Ron DeSantis

Donald Trump was the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice — first in response to his attempt to bully Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into helping him dig up dirt on now-President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, then because of the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Three U.S. presidents faced articles of impeachment before Trump (Republican Richard Nixon and Democrats Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson), but only Trump was impeached a second time.

Trump, however, was acquitted by the U.S. Senate in both of his impeachment trials. And in June, two of his allies in the U.S. House of Representatives — House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-New York) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) — proposed that his two impeachments be "expunged."

On July 17, the New York Times published a disturbing article by Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman that details former President Donald Trump and his allies' plans to give the U.S. federal government a major makeover if he wins the 2024 election. The journalists reported that the Trump campaign envisions a "sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government" that would greatly undermine the United States' system of checks and balances in 2025.

The Times' report came at a time when Trump is facing two criminal indictments: a 37-count prosecution by special counsel Jack Smith and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a 34-count New York State prosecution by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. And more indictments may be coming soon: Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results are the focus of criminal investigations by Smith for DOJ and Fulton County DA Fani Willis for the State of Georgia.

UPDATE: A New York Times investigation published on Sept. 24 ,2023 stated that reporters had been unable to confirm Mansoor Adayfi's claims. "An examination of military records and interviews with detainees’ lawyers and service members who served at the same time as Mr. DeSantis found no evidence to back up the claims," the Times wrote. "The New York Times interviewed more than 40 people who served with Mr. DeSantis or around the same time and none recalled witnessing or even hearing of any episodes like the ones Mr. Adayfi described."

Showtime was all set to air "The Guantanamo Candidate," a Vice-created documentary alleging to examine Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' time as a military lawyer at the controversial enemy combatant detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A voting rights group on Wednesday sued Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials for what it called "illegal intimidation" of voters by intentionally making it difficult for former felons to determine their voting eligibility and using "election police" to "mount an aggressive campaign" against people who did not know they were ineligible to cast ballots.

The lawsuit—filed in Miami federal court by Free and Fair Litigation Group, Arnold & Porter, and Weil Gotshal & Manges working pro bono on behalf of the Florida Rights Restoration Committee (FRRC) and individual voters—alleges that state election officials "have created such a bureaucratic system around the implementation of Amendment 4 that it prevents Florida citizens from voting."

A new lawsuit filed by a voting rights group called the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition alleges that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' "election police" gambit is an illegal attempt to intimidate voters in his state.

The Washington Post reports that the group's complaint alleges that DeSantis' office has used the police force to wrongfully arrest people who were past convicted felons who had no idea that the Florida legislature had rescinded their rights to vote after the passage of a ballot initiative that aimed to restore voting rights for felons.

New College of Florida, which in recent months has been taken over by allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is facing major staff shortages as faculty members are fleeing for other jobs.

In fact, the Tampa Bay Times is reporting that the school has lost more than a third of its faculty in the last few months, a churn rate that Provost Bradley Thiessen described as "incredibly high."

Former President Donald Trump and his backers often argue that the indictments against him are not hurting him with core supporters — even claiming that they will drive more people to support him.

But at least one significant longtime Trump backer appears to have thrown in the towel the allegations, reported The Seattle Times on Wednesday: Seattle-area property developer Hossein Khorram.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough ripped Ron DeSantis for defending Donald Trump against a looming indictment in the Jan. 6 investigation.

The former president revealed he is a target in that probe, and his leading Republican rival offered only a mild criticism for Trump's actions on that day and accused the Department of Justice of criminalizing legitimate political actions.