Dem
49
GOP
51
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who has returned from whatever basement he was inhabiting, knows his geography well enough to place Mar-a-Lago in the state of Florida. That means that the guy who had concepts of a plan for assassinating Donald Trump was in the Sunshine State at the time that any crimes were committed. And the Governor senses an opportunity here, and so yesterday he issued an executive order declaring that the state of Florida would take the lead in investigating what happened over the weekend.
DeSantis' argument here has two parts, one that he stated openly, and the other one he alluded to obliquely. The "open" part of the argument is that, because Trump is currently a private citizen, federal law basically does not protect him, meaning the feds can only charge the gun-related crimes they have already charged. Florida, according to the Governor, can pursue more serious charges related to threats against Trump's person.
The "oblique" part of the argument, meanwhile, is the usual conspiratorial stuff. DeSantis implied that the first assassination attempt did not get properly investigated (even though there's a bipartisan Congressional committee, and even though the investigation is still underway), and that maybe the lack of enthusiasm for the investigation is because there are people in the federal government who don't much like Trump and wouldn't mind if he got shot and killed. While the Governor did not name any specific names, he did allude to "these two prosecutions." In other words, reading between the lines, DeSantis thinks (or, at least, claims he thinks) that Special Counsel Jack Smith wants Trump dead.
You don't need us to tell you how stupid the conspiracy theory stuff is. As to DeSantis' claims about the legal situation, well, maybe his research skills have gotten rusty in the nearly two decades since he graduated Harvard Law. Beyond the fact that both murder and attempted murder are most certainly federal crimes, 18 U.S. Code 351 specifically makes it a crime to attempt to kill a presidential or vice-presidential candidate, while 18 U.S. Code 115 makes it a crime to attempt to kill a former president. The feds have already said more charges are coming; presumably accused would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh will be charged under one or both of these statutes. There is also the small matter that the federal government currently controls all the material witnesses (i.e., Routh and the various Secret Service agents) to whatever crimes were committed as well as ALL of the evidence. So, DeSantis can claim he and his people are taking the lead in the investigation and/or prosecution, but that does not make it so.
The odds are pretty good that there will be no Florida investigation, and that DeSantis was just seizing on an opportunity to score some MAGA points. The only real question here is exactly what the Governor is playing at. Is he trying to return to Donald Trump's good graces, in hopes of some sort of appointment in a Trump v2.0 administration? Or, is he trying to re-assert himself as the Prince of MAGA, next in line when the throne is vacated? Whichever it is, we think DeSantis is out of his mind. Trump hates him, and that is not going to change. And the MAGA faithful don't feel much more warmly about the Governor, and certainly weren't (and aren't) buying what he is selling. We just don't see how he could possibly have a future in Republican politics, and if he does, it will be after 8-12 years in the wilderness, Richard Nixon-style, by which point any silly stunts from 2024 will be long forgotten. (Z)