DeSantis admin pressures news outlet to stop reporting on fraud allegations
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' opposition to the First Amendment is well established: see for example his efforts to roll back legal protections for media outlets and to quash diversity measures at private companies (which earned a colorful condemnation from a federal judge back in 2022). But his administration's latest effort to shut down a news investigation into alleged corruption is uniquely disturbing, even by his standards.
The administration is facing criticism from First Amendment advocates over an unsigned cease-and-desist letter from Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) sent last week to the Orlando Sentinel, demanding that the paper and its reporter Jeffrey Schweers stop investigating allegations of fraud related to a community welfare program spearheaded by Casey DeSantis, the governor's wife and potential Republican candidate in next year's gubernatorial race.
As NBC News reported:
The investigation, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald, centered on what the DeSantis administration did with money from a $67 million settlement with Medicaid contractor ... Desantis administration officials 'directed' $10 million from that pot of money to the Hope Florida Foundation, the nonprofit arm of an organization led by Casey DeSantis, according to records the group had to file as part of its nonprofit status. Of that money, $5 million was then sent to a group aligned with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and another $5 million to a group called Save Our Society from Drugs. Those groups then sent a total of $8.5 million toward a political committee led by [state attorney general James] Uthmeier that was working to defeat the recreational marijuana amendment. It's not clear how much of the $10 million went directly to the PAC.
The governor's administration apparently wants the Sentinel to cease its reporting on the matter. The cease-and-desist letter from the Florida DCF accuses Schweers of 'falsely and with malicious intent asserting that the families are implicated in fraudulent activity by accepting financial assistance from Hope Florida Foundation' and claims that Schweers' 'threats and accusations were used as coercion to get the families to make negative statements about Hope Florida.' (The Hope Florida Foundation, as NBC News notes, is the nonprofit arm of the DeSantis' welfare alternative, 'which has a goal to steer Florida residents away from government programs and instead toward services from nonprofits and faith groups,' according to the Tallahassee Democrat.)
'We stand by our stories and reject the state's attempt to chill free speech and encroach on our First Amendment right to report on an important issue,' Roger Simmons, the Sentinel's executive editor, told The Associated Press via email, adding that DCF's description of Schweers' reporting was 'completely false.'
DeSantis appeared to co-sign the agency's demand in a tweet sharing the letter. 'Bottom feeders gonna bottom feed,' he said.
In a reply to the governor's post, Schweers asked why the administration hadn't responded to his public records requests. He's also shared social media posts from people who say he's done nothing untoward and accusing the administration of blatant intimidation tactics.
In the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing by Schweers or the Sentinel, it certainly looks like DeSantis is bearing down on the free press to silence a story simply because it might portray his family in a bad light.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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Bill Essayli is out for revenge
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'There's nothing Bill does that isn't very well thought-out.' In April 2025, Essayli announced that he would be leaving Sacramento to accept an interim appointment as the top federal prosecutor for seven Southern California counties with a population of nearly 20 million people. Elsewhere, Trump sought out personal confidants, longtime political allies and loyal defenders to fill U.S. attorney's offices. In his hometown of New York City, Trump named Jay Clayton, who had served as his appointee atop the Securities and Exchange Commission, to the post. Trump's former personal attorney Alina Habba was named the prosecutor in New Jersey, home to Trump's Bedminster golf course. In Washington, D.C., he has placed conservative legal activist Ed Martin, a former lawyer for Jan. 6 defendants, and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro into powerful prosecutorial positions. 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Fox News Digital's Jamie Joseph and Associated Press contributed to this reportOriginal article source: Social media exposes CA Dems with receipts on illegals after they attack Trump for cost of riot response
