When Ron DeSantis suspended state attorney Andrew Warren for refusing to prosecute women seeking abortions or their doctors, DeSantis’ executive order included a section using sensational (and medically inaccurate) language about abortion.
This passage came from DeSantis himself
Here’s a screenshot from handwritten notes that DeSantis made on a copy of the proposed executive order, instructing his staff to use terms like “dismemberment”:
At the same time, DeSantis ordered his staff to *downplay* the role of abortion in his decision to remove the independently elected Warren.
DeSantis’ other handwritten instructions included listing “non-abortion infractions first” & moving another section “before abortion.”
DeSantis’ marked-up copy of the proposed executive order was obtained by attorneys for Warren, who is challenging DeSantis’ decision to suspend him in federal court.
In addition, Warren’s attorneys obtained texts between members of DeSantis’ press staff, which also show how determined DeSantis’ office was to make it seem like the Warren suspension was somehow more than a politically motivated decision to target a pro-abortion prosecutor.
Here’s one DeSantis press aide sharing a “story” with the group by a friendly writer at the Epoch Times (lol) that did the “unique service” of claiming the Warren suspension wasn’t just about abortion.
(Also note: “She worked with me on edits.”)
Trouble is….this narrative doesn’t square with reality.
Because one of DeSantis’ own lawyers — his chief deputy general counsel — acknowledged in a deposition that DeSantis’ staff wouldn’t have even suggested suspending Warren if Warren hadn’t made a pledge promising not to prosecute women seeking abortions or their doctors.
There’s also other testimony from DeSantis’ staff that shows the decision to suspend Warren arose entirely out of Warren’s position on abortion:
Threading this tidbit, too:
Ron DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw said in a deposition that she’s “always heard” that Florida’s governor has a policy of not texting or emailing, and that her “understanding” is that DeSantis will only communicate with people in person or over the phone:
More secrecy from inside Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office:
One of key people that DeSantis’ staff turned to for help gathering evidence that DeSantis could use to justify his suspension of Andrew Warren was Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
In a deposition, Chronister said he was first asked for info about Warren by Larry Keefe, Ron DeSantis’ public safety czar/immigrant kidnapping coordinator.
Chronister said Keefe asked that they communicate by Signal, the encrypted messaging app:
Chronister also said that, when he drafted a short speech to give at the DeSantis’ press conference announcing the Warren suspension, Keefe asked the sheriff to send a copy of it to Keefe’s personal Gmail address, rather than Keefe’s official state email address.
Threading:
Threading again:
Threading another thread and hoping I don’t tear a hole in the fabric of the universe: