Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot unilaterally block former President Donald Trump from being extradited to New York if he is indicted on criminal charges but said there is room for delay tactics.
He responded Sunday on CNN Newsroom to rampant speculation that officials in the Florida county are grappling with the possibility of Trump being indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who is looking into the Trump Organization for possible bank, tax, or insurance fraud. The report cited a Florida statute that gives the governor the ability to intervene and investigate whether a person charged with a crime “ought to be surrendered” to another state.
“I can clear that up because I’m the state attorney here in Palm Beach County, and we have not had conversations with prosecutors in New York about this. The story that you saw was informal conversations with the clerk of courts and other local officials in case an indictment happens,” Aronberg said.
MUELLER PROSECUTOR SAYS TRUMP COULD BE ‘IMPRISONED’ IN FLORIDA IF INDICTED IN NEW YORK
On the issue of extradition, Aronberg said the governor can “try to delay it,” adding that he could send it to a committee for research and investigation, 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.”
Aronberg added: “So, that’s a conversation we’re having: What is the governor’s power? And the governor’s power to stop an extradition is really nonexistent.”
DeSantis is a former Republican congressman whom Trump has floated as a possible running mate if he runs for the White House again in 2024. While the governor might be opposed to extraditing Trump to New York, the situation gets more complicated with Trump expected to spend his summer in Bedminster, New Jersey, as his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach shuts down for the season.
The Manhattan district attorney is also scrutinizing Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer. Weisselberg’s former daughter-in-law said she has cooperated with the investigation and gave “several boxes of documents” to prosecutors on April 8 after she was subpoenaed by the district attorney’s office.
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Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has rebuked the investigation, calling it a “new phenomenon of headhunting prosecutors and AGs.” His organization is also being investigated by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
