Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

Will Trump lose his right to vote after felony conviction? DeSantis weighs in

Will Trump lose his right to vote after felony conviction? DeSantis weighs in

Former President Trump will not lose his right to vote in Florida, where he resides, despite his felony conviction in New York, thanks to his former 2024 rival. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who made an unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on Friday said that Trump has not lost his voting rights in Florida and will not lose them so long as DeSantis chairs the Florida Clemency Board. “Former President Donald Trump hasn’t lost his voting rights in Florida. Rights are not removed in Florida where they haven’t yet been stripped in the convicting jurisdiction,” DeSantis said on X. “That said, given the absurd nature of the New York prosecution of Trump, this would be an easy case to qualify for restoration of rights per the Florida Clemency Board, which I chair,” he continued.  RFK JR. WARNS TRUMP CONVICTION WILL ‘BACKFIRE’ ON DEMOCRATS AND IS ‘BAD FOR OUR DEMOCRACY’ “The bottom line is that Donald Trump’s vote this November will be one of millions that demonstrate Florida is now a solid Republican state!”  Trump on Thursday was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in what prosecutors called a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through payments to silence porn star Stormy Daniels about their alleged 2006 sexual encounter. The former president maintains his innocence.  It is common practice in most states that convicted felons are disenfranchised, sometimes permanently. In New York, felons lose the right to vote while incarcerated, but those rights are automatically restored upon release, even if they’re on parole, because of a 2021 law passed by the state’s Democratic-majority legislature.  A lifelong New Yorker, Trump established residency in Florida in 2019, while he was in the White House. TALES FROM THE TRAIL: TRUMP ‘UNLEASHED’ WITH CRIMINAL TRIAL OVER Florida state law defers to other states’ disenfranchisement rules for residents convicted of out-of-state felonies. So long as Trump is not sent to prison, he will retain his right to vote in Florida with no action needed from DeSantis or the clemency board.  Trump is scheduled to appear for a sentencing hearing on July 11. DeSantis’ promise makes it so that no matter the sentence, Trump will be able to vote in Florida in the November election. TRUMP TURNS CONVICTION INTO CASH, SPOTLIGHTS RECORD FUNDRAISING IN WAKE OF GUILTY VERDICT Trump’s conviction, and even imprisonment, would not prevent him from continuing to run for president. The Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin four days after Trump is sentenced. The RNC adopted rules last year that did not include any specific provisions if the presumptive GOP nominee is convicted of a crime. Delegates are able to change the rules before Trump is formally nominated, but there appears to be little support for nominating another candidate. RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said Trump’s verdict was “handed down by a partisan and biased judge” and claimed Democrats have “weaponized” the justice system to attack Trump.  “The real verdict will take place on November 5 when Americans vote for a president they trust to bring down prices, secure the southern border, restore America’s leadership around the world and Make America Great Again,” Whatley said in a statement after the jury found Trump guilty on all counts.  Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is co-chair of the RNC.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Romney scorches Bragg’s ‘political decision’ in Trump case: ‘Malpractice’

Romney scorches Bragg’s ‘political decision’ in Trump case: ‘Malpractice’

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg committed “political malpractice” in his choice to pursue charges against former President Trump.  The Utah Republican on Saturday morning issued a statement, days after the guilty verdict against former President Trump, criticizing both Bragg and Democrats over the case’s result.  “Bragg should have settled the case against Trump, as would have been the normal procedure. But he made a political decision,” Romney told his biographer McKay Coppins, a writer at the Atlantic. His office confirmed the comments to Fox News Digital.   GOP’S MURKOWSKI LAMENTS TRUMP’S ‘BAGGAGE’ FOLLOWING GUILTY VERDICT “Bragg may have won the battle, for now, but he may have lost the political war,” he warned. “Democrats think they can put out the Trump fire with oxygen. It’s political malpractice.” Trump was found guilty by a New York jury on Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments that were made to pornographic performer Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump. Trump denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the charges. SOROS HEIR URGES DEMOCRATS TO HAMMER TRUMP AS ‘CONVICTED FELON AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY’ In the latter part of Romney’s Senate tenure, he has often aligned with more moderate conference members such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. Due to this association, his response to the verdict was less predictable than other Republican senators, many of whom are close Trump allies.  Collins also denounced “the political underpinnings of this case” in her post-verdict statement.  SENATE DEMS IN BATTLEGROUND RACES CAREFUL TO WEIGH IN ON TRUMP VERDICT But Murkowski avoided opining on the legitimacy of the case or verdict in her own reaction. Instead, the Alaska Republican lamented the drama and legal “baggage” that she said distracts voters from President Biden’s failures.  Members of the right-wing flank of the Republican conference reacted more strongly to the guilty verdict.  Several senators signed on to a letter to the White House on Friday, led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in which they vowed to make the legislative process as difficult as possible for Democrats going forward.  “As a Senate Republican conference, we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart,” the letter read.  SCHUMER URGES TRUMP ALLIES TO LET LEGAL PROCESS ‘MOVE FORWARD’ AFTER GUILTY VERDICT Trump has pledged to appeal the verdict.  Romney previously suggested President Biden had made a mistake in not opting to pardon Trump, his political opponent. “You may disagree with this, but had I been President Biden, when the Justice Department brought on indictments, I would have immediately pardoned him,” Romney said in a mid-May interview on MSNBC. “I’d have pardoned President Trump. Why? Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned a little guy,” the senator added.