Excerpt: "Law enforcement officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., have actively prepared for the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance could indict former President Donald Trump while he's at Mar-a-Lago, according to two high-ranking county officials involved in planning sessions."
Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. (photo: Getty)
13 May 21
aw enforcement officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., have actively prepared for the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney CY VANCE could indict former President DONALD TRUMP while he’s at Mar-a-Lago, according to two high-ranking county officials involved in planning sessions.
Among the topics discussed in those meetings: how to handle the thorny extradition issues that could arise if an indictment moves forward.
An obscure clause in Florida’s statute on interstate extradition gives Gov. RON DESANTIS the ability to intervene and even investigate whether an indicted “person ought to be surrendered” to law enforcement officials from another state — which means that as Mar-a-Lago prepares to close down for the season and Trump relocates to Bedminster, N.J., it isn’t just the Florida heat he’s leaving behind: He could lose a key piece of political protection.
“The statute leaves room for interpretation that the governor has the power to order a review and potentially not comply with the extradition notice,” says JOE ABRUZZO, clerk of the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, the official who would be in charge of opening a potential fugitive-at-large case.
One wrinkle to Abruzzo’s potential role in all of this: He is a former close associate of President JOE BIDEN’S younger brother, FRANK. Abruzzo tells Playbook that despite his friendship with the Biden family, “the full extent of the law will be followed and carried out appropriately, without bias.”
If an indictment comes down while Trump is in Bedminster for the summer, this could all play out very differently. New Jersey’s extradition statute is similar to Florida’s, giving the governor the power to investigate an out-of-state warrant. But its governor is Democrat PHIL MURPHY, who is no fan of Trump’s, and would not likely intervene to stop Trump’s extradition. In the event of an indictment, Trump’s lawyers could also negotiate a condition of surrender, which could cut local law enforcement out. An attorney for Trump declined to comment.
With Trump settling down in New Jersey for the next few months, Florida is unlikely to have to sort through this any time soon. But the clock is ticking on the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation: On March 12, Vance said in a statement that he will retire at the end of 2021, and speculation abounds that his office — which is currently investigating whether Trump and his businesses committed banking and tax fraud, among other lines of inquiry — could issue indictments before passing the case along to his successor.
And that means that Palm Beach County may yet have to get involved — depending on whether Trump is indicted, of course, and whether that happens after Mar-a-Lago reopens in the fall.
Good Thursday morning, and thanks for reading Playbook, where we honor all legitimate extradition requests. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
DEAL OR NO DEAL? — How far apart are Biden and congressional Republicans when it comes to striking an agreement on an infrastructure bill? We’ll have a better sense later today, after a group of Republican senators sit down with the president at the White House.
But we already know this: Wednesday’s Big Four meeting accomplished little. The two sides haven’t even agreed on basic concepts yet.
— Following the White House sit-down, “GOP leaders told reporters that they still had to reach an agreement with Democrats over what exactly meets the definition of infrastructure,” as Burgess Everett, Sarah Ferris and Laura Barrón-López note. More on that in their full article
— Republican leaders used the event to reiterate that raising taxes — particularly ones reduced by Trump’s 2017 overhaul — is a non-starter.
— Meanwhile, the White House has repeatedly scoffed at the GOP’s proposal to pay for infrastructure with user fees.
So, things haven’t moved very far at all.
If you’re bullish on a deal, you could point to the fact that Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL has floated spending as much as $800 billion on infrastructure — a sum that could actually pay for much of what Biden has proposed in terms of concrete-and-steel projects. But, again, there’s been little progress on defining a shared set of spending priorities, and there’s a complete stalemate on the pay-fors.
One obvious way out of this morass would be to work hard on defining those projects, ignoring the taxes vs. user fees debate and simply passing a modest deficit-financed bill. But neither side seems interested in going that route.
Instead, the most likely scenario remains weeks more of bipartisan theater, followed by a massive reconciliation bill that the White House sells to moderate Democrats as being simply too big to fail.
BIDEN’S THURSDAY — The president and VP KAMALA HARRIS will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10:45 a.m. Biden will deliver remarks on the Colonial Pipeline incident at 11:50 a.m. At 1:30 p.m., Biden and Harris will meet with Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO, Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG and Sens. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.), JOHN BARRASSO (R-Wyo.), ROY BLUNT (R-Mo.), MIKE CRAPO (R-Idaho), PAT TOOMEY (R-Pa.) and ROGER WICKER (R-Miss.).
— Harris will meet with the Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office at 5:15 p.m.
— Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 12:30 p.m. The White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials will brief at 4 p.m.
THE SENATE is in session. The Judiciary Committee will vote at 10 a.m. on several DOJ and judicial nominations, including KRISTEN CLARKE and KETANJI BROWN JACKSON. Democratic Louisiana Gov. JOHN BEL EDWARDS will testify before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee at 10 a.m. about offshore energy development. DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS will testify before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at 10:15 a.m. about unaccompanied minors at the southern border.
THE HOUSE will meet at noon to take up a couple of bills, with votes predicted between 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. USTR KATHERINE TAI will testify before the Ways and Means Committee at 10:30 a.m. on trade policy. Speaker NANCY PELOSI will hold her weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY will host a “Back The Blue Bike Tour” through the city at 8:15 a.m.
— Pelosi will join a Voto Latino conference via Zoom at 4:40 p.m., where she’ll discuss what Dems are doing to regain support from Latino voters ahead of the 2022 midterms. The event, hosted by MARIA TERESA KUMAR, features a who’s who of the Latino and Democratic-affiliated political world, including Sen. ALEX PADILLA (D-Calif.), DNC Chair JAIME HARRISON, ANA NAVARRO, JOHN ANZALONE, Catalist CEO MICHAEL FRIAS, KAREN FINNEY, TOM PEREZ and Media Matters President ANGELO CARUSONE.
