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Gov. Greg Abbott and others Thursday night criticized the New York indictment of former President Donald Trump.

The same groups financially supporting the New York district attorney pursuing criminal charges against the former president also helped finance the defund the police movement in Austin in 2021 and get a district attorney elected to Travis County who’s ensured that many violent felony cases are not prosecuted.

In response to the indictment, Abbott tweeted, “Weaponization of our courts for political grievances is an abhorrent abuse of power. The George Soros-supported NYC DA is only furthering the radical liberal agenda to have elections determined at the jury box rather than the ballot box. America deserves better.”

Soros is a billionaire Democratic donor who has contributed millions of dollars to the campaigns of progressive district attorney candidates, including the New York district attorney who indicted Trump.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said, “The radical left has consistently weaponized our courts to silence conservative voices. The actions by the Soros-backed Democrat DA in NYC is the latest example of this abuse of power.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said, “Today is an absolute outrage and tragic day for our country. This left-wing Soros DA has decided to use the power of his office to indict Donald Trump – facts and law be damned!”

Cruz also said, “Today marks a turning point in our country. The indictment of Trump is a moment in the death of the rule of law. Our Founders are weeping – law is supposed to be fair, regardless of political party. It is not meant to be used as a weapon to attack your political enemies.”

U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, said, “A Manhattan Grand Jury at the behest of a weaponized prosecutor; who received a million dollars from Soros, has indicted a former U.S. President. This unprecedented attack against Trump is an assault on everything we hold sacred about our Republic.

“If they can come for him, they can come for you. Our judicial system is not blind or just, it has been weaponized by dangerous people hellbent on remaking our nation into something unrecognizable.”

Not all elected Texas officials agree. Newly elected Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, said, “No one is above the law, not even a former president. As a former public defender, I know the importance of a fair and unbiased judicial process. I urge my fellow Americans to put politics aside & refrain from violent rhetoric. This is a critical moment – we must not fail it.”

Former Texas legislator and now congressman, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, tweeted, “May justice be served, finally.”

On Thursday, a New York grand jury voted to indict Trump over allegedly misreporting payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Daniels sued Trump for defamation and lost her appeal last year before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She owes the president nearly $300,000 in legal fees. After losing her case, she tweeted, "I will go to jail before I pay a penny.”

Trump issued several statements on social media referring to the indictment as “political persecution” and “a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement.”

Criticisms of New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s connection to Soros stems from him reportedly benefiting from a Soros-funded Justice and Safety PAC and other similarly funded groups that have focused on getting progressive district attorneys elected nationwide to implement policies that abolish bail, release violent offenders, and defund the police.

Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society funneled millions of dollars to the Community Resource Hub for Safety and Accountability, which provides resources to “local advocates and organizations working to address the harm of policing in the US,” according to its website. The hub has partnered with the Justice and Safety PAC and roughly 20 other groups, according to multiple reports, to get district attorneys like Braggs elected.

In Austin, the defund the police movement in 2021 was made possible by Soros funds.

Soros spent $500,000 to defeat a ballot proposition in Austin that would have restored funding to the Austin Police Department. “Billionaire George Soros is involved in Austin's Prop A police staffing initiative,” the Austin American Statesman reported, pointing out that “Soros' Open Society Policy Center transferred $500k to Equity Austin to defeat Prop A.”

Within months of being in office, Garza implemented a new policy to throw out cases including serious felony charges like “aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault of a pregnant woman, aggravated robbery, and more,” KVUE ABC News reported. In just four months, Garza rejected 142 felony cases, a 735% increase from the same timeframe in 2020.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted the indictment of former President Donald Trump on Thursday, saying he won’t comply with an extradition order from New York.

“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head,” DeSantis said in a statement published on Twitter. “It is un-American. The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct.”

DeSantis was referring to billionaire Democratic donor George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society funneling millions of dollars to the Community Resource Hub for Safety and Accountability, which provides resources to “local advocates and organizations working to address the harm of policing in the US,” according to its website.

