Palm Beach County Prosecutor Tells CNN DeSantis Can’t Prevent Trump Getting Extradited to NYC If The Former President Is Indicted
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told CNN’s Jim Acosta that even if Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted to block New York prosecutors from extraditing former President Donald Trump if they indict him, the Florida governor would only be able to delay it from happening, not stop it completely.
A New York grand jury is investigating the former president and his businesses for banking and tax fraud, and last week, Politico reported that local authorities in Palm Beach County had discussed what to do if Trump were indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and ordered to be extradited to New York.
“Last week,” said Acosta, “there were some reports that prosecutors in Florida were beginning to have conversations with prosecutors in New York about the possibility of extraditing Trump to New York if some kind of an indictment comes down that affects the former president. Are you aware of these talks, have you been involved in these talks? What can you tell us about that?
“I can clear that up,” Aronberg, whose elected role as State Attorney makes him the top prosecutor for Palm Beach County, “and we have not had conversations with prosecutors in New York about this.”
Aronberg explained that the news stories were about informal conversations between the clerk of court and other local officials, and a New Yorker article awhile back that discussed rumors that DeSantis might try to stand in the way of an extradition offer.
But the governor’s power under Florida law to stop an extradition was “really nonexistent,” explained Aronberg. “He can try to delay it, he can send it to a committee, and do research about it, but his role is really ministerial. And ultimately, the state of New York can go to court and get an order to extradite the former president but DeSantis could delay matters.”
“You’ll fight that, obviously, if that’s the case?” asked Acosta.
“We would be part of it,” replied Aronberg. “But it’s really ministerial.”
“But, then again, I thought that when Congress counted the votes on January 6th, that would be ministerial too, and look what happened then, so you have to be prepared for anything.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
