DeSantis Seemingly Defends Trump In Possible Indictment Over Stormy Daniels Payments

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., on Monday seemingly defended former President Donald Trump amid the latter's possible indictment over his role in making hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Speaking in response to a reporter's question at an event in Panama City, DeSantis said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is pursuing "a political agenda" in investigating Trump's payments to Daniels.

"So I've seen rumors swirl. I've not seen any facts yet and so I don't know what's going to happen," DeSantis said. "But I do know this: 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."

DeSantis also accused Bragg of having ties to George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist known for donating millions to liberal campaigns and causes. Soros is frequently targeted by right-wing anti-semitic accusations, according to The Washington Post.

"When you're talking about these Soros-funded prosecutors, yes, they may do a high-profile, politicized prosecution, and that's bad," DeSantis said, adding, "But the real victims are ordinary New Yorkers, ordinary Americans in all these different jurisdictions, but they get victimized every day because of the reckless political agenda that these Soros D.A.'s bring to their job."

In response to DeSantis' comment, Trump posted on Truth Social where he predicted that the Florida governor would likely face false accusations in the future.

"Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known," Trump wrote in a post.

Comments from both DeSantis and Trump come amid talks that the Manhattan grand jury investigating the hush money payments could level an indictment soon. In preparation, law enforcement officials, including the U.S. Secret Service and officials from Bragg's office, convened Monday at NYPD headquarters to plan how they would bring Trump in if the grand jury agrees on an indictment, Politico reported, citing three people involved in the deliberations.

A court official who also spoke with the outlet said Trump would likely be handcuffed and fingerprinted once an arrest warrant is issued. The court official said Trump is not expected to be paraded before the public in handcuffs.