Ron DeSantis

A Florida grand jury concluded that the DeSantis administration had 'misappropriated' $10 million from a Medicaid settlement, funds intended to benefit health insurance for low-income children. The money was channelled through the Hope Florida Foundation, an initiative associated with Casey DeSantis, and then to organisations and political committees opposing the 2024 cannabis amendment. The report describes a sophisticated scheme to finance political activity.

After Disney criticised the Florida law restricting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for young pupils, DeSantis and the legislature abolished the previous Reedy Creek self-governing arrangement and installed a new board. Disney accused the state of political retaliation and initiated several legal proceedings.

State of the evidence

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Political responsibility

Florida organised and funded air transport for approximately fifty migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard as part of DeSantis's strategy against federal immigration policies. Migrants claimed that they had been misled about their destination and the assistance awaiting them, triggering civil litigation.

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Political responsibility

DeSantis suspended Andrew Warren, the elected Democratic prosecutor for Hillsborough County, accusing him of refusing to enforce certain laws, particularly following collective statements about abortion and gender-related care. A federal judge found that the suspension violated the Florida Constitution and, in part, the First Amendment, but initially considered that he lacked the power to reinstate Warren; an appellate court subsequently revived some of Warren's claims.

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Laws supported by DeSantis expanded opportunities to challenge school books and imposed restrictions on certain content relating to sex, gender and race. Florida became a national centre of book removals and challenges. In April 2024, DeSantis signed a law limiting the number of challenges that a person without a child in the district could submit.

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Political responsibility

DeSantis suspended Monique Worrell, the elected Democratic prosecutor for Orange and Osceola counties, accusing her of overly lenient policies allowing violent criminals to avoid appropriate sentences. In June 2024, the Florida Supreme Court rejected her challenge by 6 votes to 1 and recognised the Governor's broad suspension powers.

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DeSantis entered the 2024 Republican primary as the most serious alternative to Donald Trump, with substantial resources and high media expectations. His campaign encountered strategic and interpersonal difficulties, and he finished far behind Trump in Iowa before withdrawing on 21 January 2024 and endorsing the former President.

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Direct responsibility

DeSantis appointed a conservative majority to the board of New College of Florida, which abolished its DEI office, and then signed a law prohibiting the use of public funds for DEI programmes at state universities and restricting certain teaching about race. The Governor presented New College as a testing ground for the ideological transformation of higher education.

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Political responsibility

In August 2022, DeSantis presented the arrests of twenty people as the first major operation by his new Office of Election Crimes and Security. Police videos subsequently showed several people bewildered, saying they had believed they were eligible to vote after being registered by the authorities. Several cases were dismissed, including on grounds concerning the statewide prosecutor's jurisdiction.

State of the evidence

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Directly implicated

As a young Navy JAG officer, Ron DeSantis served at Guantánamo in 2006. He later recounted telling a commander that force-feeding hunger-striking detainees was legally permissible and explaining the applicable rules. The Washington Post also reported accounts from two former detainees who claimed to have met him; one said DeSantis had witnessed his force-feeding.

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