/2020 as each ramped up for the power grab, this is he way politics will be. A new level of witch hunting. I think if Trump were one of them, they’d turn a deaf ear, a blind eye to it all. Congress & Government is that corporation that has so many relatives scattered throughout the organization that they effectively have control operations.
Atwp says
Jimbo99, Trump was wrong. Why support him? Republicans need to wake up and face reality. They need to face the truth.
Sherry says
@Atwp. . . trying to understand any of jimbo99’s usual nonsensical talking in circles is a waste of your valuable time, and your much more logical thinking.
The bottom line here has NOTHING to do with the possibility plumbing leaks, OR what Hillary did, or Hunter, or President Biden. In a court of law, pointing out that others have done something similar is NOT an acceptable defense! In fact, it is just plain “stupid”!
Look, all trump had to do was RETURN “ALL” THE DOCUMENTS! Over months, those documents were requested several times, they were even legally subpoenaed. Instead, trump “Obstructed Justice” by requiring that many classified documents be “held back”, and hidden from his own attorney. WHY? WHY? WHY? Did he go to such lengths to hold on to highly classified documents that contain information vital to our “national security”? On TWO occasions trump, like an insecure child, personally “SHOWED OFF” TOP SECRET DOD documents to civilians with zero security clearance! Many boxes of classified documents were stacked in places with public access like the stage of a “BALLROOM” where public events were held.
Consider the possibility that what we still don’t know is whether any of those documents fell into the wrong hands, or whether any of them sold to our enemies.
David S. says
The majority of Republicans are so brainwashed they will believe just about anything to lying Ted to stupid Linsey Gramn . All you Trumper Humpers better wake up your leader has no defense at all even Fox news is not standing by him.
Skibum says
Republicons who are trying furiously to manufacture defenses for their twice impeached, twice indicted insurrection instigator of a president keep spouting the lie that the federal government has “weaponized the justice system against him”, and that he is being treated differently just because of who he is. This farce falls completely on its face when you simply recall the recent federal investigation and arrest of the Air National Guard member, Jack Teixera, who violated the law with his mishandling, downloading and sharing of national security related classified documents that he had access to due to his security clearance. These republicons need to be reminded that Teixeira was arrested at gunpoint and remains behind bars in a federal lockup awaiting his trial for the same type of classified documents violations the orange guy is facing. Teixera took classified documents he was not allowed to take, and he shared them online in unsecured chat rooms with strangers merely to show those in the chat room that he had secret knowledge that nobody else on their had access to. And he had been warned multiple times from his commanders regarding apparent violations, and he said to his family and friends that he was going to continue to do what he was doing and “F U” to his military superiors and the law. Now, if there is any different treatment being handed out, the orange guy is getting a HUGE break in that he is being allowed to turn himself in to the FBI and federal marshals at the courthouse in Miami today, he is not being put in a federal lockup after being arrested and fingerprinted, he is not being required to post bail but instead will be allowed to go home afterward. So while the Air National Guardsman sits in a jail cell, the failed ex president IS being treated differently, VERY differently that Teixeira and anyone else including you and me had we been charged with the exact same federal crime. So stop your bellyaching and lying, and quit crying tears and attempting to defend the indefensible actions of a vile and unrepentant man who has put the lives of many CIA sources as well as secret methods and plans in jeopardy by so cavalierly handling and talking about America’s so many of our country’s national defense classified documents that were found and recovered from his gaudy FL home.
Laurel says
…and, there is no Teixeira appointed judge, who has shown previous bias, just randomly given his case! I got to say I’m disappointed that Trump was waved a mug shot. I was so looking forward to that. So, if I get arrested, can I just give the police a bunch of my photos and they will say a mug shot is not necessary as they will then have plenty of my pics?
Yeah, he’s treated differently, poor snowflake.
Sherry says
For the those who cannot seem to “think” beyond the BS of trump and right winged media outlets like FOX. . . OK. . . let’s actually look at your “Whataboutism” for Hillary Clinton.
10/18/19 (During the trump administration) A (trump) State Department investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email account found NO widespread effort by her aides or other staffers to mishandle classified information.
The THREE-YEAR-LONG investigation by State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security concluded that 38 individuals committed a total of 91 security violations involving emails sent to or from Clinton’s private server.
However, a report on the probe finalized last month seemed to dismiss the notion that the system was routinely used to discuss matters that diplomats or Clinton aides knew required handling through secure channels.
“While there were some instances of classified information being inappropriately introduced into an unclassified system in furtherance of expedience, by and large, the individuals interviewed were aware of security policies and did their best to implement them in their operations,” the report said.
“Instances of classified information being deliberately transmitted via unclassified email were the rare exception and resulted in adjudicated security violations. There was no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.”
Sherry says
Just to give you a small example of how trump holding on to and exposing our nation’s highly classified documents to being stolen/sold to our enemies. . . here is a break down of just how critically secret just one of the documents is:
“TOP SECRET//[redacted]/[redacted]// ORCON/NOFORN. Document dated June 2020 concerning nuclear capabilities of a foreign country.”
London points out that this document about the nuclear program of a foreign country is so sensitive that even two of the codenames related to the document “have been redacted because of their sensitivity.”
The category of this document, “TOP SECRET,” is the highest category of classification, which means that releasing the intelligence in the document would do “exceptionally grave damage to the national security” of the US.
Further underlining the sensitivity of the intelligence in this document about the nuclear program of a foreign country is the notation “ORCON,” which is short for “Originator Control,” meaning that whichever US intelligence agency produced this document would need to approve before the document could be shared with any other agency within the US government, according to London. And “NOFORN” is almost self-explanatory: The document can’t be shared with foreigners.
Laurel says
Sherry: Thanks for the info.
If you go more than two short paragraphs, the Trumpers are gone.
Sherry says
@ Laurel. . . Oh for sure! Just mention actual “FACTS” and they tune out even faster!
Sherry says
Even trump’s own cabinet members are saying trump’s taking and keeping “CLASSIFIED” documents is illegal, dangerous and a ” Security Risk”! :
This from a Politico interview TODAY (Sunday):
Painting him as a security risk, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday added his voice to those critical of former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified information after his presidency.
Esper, who served in Trump’s Cabinet, said: “People have described him as a hoarder when it comes to these type of documents. But clearly, it was unauthorized, illegal and dangerous.”
Flatsflyer says
The only possible and reasonable explanation for the entire Trump years is that he suffers from insanity.
Sherry says
@Flatsflyer. . . Right On! I have friends who are psychologists/psychiatrists and they have diagnosed trump a pathological liar and bully with origins stemming from intrinsic massive insecurities, megalomania and narcissism.
Yet, the far right cult seems fine with having a mentally unstable, corrupt, twice impeached, twice criminally indicted person as President of our country. Insanity is not just a problem for trump, it’s a problem for his supporters and a huge problem for us all.
Even worse, is DeSantis, who may be mentally sound, but who is a complete Fascist wanna be Dictator!
Our democracy is in great peril!