Through the hub, the Justice and Safety PAC and 20 other similar groups have focused on getting district attorneys elected nationwide to implement policies that abolish bail, release violent offenders, and defund the police. In cities like Houston where these policies, including “bail reform,” have been implemented, crime has skyrocketed, in part caused by repeat violent offenders being released onto the streets.

“Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent,” DeSantis said of New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda.”

On Thursday, a New York grand jury indicted Trump over allegedly misreporting payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair she had with Trump. The former president denies he ever had such an affair.

Daniels sued Trump for defamation and lost her appeal last year before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She owes the president nearly $300,000 in legal fees. After the 9th Circuit ruling, she tweeted, "I will go to jail before I pay a penny.”

Florida Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nunez agreed with DeSantis, saying, “It’s true. Political agendas have no place in a court of law. We are a country of laws, not men. Florida will not tolerate one man, a Soros-backed prosecutor, using our justice system to advance a politically motivated stunt to score points.”

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody also agreed, saying, “Upon learning of the NY DA indictment, I am heartbroken by the damage this targeted prosecution will do to the integrity of our justice system. It is a sad day in the story of the United States.”

Nikki Fried, former Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate who lost in the Democratic primary to Charlie Crist, took to Twitter to post several comments criticizing DeSantis.

“Breaking the law is un-American and blaming it on George Soros is anti-Semitic,” she said, adding “How pathetic is Ron DeSantis? I mean, the groveling, the poll numbers, all of it.”

She also pointed to DeSantis removing a state attorney who refused to enforce state law, saying, “You know there has been an actual, proven unlawful and unconstitutional weaponization of the law – your removal of State Attorney Andrew Warren.”

Last August, DeSantis suspended Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit citing "neglect of duty” for his decision not to prosecute individuals who violate the state's 15-week abortion ban.

The governor has the authority to suspend a state officer under Article IV, Section 7 of the state constitution and did so by issuing an executive order. State attorneys are state officers constitutionally elected to serve as prosecuting officers of all trial courts within each judicial circuit and are not subject to impeachment.

“State Attorneys have a duty to prosecute crimes as defined in Florida law, not to pick and choose which laws to enforce based on his personal agenda,” DeSantis said at the time.

Trump, a Florida resident, blasted the indictment, issuing several statements on social media referring to the indictment as “political persecution” and “a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s governor says he will 100% veto a flat tax, and the top Republican in the State Assembly says he knows that.

Both Gov. Tony Evers and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos talked about the proposal to take Wisconsin to a 3.25% flat income tax during appearances on TV over the weekend.

The governor was on Capital City Sunday in Madison. He once again vowed to kill the flat tax proposal.

”The flat tax proposal, where it’s going to be equal across all parts of Wisconsin, is not in my bailiwick,” Evers said during the interview,

Evers has made it clear in the past that he doesn’t support the Republican’s flat tax proposal, but he said for the first time over the weekend that he may “possibly” veto the entire state budget to stop it from happening.

“[The flat tax] is a death nail for me,” the governor added. “I think our progressive tax system is a good one. And we don’t need to be spending our time and effort to provide the wealthiest of Wisconsinites with an extraordinarily large tax cut.”

Meanwhile Vos was on UPFRONT on Milwaukee TV, talking about the flat tax as well.

“I think we need to have significant tax reform to be able to make sure that Wisconsin remains competitive,” Vos said.

Vos said that may or may not include a 3.25% flat tax.

“That would be my preference. But again, I understand that Gov. Evers has concerns with that,” Vos added. “The most important thing for us to do, is we have to make big efforts toward reducing our tax burden. A flat tax would be ideal. But if we can’t get to ideal, there are other ways to get there.”

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, who introduced the flat tax proposal this month, has said the flat tax proposal currently up for debate may not be the final plan that reaches the governor’s desk.

Gov. Evers will deliver his budget speech next month, and the Republican-controlled legislature will then write the state’s new two-year spending plan.

Evers said on Capital City Sunday that his ideas, even in a Republican budget, “never go away.”

In addition to tax reform, this year’s budget will likely include something new on shared revenue of local governments, school funding, and other plans on how to spend or return Wisconsin’s record $7.1 billion surplus to taxpayers.