It didn’t take long Tuesday to expose Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ouster of Andrew Warren as the political hit job it was.
The Republican governor removed Warren in August, accusing Hillsborough’s twice-elected Democratic state attorney of refusing to prosecute cases involving abortion or transgender health care. Warren is suing DeSantis to reclaim his job, and the federal trial that opened in Tallahassee on Tuesday gave a disturbing look at how the removal came about.
While DeSantis claimed that the state did a “thorough review” to find rogue prosecutors, Larry Keefe, the governor’s safety czar, who conducted the search, said Tuesday that he “didn’t consider it to be an investigation.” He called a few in law enforcement — which regularly sides with Republicans, including DeSantis — and several influential Republicans in Tampa, including a lawyer who chaired Republican Pam Bondi’s successful campaign for Florida attorney general in 2010.
