Over the past decade, billionaire activist financier George Soros has been on a mission to remake the American criminal justice system in his progressive mold. On Thursday, that effort suffered a slight setback: One of the prosecutors elected with his campaign money was ousted by Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis for pledging to not enforce the law.
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, whose jurisdiction includes Tampa, was suspended via an executive order from DeSantis, who cited “neglect of duty” and “incompetence.”
While the governor’s executive order noted that Warren had declined to prosecute “certain criminal violations, including trespassing at a business location, disorderly conduct, disorderly intoxication and prostitution,” it was his recent pledge not to honor Florida’s laws on abortion or ban on gender-transitioning surgeries for children that caused DeSantis to act.
As The New York Times noted, Warren “was one of many prosecutors who were backed in 2016 by groups supported by the billionaire liberal investor George Soros.”
“We’ve seen across this country, over the last few years, individual prosecutors take it upon themselves to determine which laws they like and will enforce and which laws they don’t like,” DeSantis said during a news conference.
Indeed we have, as Tucker Carlson noted on his Thursday Fox News show.
While Warren’s suspension was a notable bright spot in the effort to stop Soros-funded progressives from subverting the rule of law in the United States, Carlson noted that “by this point, fully one in five Americans — that’s more than 70 million people — now live in a jurisdiction overseen by a Soros-backed prosecutor.”
“Soros DAs run cities like New York, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Los Angeles — our biggest cities,” Carlson said.
“They also run places like Travis County, Texas; Hinds County, Mississippi; Loudoun County, Virginia; Chatham County, Georgia. All of them have Soros-backed prosecutors.”
Should more governors push back on Soros-backed DAs?
How does he do it? Money, of course.
“Soros’s influence comes in the form of campaign financing. The money comes from sources, Open Society Foundations and affiliated political action committees and shell companies,” Carlson noted, name-checking the umbrella group under which Soros’ political financing operates.
“A recent analysis by the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund found that in total, more than 75 Soros-backed prosecutors currently hold office in the United States,” he continued.
“To get those people in those jobs, Soros has spent more than $40 billion. Often, he’s the largest donor in the race. In the race in Philadelphia, for example, 90 percent of now-DA Larry Krasner’s financing came from George Soros. What happened next? Drive through Center City, Philadelphia, some time and you’ll see.”
Soros has long claimed the American criminal justice system is both heavy-handed and systemically racist. That’s why he’s given generously in races that have transformed law enforcement “from California to the New York island,” to use Woody Guthrie’s words.
In California, Soros-backed District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled by San Francisco’s notoriously leftist residents for being too soft on crime for them. Let that one sink in. In Los Angeles, Soros-backed District Attorney George Gascón might face the same fate if opponents have collected enough signatures to recall him.
Meanwhile, on the isle of Manhattan, District Attorney Alvin Bragg has pledged not to prosecute a multitude of crimes. Guess who backed him?
Soros’ battle against the allegedly racist American criminal justice system has a lot of collateral damage, however — as Carlson pointed out.
“The result of this has been a lot of posturing, but even more murder victims,” he said. “Last year, Philadelphia recorded its highest homicide total in history. Overall, nationally, according to the FBI, homicides in the United States jumped 30 percent in 2020. That is the largest single-year increase in murders in American history.
“All because one billionaire decided that laws American citizens voted for and support were racist. Does that sound like democracy to you? Of course, it’s not democracy. Democracy is a system in which the will of the majority is recognized and often acted upon. The people rule. What we just described is oligarchy.”
At least Gov. DeSantis struck a blow against the Soros oligarchy by suspending Warren.
“The prosecutor, state attorney for this judicial circuit, Andrew Warren, has put himself publicly above the law,” DeSantis said in a clip of the news conference played by Tucker.
“In June of 2021, he signed a letter saying that he would not enforce any prohibitions on sex change operations for minors and then most recently, after the Dobbs decision was rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court, he signed a letter saying he would not enforce any laws relating to protecting the right to life in the state of Florida — and mind you, we have had a prohibition on third-trimester abortions for a long time,” he continued.
“When you make yourself above the law, you have violated your duty, you have neglected your duty and you are displaying a lack of competence to be able to perform those duties.”
However, it’s worth noting, as Carlson did, that “the list that Gov. DeSantis just read is just partial.”
Warren, as Carlson pointed out, ignored a law that increased penalties for rioters during the tempestuous summer of 2020. He refused to prosecute a gang member who was alleged to have shot into a house where there were children.
But there were people who Andrew Warren would go out of his way to prosecute — like Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, who held church services during the pandemic in violation of local lockdown ordinances, arguing it was “about the church being an essential service to the community.”
“In one of the slimiest moments ever caught on videotape, Andrew Warren quoted the Christian gospels to justify this oppression and abuse,” Carlson said, before playing the clip.
“I’d like to note that I think it’s unfortunate that the pastor here is hiding behind the First Amendment,” Warren said at the time.
“One, it’s absolutely clear that emergency orders like this are constitutional and valid. … Lastly, I’d remind the good pastor of Mark 12:31, which says there’s no more important commandment than to love thy neighbor as thyself. Loving your neighbors is protecting them, not jeopardizing their health by exposing them to this deadly virus.”
As Carlson noted, the First Amendment should protect pastors — “but Andrew Warren didn’t care. He doesn’t like pastors like that, who believe in a power higher than George Soros.”
Does this get worse before it gets better? The 2022 elections are unlikely to be a great springboard for woke prosecutors, given both high crime rates and the tendency for the opposition party to do better during midterm elections.
However, George Soros is nothing if not patient. That’s why we’ve gotten to the point where a significant portion of the American population is living in jurisdictions where prosecutors he helped elect make it clear that they won’t enforce the laws they were elected to enforce. Andrew Warren might be out of office, Chesa Boudin might be recalled — but their replacements are just around the corner, unless we have elected officials willing to stand up for the rule of law.
“Do you see how this works? Kind of a snake eating its tail. Soros sends money to Andrew Warren. Then, Andrew Warren refuses to prosecute thugs who are also supported by George Soros,” Carlson said. “That happened in Tampa, but is happening all over the country. Ron DeSantis is the man who put an end to it today in the state of Florida.”
Good for him. Now let’s see some other governors step up to the plate.
