Ron DeSantis says Donald Trump prosecution would be ‘fundamentally wrong’

Ron DeSantis called a potential prosecution of Donald Trump “fundamentally wrong” on Monday, indicating that he could stand in the way of any attempt to extradite the former president from Florida to New York.

Mr DeSantis, the Florida governor, had faced a barrage of criticism from supporters of Mr Trump after remaining silent on a possible arrest of Mr Trump for two days.

At the weekend, Mr Trump declared that he expected to be arrested as soon as Tuesday in a case brought by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney.

On Monday, New York police began erecting steel crash barriers outside Manhattan Criminal Court in anticipation of any potential appearance by Mr Trump.

Republicans in Congress announced an investigation into Mr Bragg, demanding documents from his case and accusing him of an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority”.

Mr Bragg is investigating potential campaign finance law violations by Mr Trump over a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social website: “THERE WAS NO CRIME!!!”

In his first public comments, Mr DeSantis, Mr Trump’s main rival for the 2024 Republican nomination, lambasted Mr Bragg as politically motivated and “funded by George Soros”, the liberal billionaire.

The Florida governor also appeared to criticise Mr Trump, saying: “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just can’t speak to that.”

But, asked if he would have a role in extraditing Mr Trump in the unlikely event that he refused to leave Florida, he said: “I’ve seen rumours swirl. I have not seen any facts yet, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.

“I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA. He’s trying to do a political spectacle.”

Mr DeSantis added: “He [Mr Bragg] chose to try to go back many, many years ago, to use some porn star hush payments. That’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponising the office, and I think that’s fundamentally wrong.”

It was not enough for some of Mr Trump’s supporters. Donald Trump Jr. said: “Pure weakness. Now we know why he was silent all weekend. Pay attention to which Republicans spoke out against this corrupt BS immediately and who sat on their hands and waited to see which way the wind was blowing.”

Before Mr DeSantis’s comments Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Mr Trump, said there had been “radio silence” from the Florida governor.

It is thought highly improbable that Mr Trump would not leave Florida to answer any charges in New York. But if he did not, Mr DeSantis would have to either approve an extradition request, enraging Mr Trump’s supporters, or refuse and open himself up to legal action.

The former president has said he would continue his presidential campaign even if he was charged with a crime.

If that happened it could lead to a flood of donations to his campaign, something that was seen after his Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI last summer as part of an investigation into handling of classified documents.

Many senior Republicans immediately came to his defence, including Mike Pence, his former vice president, who said he found the idea of charging a former president “deeply troubling”.

Mr Trump has long denied having an affair with Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Georgia were considering bringing charges of racketeering and conspiracy against Mr Trump over attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in the state, CNN reported.