Florida Governor Ron DeSantis threw a lifeline to Donald Trump last week. The former president and perennial Democratic target was indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney and ordered to surrender this Tuesday for an undisclosed felony.
Trump can either jet to New York or risk extradition from his home state of Florida. Is that risk real? “Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” announced DeSantis, who is an attorney as well as a governor. Is such talk the stuff of insurrection?
According to our federal Constitution (Article IV Section 2): A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
Is the DeSantis offer merely an empty gesture of support? Or could it have dramatic consequences if Trump accepts the governor’s protection? This is all moot if Trump heads to New York on Monday, of course; but what if?
According to various legal opinions online, DeSantis may order his State Police to refuse extradition but not local cops or Florida court officials. However, in conjunction with Trump’s lawyers, he could gum up the extradition process for two reasons: First, Trump did not “flee” from New York to avoid arrest, so is not a “fugitive.” Second, what is he being charged with? The Manhattan DA has not revealed the actual crimes Trump committed – “about 30” of them according to the media. Trump is expected to surrender and then find out what his crimes are. Maybe that’s legal in New York, but it may be grist for a DeSantis refusal.
The Florida authorities could ask for a hearing in Florida forcing the New York DA to explain the issues above. In the meantime, DeSantis would take Trump into custody (under the time-honored Habeas Corpus doctrine – “you may have the body.”) until the hearing is over, which might take hours, days or weeks. Since Trump is not a fugitive, he would be free on bail during that time.
Is this what DeSantis has in mind? Talk about a media event! Such a protracted stand-off between a Red State and Blue State would really get the country’s attention. How things could turn out legally and politically would tax the imagination – and perhaps awaken the nation to “weaponized justice.” If Trump wants to make a stand, this may be his last chance. If he reports to the Manhattan DA he will be fingerprinted and subjected to a mugshot, easily leaked to the media for universal ridicule. Odds are that he will stand trial in Manhattan, where the jury pool is 99% Democratic, and be convicted. Once a “felon,” even while on appeal, it may scotch his 2024 presidential run and scar his image among key supporters.
Is this checkmate for Donald Trump? Most Republican leaders are quietly celebrating his anticipated demise – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, former President George W, Bush, Senator Mitt Romney, among the many. It appears that Trump’s last defenders are Italian Americans – his attorney Joe Tacopina, Gov. Ron DeSantis, House Speaker Kevin (Palladino) McCarthy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Wyoming Senator John Barasso, M.D., and even Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (orig: Mancini).
Trump has been downright insulting to DeSantis, a fellow conservative Republican. He runs negative ads against him on FOX. He has nicknamed him Meatball Ron and recently told FOX News that DeSantis would be “running a pizza parlor” if it weren’t for Trump’s support in Ron’s first run for governor. Such contempt for his own party leaders has created one enemy too many in Trump’s rise and potential fall. DeSantis, as his name implies, would be a saint if he helps Trump.
Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina is the latest in a long line Trump defenders that started with Rudy Giuliani. The 56-year-old Brooklyn-born lawyer is quite a celebrity himself taking on high-profile cases and defendants (he also owns an Italian soccer team). Will he take the DeSantis offer or go it alone? Whichever, the show will be interesting to watch. -JLM
A good move in the long run by Gov. DeSantis if he gets the nomination for president. He needs President Trump’s supporters to win a national election. It is too soon to know what is going to happen in regard to the charges against the former president and who will get the Republican nod to run for president.
Manchin….Italo? Say it ain’t so, Kevin McCarthy, too? The only thing missing with him is his Irish brogue. Where is the cutoff? Or have we devolved into accepting all claimants like Liz Warren is Native American, what we once called Indian???
Ethnic identity is becoming a funny business. I originally considered myself 100% Italian but Ancestry DNA told me I was only 86%, then, after more “Italians” spit into a tube I learned I had risen to 92% “Italian” – no blood transfusions or secret ancestors. So what is an Italian?
McCarthy inherited a maternal Italian surname (Palladino). Manchin’s family accommodated West Virginian norms by dropping a vowel but kept the Italian “chee” using “chin” instead of “cee” the way my surname is pronounced, American style. The reality is the 100% Italian (-American) is a dying breed. Moreover, Italy has had so many invaders and migrants that most southern Italians have Greek, Albanian, Arab, and Jewish genes. Maybe you believe a “real Italian” needs 4 Italian grandparents. Or maybe a real Italian needs to proclaim him/herself one every day. Many of the misguided among us believe a “real Italian” must mispronounce Italian words like “galamar”, “prashoot”, or “mutsa-del” to pass muster.
There are some “real Italians” like Bobby DeNiro who not only fail the DNA purity test (1/4 Italian) but destroy our image incessantly. We’ll take a Manchin and McCarthy over him any day.
I have never put much stock into DNA saliva analyzation. Didn’t need to. I was fortunate to know some of my family’s immigrants, personally. They are all gone now as I am one of the last living links to them. Granted, we have become emulsified to some degree and through each passing generation it only grows. “Many of the misguided among us believe a ‘real Italian’ must mispronounce Italian words like ‘galamar,’ ‘prashoot,’ or ‘mutsa-del’ to pass muster.” … Best laugh of the day, and I work among a faction of folks who think they are comedians. As for Bobby D, Manchin and even McCarthy….I’ll pass on all three.