Aides to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have led a purge of the state’s top law enforcement agency after pushback over an attempt to block a lawsuit seeking the release of records related to the Governor’s taxpayer-funded travel and security detail. Officials with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) clashed with the Governor’s office, arguing there were legal grounds to hand over at least some of the records. The Governor’s staff, known for having little toleration for disagreement, responded by removing the FDLE dissenters.
At the heart of the dispute between Governor DeSantis‘s office and the FDLE is a new Florida law which shields the governor’s travel records from the public, including the media. The law was part of a package of bills passed by the Florida legislature this past spring, which DeSantis used to increase his power while shielding himself from public scrutiny.
Top staff at the FDLE argued the disclosure law did not prevent them from handing over basic cost records in compliance with public requests. Aides for DeSantis responded to the FDLE’s position by blocking the promotion of at least one dissenting attorney in the agency, as well as pushing out the FDLE’s deputy chief of staff Patricia Carpenter and chief of staff Shane Desguin.
Despite the Governor’s position arguing the law essentially shields almost all details about his travel and security detail from the public, the Republican sponsor of the statute says this was not his intent. State Rep. Jeff Holcomb says the law was simply intended to prevent individuals from constructing a ‘security profile’ of the Florida Governor using sensitive travel and security information. Preventing the public from obtaining basic information such as the taxpayer cost of the Governor’s security detail was not the end goal, he explained.
