Inside Ron DeSantis's Politicized Removal of an Elected Prosecutor

Sunday, March 12, 2023

When Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida announced last summer that he had taken the extraordinary step of removing a local prosecutor from his job, he cast his decision as a bold move to protect Floridians. But a close examination of the episode, including interviews, emails, text messages and thousands of pages of government records, trial testimony, depositions and other court records, reveals a sharply different picture: a governor's office that seemed driven by a preconceived political narrative, bent on a predetermined outcome, content with a flimsy investigation and focused on maximizing media attention for Mr. DeSantis.

Posted by GrimReaper at 08:32 AM | 24 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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Just imagine DeSantis in charge of DOJ. Trump 2.0 won't be any better. Republicans no longer believe in the rule of law.

#1 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2023-03-12 09:31 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Article is hidden behind a paywall.

#2 | Posted by BellRinger at 2023-03-12 09:38 AM | Reply

No it isn't you worthless ignoramus. Click on the thread title. I gifted the article to everyone. Funny, YOU couldn't figure that out.

I can't wait to gather your carcass.

#3 | Posted by GrimReaper at 2023-03-12 09:42 AM | Reply

I have to provide my email address to access it. Sorry, not interested in receiving spam from NYT. I'll try a different device a bit later to see if I can get around it.

#4 | Posted by BellRinger at 2023-03-12 09:53 AM | Reply

No it isn't you worthless ignoramus. Click on the thread title. I gifted the article to everyone. Funny, YOU couldn't figure that out.
I can't wait to gather your carcass.
#3 | POSTED BY GRIMREAPER

I couldn't read it either. I have an account but have reached my limit of articles.

#5 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2023-03-12 09:57 AM | Reply

Try this link...

Inside Ron DeSantis' Politicized Removal of an Elected Prosecutor
news.yahoo.com

#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2023-03-12 11:27 AM | Reply

"Article is hidden behind a paywall."

More BS from our resident spewer. The article is FREE but requires a log-in as you later note. That is not a paywall. You don't PAY anything to read the article directly from NYT - arguably the number 1 paper of record on this planet. But of course you wouldn't want them to inform you when ignorance is your obvious preferred state.

Thank you Lamp for providing an alternate link. He doesn't actually want to read the story for its factual details, he only wants to invent his own spin and blame everyone but DeSantis for his authoritarian conduct that violates 1st Amendment protections and usurps the will of voters that dare elect Democrats who oppose his policies.

#7 | Posted by GrimReaper at 2023-03-12 11:37 AM | Reply

Thank you for the alternate link, Lamplighter. I'll read it now.

#8 | Posted by BellRinger at 2023-03-12 12:15 PM | Reply

#3 | POSTED BY GRIMREAPER

No it really is behind a paywall. First seek to understand, then call them "worthless ignoramus"!

#9 | Posted by oneironaut at 2023-03-12 12:21 PM | Reply

Not sure where I sit on this one. I can see the justification, but at the same time if people voted for it oh well. The COVID thing is interesting, DeSantis is saying more Freedom, locally they didn't want it. Thus Lumpers supports the local prosecutor. But if the tables were turned and NEwsome ordered restrictions but local prosecutor said "nah", Lumpers would support Newsome. Notice Lumpers aren't supporting Freedom, which seems to have worked out well for Florida, even though its a --------.

Reading the article Lamplighter provided. DeSantis appears to be a mini-Zelensky.

#10 | Posted by oneironaut at 2023-03-12 12:28 PM | Reply

#10. Pretty well stated.

Based on this reporting this casts DeSantis and his team in a very poor light.

#11 | Posted by BellRinger at 2023-03-12 12:30 PM | Reply

#7 Grim, when I signed in to my NYT's account I couldn't read it. It said I had reached my limit of free articles. Dunno. TY, Lamp for a workable link.

#12 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2023-03-12 01:22 PM | Reply

Based on this reporting this casts DeSantis and his team in a very poor light.

