Governor’s Secret Travel Raises Questions of Corruption, Mental Stability and Florida’s Lax Gun Laws
DELRAY BEACH, FL- The Republican sock-puppet legislature recently agreed to hide taxpayer funded travel records for Gov. Ron DeSantis, with the governor’s allies bizarrely justifying the unnecessary move as a security measure.
“Ron DeSantis is potentially too paranoid to be president and needs an urgent mental health evaluation to remain Florida’s governor,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “This authoritarian move undermines open government laws, disrespects taxpayers and is the latest example of how Republican rule is wrecking Florida’s future.”
Politico reports that the House approved the bill 84-31, four votes above the two-thirds threshold needed to enact a public records exemption. The governor’s rubber stamp sycophants painted a portrait of DeSantis as a paranoid politician under siege, who must sequester himself from public examination as a matter of protection.
“This is truly a simple bill that is about safety and security,” said Rep. Jeff Holcomb (R-Spring Hill). “This bill is necessary because our senior state officials receive threats and death threats all of the time.”
Democrats in Tallahassee pointed out that records were open when Jeb Bush was Florida’s governor, even though he was the brother of President George W. Bush during the Sept. 11 attacks. The claim of “security” also falls flat when the bill could retroactively refuse access to information for past trips.
“Maybe there is a time machine where the evil plotters in DeSantis’ wild imagination could go back into the past to target the governor on his foreign junkets to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom?” Besen asked.
The move also brings into question why DeSantis, who appears to be terrified of his own constituents, has loosened gun laws in Florida. In April, DeSantis signed a Republican bill that allowed Floridians to carry concealed guns without a permit.
“It seems incongruent that the governor would loosen gun restrictions, then have to hide his whereabouts to avoid threats from armed Floridians,” said TWO’s Besen. “The governor also believes that ‘good guys with guns’ are the answer to ‘bad guys with guns’. Well, he’s surrounded by a crack team of armed ‘good guys’, so why would he consider his personal security in jeopardy unless he doesn’t believe his own rhetoric on firearms?”
The latest move also raised possibility that DeSantis is not crazy, he’s simply corrupt. Politico reports:
DeSantis just returned from a week-long international trip that took him to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom. That trip was organized through Enterprise Florida, the state’s economic development arm, and is supposed to be financed through private donations.
Flight tracking records show that DeSantis used a chartered jet for the trip — an expense that could run as much as $10,000 an hour but Enterprise Florida so far has not answered questions about why the governor needed a chartered jet.
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