The very last person right now that Trump wants any help from or would accept help from is Ron DeSantis. Because of that Trump knows he has to show up in NYC for his arraignment. On the date and time agreed to by his lawyers and the prosecutors & the court.
Think about it. DeSantis is in the hurt locker today with the news his big takeover of Disney went up in smoke. The Mouse outsmarted the Ivy League lawyer! Gotta read that fine print Ron, and for good measure get additional opinions from real lawyers who know stuff instead of hacks from places like Regent or Liberty. In any case Ron needed a quick boost.
Since DeSantis took a hit recently for announcing that if Trump wound up indicted FL would follow the rule of law. That went over with MAGA goobers just how you’d expect, but as it became clear Trump was in fact going to be indicted Ronnie Boy has been rethinking things. Now, like almost all of us he probably thought with talk this week about that NYC grand jury going on hiatus after next week, and them being scheduled to hear evidence on a different case in the meantime he probably thought he’d have some time to craft a split-the-Trump-baby position.
Oops.
It came out of the blue this afternoon when news broke that the grand jury was considering Trump and possible indictment. And then went ahead and voted a “True Bill” which is legal speak for “Yaah. We think there’s enough evidence to charge and try someone for a crime(s).”
Double Oops!
DeSantis had what I believe was a knee-jerk reaction. Get himself some love from MAGA world and make a “tough guy” announcement that if NY asks for extradition he’s gonna tell them to pound sand. I can imagine him standing in front of the mirror practicing saying one-liners about where Bragg can stick his indictment.
But getting back to where I started, Trump might and I predict will see this as a way to pile even more scorn on DeSantis! In fact Trump has more than one reason to do so.
First, we all know he’s been grifting donations over his “persecution” and is probably having wet-dreams over how much he’ll be able to raise from the MAGA asshats. Oh he’ll be mightily pissed for the rest of his life over being indicted, but this is Trump we are talking about and he’s still not at a point (so I believe) a jury will actually convict him. There’s also been credible reporting about him liking the idea of a “perp walk” so he can shoot off his mouth – and raise boatloads of money. But this is Trump and how much money he can milk out of this is what matters. It’s more than enough for him to put on a show up in NCY for the cameras, which will dominate multiple news cycles.
There’s another but more private factor that will drive Trump’s decision. Consider how much he’s been trashing DeSantis and really ramping it up in recent days. This is one of those situations, political PR where Trump is the halll of famer to DeSantis’ little leaguer and I’m sure he recognized in a heartbeat that DeSantis was trying to one-up him by coming to his “rescue.” It would be an unbearable humiliation for Trump to have ANY hint out there that DeSantis helped him, much less protected him!
Trump would have instantly thought NO F*@king Way!!!!!!
Showing up and going through the motions as happens with defendants in this type of white collar prosecution every day means Trump will post a modest bail and be winging his way back to FL that evening. Then he can turn the tables on Ron DeSantis by being brazen with all the persecution and witch hunt talk. And that he doesn’t need DeSantis or anyone else’s help. More importantly since this is Trump he will come up with multiple ways of making fun of DeSantis’ effort at being his “savior.”
DeSantis didn’t really think this through.
However I do think DeSantis did us a favor even though that’s the opposite of what he set out to do. If I’m right he’s forced Trump’s hand and Trump will show up when the date and time is set. The fuss Trump will make is AFTER he’s sent on his way by the court. (I wonder if he’ll be bringing Roger Stone back around?) But for Trump the last thing he wants or personally can accept is “help” from Ron DeSantis.
The Constitution does not give DeSantis that choice…but we all know how much the Republicons care about the Constitution.
In the end the Constitution provides for a federal judge to issue an arrest warrant if a state refuses to honor a lawful extradition request. It’s happened in the past and will happen again. However, the process drags out for months which most of the time only matters to a handful of people. In a case like this it would be a huge national mess. Not to mention the damage it would do to the United States’ reputation around the world, including our ability to convince other countries to extradite one of their citizens to the U.S. to stand trial – already a challenging process.
The only saving grace is that unlike any U.S. citizen before him who’s fought extradition, if a federal warrant is issued Trump is quite literally protected 24/7 by federal law enforcement Special Agents of the Secret Service. One phone call to Trump’s detail and they’d put him the car and take his fat ass to the airport. It’s that or be immediately suspended without pay pending a hearing which would result in their dismissal. For cause which would take away their pensions and benefits. Oh, and they’d also face prosecution for Obstruction of Justice.
They have all (according to reporting) volunteered to stay with Trump after he left the WH. That means they’ve imbibed some of the orange Kool-Aid. Still, these aren’t stupid people and most will see the handwriting on the wall when it comes to Trump on two fronts. First is that in the end loyalty is a one way street leading TO Trump and even if he gets re-elected pardons and other considerations are no guarantee. Second, and perhaps more importantly if Trump starts talking up having them be some highly paid private security team like he had before and as is likely now that things are rolling in NY state his financial house of cards will start coming down he won’t have the kind of money available that his old crew got. So they would face a choice – their pensions/benefits and even their freedom (not to mention career prospects lator on as they’d lose security clearances for good!) or a dubious job with somewhat less than guaranteed benefits working for and getting paid directly by Trump. I for one think it won’t be a case of scales falling from their eyes, but them ripping them away so fast you can’t see their hands move. If they have to they’ll hook Trump up with stainless steel bracelets and carry his fat ass to the car and onto the plane. And if it comes to that it won’t be some Lear or other cushy private jet. Nope. It will be from the nearest base to Mar A Lago for a flight on a drafty old C-130.