Hillary Clinton says Ron DeSantis is 'pathetic' and just trying 'to get some attention'

• Hillary Clinton told Rachel Maddow she thinks Ron DeSantis is "pathetic" and just trying to get "attention."
• The pair were discussing DeSantis' beliefs that the DOJ should not be an "independent" agency.
• DeSantis has suggested that Republican leaders should exert more control over the DOJ. 

Hillary Clinton says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is "pathetic" and just trying "to get some attention" for suggesting that presidents should have more control over the Department of Justice. 

Clinton spoke with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday night as Georgia announced an indictment against Donald Trump — the fourth in a series of indictments against the former president. 

"In terms of getting out of this and coming out of this crisis stronger, for having confronted very dark prospects in terms of what this means for democracy, it does feel like the Republican Party as a whole is not ready to make that turn," Maddow told Clinton. "And I'm thinking, really, about Ron DeSantis as the guy who's running second to Donald Trump in the Republican primary right now. He is promising that there shouldn't be an independent Department of Justice."

"He's promising anything to try to get some attention," Clinton told Maddow. "It's kind of pathetic, isn't it?"

In the interview, Clinton and Maddow were seemingly referencing previous statements from DeSantis in which he questioned the constitutional legitimacy of a DOJ independent from the president's influence.

"There's always been an assumption, for example, that agencies like the DOJ and FBI are quote 'independent.'" DeSantis said in an interview on the Larry P. Arnn Show in April. "That's like, Washington speak. 'Oh, these are independent — the president can't be involved in those agencies.'"  

DeSantis continued: "I think Republican executive in particular, you know, you've got to be exercising proper oversight and holding those agencies personally accountable. You can't just say that they're independent and hands-off. You can't do anything. That's not the way the system is designed."

Ron DeSantis' press secretary, Bryan Griffin, told Insider via email on Tuesday that DeSantis maintains this position.

"As he has consistently said, Ron DeSantis will ensure the justice and law enforcement agencies of the federal government are de-weaponzied and held accountable for engaging in politically-motivated activities beyond the scope of their duty," Griffin wrote to Insider. "The president has the power to — and should — rein in the bureaucracy when the bureaucracy is not serving the interests of the American people."

He added, "We do not care what Hillary Clinton has to say."

Just last week, DeSantis suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell from her elected position, arguing that she was too lenient on criminals. Critics have accused DeSantis' move of being politically motivated, Politico reported.  That was the second elected prosecutor DeSantis removed from office. 

In their interview, Maddow told Clinton that it feels like law enforcement "being used as a tool of partisan politics is something that — with whatever justification — the Republican Party is really embracing and ready to run with or without Trump."

"That is yet to be determined," Clinton responded. "I think it is possible that there are many now in the Republican Party who have now signed on to that kind of approach to politics — that undermining of democracy, undermining the rule of law."

"But the shadow of Trump looms so large over all of them," she added. "It's really hard to know, once he's off the scene, one way or the other, politically or because of accountability arising out of the various indictments he faces, whether or not backbone will all of the sudden be regrown, whether or not conscious will once again be part of the Republican Party ethos."