‘We are going to end weaponization’: DeSantis doubles down on mistrust of justice system

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday doubled down on the contention that the federal justice system has been politicized and weaponized, a view that a growing number of Republicans have espoused in the days following former President Donald Trump’s second indictment.

In an interview with conservative radio personality Hugh Hewitt, DeSantis said that if he is elected president in 2024, he will “radically reduce the size” of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and “reorient” the functions of federal law enforcement.

DeSantis did not speak directly to the case against Trump, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination. Trump faces 37 felony charges related to allegations that he illegally kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructed the FBI’s efforts to investigate.

Instead, DeSantis more broadly talked about what he perceives to be the “weaponization of agencies.”

“We are going to end the weaponization, but the only way you can end the weaponization is to bring accountability. And that means, of course, a new director of the FBI, cleaning house in all those agencies,” the GOP presidential hopeful said.

Without providing specific examples, DeSantis said he would use the “full scope” of Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which delineates the process in which civil officers can be removed from office.

DeSantis said he would use those powers to “bring the bureaucracy to heel.”

“I don’t buy this idea that the president cannot remove a ‘career’ person. When they’re abusing power, and they’re going outside of what is appropriate, they absolutely should be terminated, and terminated swiftly,” DeSantis said. “So we’re going to be doing that. I think we’re going to do it in a big way.”

His promise is consistent with how DeSantis has acted as the chief executive in Florida. As governor, he has been unafraid to use law enforcement, the courts or the expansion of his own executive powers to pursue his own agenda, and fight “wokeness” and his political opponents.

More broadly, DeSantis appears to be attuned to Americans’ distrust of the federal government, an opinion that a majority of Americans hold, according to polls.

The Republican governor made clear that he believes the problem goes beyond the Trump indictment. For instance, he said that he would like to see changes in how the federal government investigates civil rights cases.

“Yes, of course, you don’t discriminate against a racial minority, but you also have to look at corporate America, government, academia, how they are wielding things like DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] in a discriminatory manner against other people,” he said. “And so we will say no tolerance for discrimination of all kind, regardless of whether you’re in the majority or the minority.”

READ MORE: DeSantis vs. diversity: Blacklists have universities playing defense as Republicans attack

The interview comes as the 2024 Republican presidential primary kicks into a higher gear this summer, with Trump and the rest of the GOP field bracing for the possibility that the former president could face two rounds of indictments before voters vote in November 2024.

Trump is currently under federal indictment related to his handling of classified documents, and charged in New York with falsifying business records to conceal extramarital affairs in the months before the 2016 election. But he faces additional charges at both the state and federal levels related to investigations into his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the 2020 election in Georgia.

On Tuesday, he will be arraigned in Miami federal court.

DeSantis did not speak to those allegations during the interview Monday.

Trump, who has vowed to fight the case, has added fuel to baseless claims that his indictment stems from a biased federal law enforcement system.

“The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” Trump said on Saturday at the Georgia Republican Party’s annual convention.”

“This vicious persecution is a travesty of justice,” he said.

This story was originally published June 12, 2023 at 5:33 PM.