While other Republican governors were either backing the investigation into Donald Trump’s corruption—or at least holding off judgment until more facts are known—Floridians were a tad shocked Thursday when Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his creation of the mafioso-sounding Presidential Protection Fund to raise money to help one Donald J. Trump. DeSantis insists that he backs Trump “100%” and has a “duty to protect him” despite what he’s done, presenting it as a gubernatorial responsibility.
Again, Floridians were just a tad surprised. After all, of all the swamp creatures in Trump’s orbit, Ron DeSantis is one of the slimiest … so this has been a long time coming.
Trump’s impeachment inquiry covers his illegal solicitation of foreign help, his bungled attempt to cover it up, and possibly the most damning: the seeking of a quid pro quo before releasing hundreds of millions in aid to a desperate nation, all in return for investigation into one of his primary opponents in the upcoming election. Yet if Trump wanted a lesson in quid pro quo, he need to look no further than his favorite governor.
DeSantis, possibly best known to the rest of the U.S. as that extremely racist guy who Florida elected as the state’s top official. But he’s so much more than that! While other politicians had an informal system of grift, DeSantis took it to an extreme: He literally made a price list. Secret, internal memos recently discovered showed what the new governor’s rates were for access. Spoiler alert: Better bring your checkbook:
- Ten minute meeting with DeSantis: $25,000
- Golf with DeSantis: $25,000 (foursome)/$100,000 (alone)
- Dinner: $150,000
- ”Intimate and high dollar”: $250,000
I don’t even want to know what the hell that last one is. What I do know is that people paid. Duke Energy had several lobbyists enjoy his golf outings and ponied up bigly. Duke is gouging the hell out of Floridians right now.
DeSantis swore Wednesday that he knew nothing about those memos, though he and his wife approved them.
Want to talk quid pro quo? Look no further than DeSantis.
One recent article outlined how much dough donors gave to DeSantis right before they were appointed to critical state boards. Here’s a sampling:
- The president of a private investment firm donated $25K, and is now appointed to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- An insurance executive donated $10K. He was just appointed to the State University System Board of Governors
- A developer donated $14,700 and let DeSantis use his plane. Since he did two things for the governor, he gets two positions: St. Johns River Water Management District and chair of the Florida Transportation Commission.
Speaking of jets—since DeSantis took office in January, the new governor has complained about not having a nicer jet for his travel around Florida. The state’s fleet of executive aircraft was sold several years ago, after political misuse. This year, however, DeSantis requested, then received, a $15.5 million dollar jet.
Watchdog groups have requested that, at the very least, strict rules be established to ensure the plane is only used for legitimate public needs, as opposed to campaign purposes or personal use. So far, the governor has refused. His communications director said there were already rules in place for “protecting” and “transporting” the governor. So why would anyone need rules on ethics?
Perhaps because this is the same guy who, as a congressman, refused to disclose how he spend $145, 000 in taxpayer travel funds, which included trips to Fox News in New York to vociferously defend Trump, and raise his profile while running for governor. I had forgotten he had done this, but he reminded me during his Presidential Protection Fund announcement, when he bragged about going on TV all the time to fight against the Democrats’ “witch hunts.”
That’s not all, though. One of the first things DeSantis did when he came into office, after his infamous voter suppression attack, was to sign House Bill 7103 into law. This law essentially prevents everyday Floridians from stopping reckless real estate development. Now, any resident who dares to challenge a developer will be forced to pay all the legal fees of the developer and the government if they lose. With DeSantis’ rightwing judicial appointments, a loss is pretty much a guarantee—and trust that DeSantis’ appointees are particularly and horrendously unqualified.
This law has already had a chilling effect: A former Martin County commissioner, Maggy Hurchalla, fought a billionaire developer’s boneheaded and environmentally dangerous quest to mine for limestone. Hurchalla lost, and now she’s financially ruined. The nearly 80-year old woman was ordered to fork over $4.4 million dollars; she owned nothing but a Toyota Camry, which was seized.
I’m not saying that the developer is an evil villain, but he did once pay a man to electrocute his own horse, just to collect the insurance money. That developer, George Lindemenn Jr., was, unsurprisingly, a big donor for Ron DeSantis.
Thus, Gov. DeSantis can’t afford to have Trump go down in flames. Once honor is restored to the White House, and the nation once again has a Justice Department that investigates corruption, instead of defending it, DeSantis knows he’s screwed.
So please, get involved, and try voting next time, Floridians, no matter how hard DeSantis makes it.
