Palm Beach planning for possibility of Trump indictment
If investigators ever indict Donald Trump, Florida might offer him protection from arrest.
According to an item in Politico’s Playbook this morning, Florida has an obscure law that “gives Gov. Ron DeSantis the ability to intervene and even investigate whether an indicted “person ought to be surrendered” to law enforcement officials from another state.”
Law enforcement officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., have actively prepared for the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance could indict former President Trump while he’s at Mar-a-Lago https://t.co/WM3PHkzDnj
— POLITICO (@politico) May 13, 2021
DeSantis is a Republican and a Trump loyalist, but they might be rivals in the 2024 GOP presidential field. Adding to the intrigue, Joe Abruzzo, the state official who would be in charge of opening a potential fugitive-at-large case, has close ties to Joe Biden’s brother, Frank. Abruzzo told Politico, “the full extent of the law will be followed and carried out appropriately, without bias.”
Trump is reportedly preparing to relocate to his property in Bedminster, New Jersey for the summer. Politico explains how that move impacts a potential indictment:
If an indictment comes down while Trump is in Bedminster for the summer, this could all play out very differently.New Jersey’s extradition statute is similar to Florida’s, giving the governor the power to investigate an out-of-state warrant. But its governor is Democrat Phil Murphy, who is no fan of Trump’s, and would not likely intervene to stop Trump’s extradition. In the event of an indictment, Trump’s lawyers could also negotiate a condition of surrender, which could cut local law enforcement out. An attorney for Trump declined to comment.
Trump might skip Bedminster and hide out in Palm Beach if he fears an indictment by a NYC grand jury run by Cy Vance. Gov. Phil Murphy of NJ would readily extradite Mr. Trump on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s demand. Not so sure about Gov. Ron DeSantis of FLA. He’d be more likely to defy. https://t.co/EwEdyT3a2M
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) May 13, 2021
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has been probing Trump and his finances for months. They obtained millions of pages of financial records earlier this year.
Source: welovetrump.com; thehill.com; dailymail.co.uk
