Ankeny, Iowa—Governor Ron DeSantis said he will use the Department of Justice (DOJ) to go after rogue prosecutors who refuse to enforce the rule of law if elected President.
"Everyone has a right to live in a society in which the rule of law prevails," DeSantis told The Floridian Publisher Javier Manjarres on a campaign stop in Polk County, Iowa. "We are going to use the Department of Justice to go after some of these rogue prosecutors who are causing people to die by not enforcing the law."
DeSantis says the Republican Form of Government clause in the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government the authority to do this.
🚨HUGE! Ron DeSantis says as President, he will use the Department of Justice to go after rogue prosecutors who refuse to enforce the law in places like San Francisco.
“Everyone has a right to live in a society in which the rule of law prevails.” pic.twitter.com/ekopS3Q6Qd
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) October 7, 2023
In California, shoplifting and open drug use has become a serious problem, especially in counties with prosecutors who were funded by political action committees funded by billionaire George Soros.
According to the State Department of Justice, shoplifting crimes increased by 20% in San Francisco from pre-pandemic rates in 2019 to 2022. Starbucks just announced they are closing seven of their San Francisco locations, saying they need to "re-evaluate their footprint." San Francisco residents were so fed up with their Soros-funded prosecutor Chesa Boudin, that they removed him in a recall election in 2022.
Contra Costa County, California DA Diana Becton has overseen a 10 percent surge in crime in the city of Antioch, where "burglaries went up by a third, car thefts jumped by a fifth, and rapes shot up by 7.5 percent in 2022," according to a July, 2023 article from Daily Mail. Becton was given over $1 Million for her campaign from the California Justice & Public Safety political action committee, with $652,000 of that money coming from George Soros.
"You see some of the worst crimes happen and then they go back and they say 'oh, they were arrested twelve times and nobody ever held them accountable," said DeSantis. "They just put them right back on the street."
These prosecutors run on "promises to use discretion on choosing which charges to file, divert 'low-level, nonviolent cases out of the criminal justice system', rarely ask for bail, give lenient plea offers, and concentrate on violent crimes," according to a piece from the Heritage Foundation. "But once these candidates get elected, they quickly turn their anodyne statements into something different and engage in prosecutorial nullification by refusing to prosecute entire categories of crimes, watering down felonies, refusing to ask for bail, and refusing to prosecute violent juveniles as adults. Of course, violent crime rates often explode in their cities."
DeSantis is the only governor to use his power to remove Soros-backed prosecutors. In August, 2022, DeSantis suspended Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren for "refusing to enforce Florida law" and replaced him with Judge Susan Lopez. In August of this year, DeSantis suspended 9th Judicial Circuit Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell for "neglect of duty and incompetence" and replaced her with Judge Andrew Bain.
“It is my duty as Governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” said Governor Ron DeSantis after suspending Worrell. “The people of Central Florida deserve to have a State Attorney who will seek justice in accordance with the law instead of allowing violent criminals to roam the streets and find new victims.”
DeSantis acknowledged many of the areas experiencing a surge in crime due to rogue prosecutors who put repeat offenders back on the streets instead of in prison are not strongholds for his party.
"Some of these cities that are doing so poorly, it's not like these are big vote areas for Republicans, right? Baltimore. Philadelphia," said DeSantis. "But you cannot have a successful country if every major city in this country is crumbling due to high crime. This is shooting ourselves in this foot to let this happen. This didn't just happen. This is a direct result of bad policies."
