DeSantis Lashes Out at DC Grand Jury Following Trump Indictment: ‘Reflective of the Swamp Mentality’

GOP Presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday focused on the grand jury in response to the third indictment against former president Donald Trump, calling Washington, D.C., a "swamp" and saying there should be reforms made to allow Americans to relocate cases from the nation's capital to their home districts.

“While I’ve seen reports, I have not read the indictment,” DeSantis wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts."

DeSantis added, “Washington, DC is a ‘swamp’ and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality.”

Trump on Tuesday was indicted on felony charges, this time surrounding federal criminal allegations he tried to remain president despite losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

The new four-count indictment focuses on Trump’s attempts to hold onto power after Election Day 2020 and through the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

DeSantis, Trump's top rival in the 2024 Republican Primary, said the federal government has been weaponized.

"One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law. No more excuses—I will end the weaponization of the federal government."

Lawmakers and other Republican presidential candidates responded to the news Tuesday, with GOP hopeful and former vice president Mike Pence saying Trump is unfit for the White House — but DeSantis did not clarify whether he supports prosecuting the former president.

Trump has been summoned to appear in a D.C. court on Thursday afternoon to face the counts.

Tanya Chutkan, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, will preside over the former president’s trial. The four-count indictment charges Trump with conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.