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Reports of an immunity deal and his testimony to a federal grand jury made him persona non grata in some MAGA circles. But Meadows, who declined to comment for this story, has maintained a foothold on the hard right as a senior partner at the Conservative Partnership Institute — a conservative think tank in Washington headed by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. It's where the current iteration of the House Freedom Caucus, which Meadows once led, huddles for its weekly meetings, and he keeps in frequent touch with the group's members. Those conversations have heated up in recent weeks as the GOP megabill has moved to the top of the Capitol Hill agenda. This past Tuesday evening, for instance, Meadows ventured into the Capitol complex to meet with a small cadre of hard-liners from both chambers: GOP Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Lee of Utah, as well as Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. The meeting in Lee's office, which was first reported by POLITICO, focused on how the right flank could hang onto some of its biggest priorities in the House version of the megabill, while trying to eke out some new wins in the Senate. 'He's just trying to figure out how to thread the needle here,' Johnson said in an interview. Added Scott, 'Mark is trying to help get a deal done.' All five sitting lawmakers who attended the Tuesday evening meeting have threatened to oppose Trump's domestic-policy package if it doesn't meet their demands, a strategy Meadows is no stranger to. He played a key role, for instance, in shaping the first attempt at major party-line legislation in Trump's first term — a 2017 attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. He pushed as Freedom Caucus chair to make the bill much more aggressive in undoing the 2010 law's mandates. Meadows helped broker deals that ultimately got a bill through the House, but it went too far for key senators, and the effort fizzled. Now, according to Republicans who have spoken with him, Meadows has been helpful in brainstorming ideas for hard-liners as they seek to force as many of their demands into the bill as possible. He's also viewed by others as eager to stay in the mix on Capitol Hill — akin to a sort of MAGA Zelig who likes to be where the action is. 'He wants to be involved,' said one House Republican, who was skeptical that Meadows is serving a GOP interest larger than himself. It's unclear whether Meadows' role has been blessed by the White House, where opinions about 'The Chief's Chief' — as Meadows titled his memoir — vary widely. Administration officials are aware of Meadows' quiet shuttle diplomacy in the name of the president's signature policy item. Even if the Trump administration hasn't formally sanctioned his role, GOP lawmakers see him as someone who still has the ear of the president and his advisors. Scott noted that Meadows has 'a good working relationship with the White House.' Johnson said it was his impression that Meadows is still actively engaged with the administration, even though he's technically out of government. 'It's my understanding that President Trump's former chiefs stay in touch with him,' Johnson said, adding that Meadows is trying to play a 'helpful role.' Meadows grew so loyal at one point that Trump publicly lauded Meadows during a 2020 rally for physically staying by his side when he contracted Covid. But after Trump lost the election and amid the post-Jan. 6 flurry of congressional and federal investigations, the president and some top MAGA figures increasingly saw Meadows as an unreliable ally given reports about a possible federal immunity deal. 'Some people would make [an immunity] deal, but they are weaklings and cowards,' Trump wrote in 2023. 'I don't think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows?' In the end, Meadows was never charged federally and Trump's indictment on conspiracy changes related to the 2020 election never went to trial. Then, after Trump's re-election, Meadows assumed his quiet role as power broker. Meadows has popped up in the House at several big moments in recent months. He huddled with hard-liners and House GOP leaders separately during speaker election fights, including when a small group of conservatives ousted Kevin McCarthy in October 2023. He emerged from Speaker Mike Johnson's office just a few days before Trump's inauguration before being spotted on the House side of the Capitol multiple times later in the spring. Asked if he was working on Trump's behalf, Meadows replied: 'Oh no, I'm just here for a brief meeting.' He headed into the speaker's office late last month hours before the Louisiana Republican pulled off what many believed to be impossible — passing the House version of the megabill with the support of every Freedom Caucus member, save Chair Andy Harris of Maryland, who voted present. Unlike with Boehner, Ryan and McCarthy, Meadows is more ideologically aligned with Mike Johnson. The two men were both part of a group of House Republicans who took on the role of Trump's unofficial defenders during his first Senate impeachment trial, and Johnson — while never a member — has long had close ties to the Freedom Caucus, including when Meadows chaired the group. Now members of the Freedom Caucus are still in regular contact with Meadows, and the House GOP is studded with old Meadows allies, such as fellow HFC co-founder and current Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who estimated he still talks to Meadows once a week. Many of them see his low-key involvement in megabill talks as being in line with his general approach. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who said he sees Meadows regularly, said he wouldn't be surprised if Meadows was 'facilitating' conversations, summing up his general approach as 'like, how do you get this done?' Rachael Bade contributed to this report.
