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Republicans’ baseless attacks on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been revelatory. Before, and ever since, he announced a criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump, Bragg has faced false — even racist — allegations that he’s corrupt and unwilling to prosecute violent crime.
The attacks from Trump-loving Republicans have shown us how desperate conservatives can get when they look for a pretense to defund or disempower prosecutors who don’t pursue the right’s perceived political enemies with the doggedness they demand.
Bragg isn’t the only one facing pressure. Conservative legislators in Georgia, where Trump could face more criminal charges related to the 2020 election, have passed legislation that could lead to the removal of the prosecutor leading that probe, Fani Willis, or any others who don’t comply with their wishes.
And we can’t forget about Florida. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has already removed an elected prosecutor who indicated he wouldn’t enforce Florida’s draconian restrictions on abortion and gender-affirming care for transgender people.
You can watch Joy Reid’s interview with that prosecutor, Andrew Warren, here:
Now, another attorney who appears to be in DeSantis’ crosshairs is speaking out.
Monique Worrell is a Black state attorney in Florida who has come under fire from conservatives, including DeSantis himself, who baselessly allege that she’s soft on crime. Republicans have pushed the same claims to attack Worrell that they have used to attack Bragg and other Democratic prosecutors, including associating her with liberal megadonor George Soros. (Anti-extremism groups have identified the Soros claim as an antisemitic trope.)
On Friday, Worrell issued a news release, first reported by the Orlando Weekly, accusing DeSantis of engaging in a “witch hunt to establish a basis” to remove her.
Worrell isn’t backing down, as is evident in the letter. You can check it out, in full, here.
Stay tuned, all. Civil rights leaders, lawmakers and activist groups have come to Worrell’s defense online. A cavalry has arrived. DeSantis appears to be doubling down on illiberalism to bolster his conservative bona fides ahead of an expected 2024 bid for the White House.
But he’s starting political firestorms in the process. And they just might burn him.