#11 | Posted by BellRinger

But you'll still vote for him and give him all the powers of the president, intelligence services, and military.

#13 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2023-03-12 02:35 PM | Reply

So, now if we can get back to the apparent topic here...

Gov DeSantis seems to override the votes of the people in order to remove a prosecutor with whom he has political disagreements.

Let's extrapolate a bit...

What happens if Gov DeSantis occupies the Oval Office, with all the power that position provides?

In my decades of corporate management experience...

Great leaders eschew power. Bad leaders embrace power.

#14 | Posted by LampLighter at 2023-03-12 07:26 PM | Reply

Bootsy is a -----.

#15 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2023-03-12 08:48 PM | Reply

DeSantis is a Tea Party alumnus with a Harvard Law Degree. And a former Navy JAG officer. A scary combination of messed up partisan anti-liberal ideology and intelligence, knowledge, and slyness. He would out-Palin, Sarah Palin, and he has succeeded making Florida less free and more repressive more effectively than Trump ever could since he knows how the institutions of government can be used to shut down whatever he wants to shut down snd how to change the playing field to strengthen his chances of winning. Here he's just doing it again.

#16 | Posted by Augustine at 2023-03-13 04:46 AM | Reply

Something similar is probably going on in Georgia which helps explain why Fanni Willis "imminent" decision on her steps regarding Trump and his henchmen in GA is anything but.

#17 | Posted by FedUpWithPols at 2023-03-13 06:14 AM | Reply

The one to watch out for is Arkansas' own Tom Cotton. He says he's not running,but trump is still in the picture and IMO Cotton doesn't want to alienate those folks, think niki haley. However if trump were to become obviously un-electableI think Cotton might step up.
He's way taller and speaks way better than desantis and has a law degree and an exemplary military history including a bronze star.
I would be very surprised if he couldn't easily knock desantis out of the box.

#18 | Posted by rhymegunfighter at 2023-03-13 04:12 PM | Reply

and an exemplary military history

Isn't he the one that pretended he served with the Rangers but didn't?

#19 | Posted by REDIAL at 2023-03-13 05:00 PM | Reply

#19 | POSTED BY REDIAL

as per Wikipedia;

Cotton was honorably discharged in September 2009. During his time in the service, he completed two combat deployments overseas, was awarded a Bronze Star, two Army Commendation Medals, a Combat Infantryman Badge, a Ranger tab, an Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and an Iraq Campaign Medal.[11] In July 2010, Cotton entered the Army Reserve (USAR). He was discharged in May 2013.[15]

#20 | Posted by rhymegunfighter at 2023-03-13 05:19 PM | Reply

as per Wikipedia;

Also from the same wikipedia entry:

In 2021, Salon reported that Cotton falsely claimed in campaign ads and videos from 2011 to 2014 that he had served in Iraq and Afghanistan and earned a Bronze Star as a U.S. Army Ranger even though he did not serve in the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. Fact-checking site Snopes rated Salon's reporting as true. In response to the article, Democratic congressman Jason Crow, who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment, criticized Cotton for calling himself a Ranger.

So there's that.

#21 | Posted by REDIAL at 2023-03-13 05:26 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

#20 | Posted by rhymegunfighter

#21 | Posted by REDIAL

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#22 | Posted by Angrydad at 2023-03-13 05:31 PM | Reply

#22 | POSTED BY ANGRYDAD

GOOD...anything that'll knock cotton out of the box is great as far as I'm concerned
in case you thought I was a lock step SJW woke little bi* ch

by the way....visitation still have to be monitored?

#23 | Posted by rhymegunfighter at 2023-03-13 06:06 PM | Reply

"#1 paper of record on the planet" lolz. Minus that whole time they didn't bother reporting on the Holocaust (even though they had confirmation of it) ... And when they finally did the stuffed it deep in the back pages.

#24 | Posted by Bluewaffles at 2023-03-14 08:13 AM | Reply