Did Gov. Ron DeSantis Blast George Soros By Suspending State Prosecutor?

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just suspended a state attorney – one who has been financed by Leftist billionaire George Soros – for refusing to enforce various Florida laws including protecting the right to life.

Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren signed a pledge not to follow or enforce Florida’s ban on abortions after 15-weeks signed into law this year by Gov. DeSantis.

At a press conference yesterday, the Florida Governor explained why he removed Warren from his role, stating that Warren was attempting to place his personal feelings in front of his duties to the law:

"The prosecutor, state attorney for this judicial circuit, Andrew Warren, has put himself publicly above the law. Most recently after the Dobbs decision was rendered by the Supreme Court, he signed a letter saying he would refuse to enforce any laws relating to protecting the right to life in the state of Florida."

As reported by the New York Times, Warren’s 2016 campaign for Florida state attorney received financial backing from the notoriously Left-leaning billionaire George Soros. Soros isn’t even from Florida. But gaining control of these local state attorneys is actually a really shrewd play on his part. As my dad, ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow explained, for the Left to be so concerned about these local elections is very telling:

"You know what’s so interesting about this is, first of all, and I want people to be thinking about this – George Soros is spending money on local district attorney races, which tells you how important they view these local DAs. Now when you take an oath as a prosecutor, or a government lawyer, you swear an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the state of, in this case, Florida. The prosecutor doesn’t get to pick and choose the laws he wants to enforce."

My dad also said there is an issue of prosecutorial discretion versus non-enforcement of the law, but the idea that he just would not enforce the law is not within the district attorneys’ prerogative.

ACLJ Senior Counsel Andy Ekonomou echoed that statement, and explained why this is not a case of prosecutorial discretion:

"It is repugnant to the DA’s prerogative, or the state’s attorney, or the Attorney General. It is not the province of a District Attorney or in Florida they call them a State’s Attorney to decide which laws enacted by the legislature, that District Attorney likes or doesn’t like, or he’s going to prosecute or is not going to prosecute. Prosecutorial discretion is one thing. Prosecutorial refusal is another."

For his part, Warren, a DeSantis critic, seemed to think the removal wouldn’t stick. But Governor DeSantis is within his authority to suspend state attorneys that refuse to do their job – especially if that attorney seems beholden to the political gamesmanship of an out-of-state billionaire over the people that actually elected them.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes further discussion of this move by Governor DeSantis. We are also joined by ACL Senior Counsel for Global Affairs (and former U.S. Secretary of State) Mike Pompeo to discuss the latest threats to U.S. security by China.