Trump's campaign targets DeSantis' record in preemptive strike on potential GOP rival

In a move that signals a potentially bitter and intense primary battle ahead, former President Donald Trump's team is preparing opposition research against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The research will focus on DeSantis' record as a prosecutor, specifically in cases involving child pornography.

Although DeSantis has not yet officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential race, he has emerged as the only contender in the GOP field with a realistic chance of challenging Trump. As a result, the former president has been directing his efforts towards undermining DeSantis for several months.

Until now, the exchanges between the two political heavyweights have been relatively mild. However, Politico reports that Trump's team and allied political action committees (PACs) are gathering a comprehensive opposition research file.

They plan to scrutinize DeSantis' work as an assistant U.S. Attorney, a member of Congress, and as Florida's governor.

The opposition research will accuse DeSantis of being an "extremely lenient prosecutor" in cases involving child pornography, among other issues, Politico reported.

This tactic is reminiscent of the child pornography charges that Republican Senators leveled against then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

In response to the allegations, some of DeSantis' former colleagues have come to his defense.

Ronald Henry, a retired assistant U.S. Attorney who supervised DeSantis during his tenure as special assistant U.S. Attorney, told Politico that the claims were "ludicrous." He stated that DeSantis was not acting on his own and that the entire U.S. Attorney's office oversaw his actions.

“To make any allegation that he was soft on any kind of case, especially child pornography, is just ludicrous. It defies the logic of what I saw in the office or what my office would let happen,” Henry, stated. “He wasn’t a lone wolf on his own making deals without the entire weight of the U.S. Attorney’s office overseeing what he was doing.”

The accusations against DeSantis were previously raised during the 2018 governor's race, with colleagues defending him along similar lines. The upcoming primary contest between Trump and DeSantis could surpass the intensity of the 2016 primary race, suggesting a high-risk, high-reward situation for both candidates.