For all intents and purposes, Gov. Ron DeSantis has spent months positioning himself for a presidential campaign. Watching the Florida Republican travel the nation, hire staff, and line up allies, his national ambitions weren’t exactly a secret.
With this in mind, it stands to reason that the governor and his political operation also tried to raise as much money as possible in order to help fuel his GOP candidacy. But what if the fundraising efforts went beyond just DeSantis and his political operation? NBC News reported:
Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration — not his campaign — have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis’ presidential bid, a breach of traditional norms that has raised ethical and legal questions and left many here in the state capital shocked. … [The practice was] jaw-dropping for those who have long been involved in Florida politics.
NBC News’ report explained that the network reviewed text messages from four DeSantis administration officials, including those directly in the governor’s office and with leadership positions in state agencies, who requested contributions.
The New York Times published a related report a day later, noting that when DeSantis administration officials solicited donations from lobbyists, they blurred the line “between his taxpayer-funded office and his political campaign.”
It’s a tough dynamic to defend. In Florida, the governor has not yet signed the state’s budget. It’s against this backdrop that powerful officials in DeSantis’ administration — whose salaries are paid by taxpayers, and who have responsibilities to serve the public, not a campaign — are asking lobbyists to make campaign contributions to their ambitious boss.
One longtime Florida lobbyist told NBC News, “The bottom line is that the administration appears to be keeping tabs on who is giving, and are doing it using state staff. You are in a prisoner’s dilemma.”
“What the f— am I supposed to do?” another lobbyist added. “I have a lot of business in front of the DeSantis administration.” Another Republican lobbyist said, “The ethics behind this is questionable at best, especially when the budget has yet to be acted on.”
Let’s say hypothetically you’re part of a group of nurses and you’re advocating in support of a key health care priority in the state budget. To improve your chances of being heard, you and your colleagues hire a government affairs specialist to help represent your organization’s interests. As the budget takes shape in this hypothetical scenario, your representative receives a message from a prominent official working in state government — which includes a link for a campaign contribution.
It would probably be at this point when you asked a reasonable question: Is this legal? NBC News’ report added: The legality of the solicitations depends on a series of factors, including whether they were sent on state-owned phones, or if they were sent on state property. A longtime Florida election law attorney said that even if the DeSantis aides are fundraising for the campaign in their personal capacity, off the government clock, it still raised ethical questions.
“At a minimum, even if they are sitting in their home at 9 p.m. using their personal phone and contacting lobbyists that they somehow magically met in their personal capacity and not through their role in the governor’s office, it still smells yucky,” the attorney said. “There’s a misuse of public position issue here that is obvious to anyone paying attention.” The Times, meanwhile, spoke to Anthony Alfieri, founding director of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami School of Law, who added, “The conduct raises very serious and substantial questions.” The good news is that there’s a Florida Commission on Ethics, which is responsible for scrutinizing government employees’ alleged ethical violations. The bad news is that the current members of the Florida Commission on Ethics were appointed by — wait for it — Ron DeSantis.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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