Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit due to neglect of duty. Warren said he would not prosecute doctors and nurses who perform abortions after 15 weeks, which is a violation of state law. In response, Warren has said he will enter into a legal challenge against the state and DeSantis’ order.
“I’m not going down without a fight,” Warren said. “I’m a former federal prosecutor, the duly elected State Attorney, a native Floridian, and a proud American. I refuse to let this man trample on your freedoms to speak your mind, to make your own healthcare decisions, and to have your vote count.”
Warren claims that Florida’s abortion law is in violation of the Florida Constitution.
“He came down to Tampa — to Hillsborough County — to illegally remove me as part of some political circus,” Warren said. “He did it because he wants to throw women and their doctors in jail based on a law that has already been found to violate Florida’s Constitution. He did it because he wants to enforce a law that discriminates against our LGBTQ community — a law that, at this point, doesn’t even exist. We won’t let him get away with it.”
Florida’s Democrat gubernatorial candidates each criticized DeSantis’ “flagrant abuse of power.”
“This action by Governor DeSantis is that of a wannabe dictator who puts partisan politics first,” Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) said. “He doesn’t give a damn about women or average Floridians. It’s a flagrant abuse of power.”
Crist’s Democrat opponent Nikki Fried called DeSantis’ suspension of Warren “outrageous and dangerous.”
Similarly, the Florida Senate’s top Democrat, State Senator Lauren Book (D-Plantation) called DeSantis a dictator.
“Ron DeSantis is behaving more like a dictator than ‘America’s Governor,’” her statement read. “Ron DeSantis continues to make it shamefully clear that he will always put partisan politics over the democratic will of the people.”
DeSantis was a guest on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program to explain his position on why he suspended Warren, and he said the track record of Soros-backed elected officials has been damaging to the country.
“They basically take it upon themselves to determine which laws should be followed and which laws should not be followed,” DeSantis said.
He continued by saying that he directed his staff to look across the state and see who is violating Florida law.
State Attorneys have a duty to enforce the law, not ignore laws they don’t like.
Placing one’s personal conception of “social justice” above the rule of law is a dereliction of duty. pic.twitter.com/kp7CaZEI8M
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 5, 2022
Warren was elected in 2016 with the help of dollars from left-wing billionaire George Soros, who has bankrolled countless district attorneys across the country in order to get them elected.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Andrew Warren” by Andrew Warren.
