News/Commentary

Ethics commission slaps down Trump-aligned PAC’s complaint against Ron DeSantis

April 30, 2023 | | Print Article

In March, the Trump-aligned Make America Great Again Inc. PAC filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics accusing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of running a “shadow presidential campaign.”

In a decision filed last week, the commission slapped down the complaint.

“The complaint fails to indicate in a factual, substantive, nonconclusory manner that [DeSantis] solicited or accepted anything with an understanding that it would influence an official decision associated with his public office,” the decision reads.

“The complaint details alleged actions taken by other organizations for the benefit of [DeSantis’] anticipated presidential campaign, but never once expressly alleges that [DeSantis] and these organizations have an agreement or understanding, or that [DeSantis] has conditioned any public action on any donation, contribution, gift, or other things of value,” it continues.

As previously reported, the complaint basically suggested that the combination of there suddenly being a bunch of pro-DeSantis super PACs, a “personally lucrative book tour,” and a continued wave of state-level campaign contributions amounted to what The Hill describes as “a de facto White House bid.”

For example, the complaint accused the governor of using his “personally lucrative book tour” to court voters and solicit or accept gifts. The commission reportedly said this allegation is speculative.

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The commission also ruled that the royalties DeSantis is earning from the book are no different from “what other similarly-situated public figures could obtain for the same or similar work.”

Dovetailing back to the complaint, it further said the governor’s book tour might amount to an ethics violation since it causes DeSantis to be “absent from Florida.”

The commission shot down this allegation as well by noting that “there is no inherent reason why [DeSantis], as Governor, cannot travel outside the State.”

“The complaint does not provide additional information to establish that such travel creates a continuing or frequently recurring conflict between his private interests and the performance of his public duties,” the decision reads.

All this comes as former President Donald Trump continues to compete with DeSantis, despite the governor not having declared his candidacy yet (if ever). For example, Trump has scheduled a trip to Iowa on the same day that DeSantis will be there.

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“A Trump campaign official said Saturday that the former president plans to be in Iowa on May 13 to headline an organizing rally at a sprawling park in downtown Des Moines. That’s when DeSantis was already slated to headline Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra’s annual summer fundraiser in northwest Iowa and speak at a party fundraiser later that evening in Cedar Rapids,” the Associated Press reported.

“The move is a sign of the escalating competition between the two men who, at least for now, are leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump and his allies have become increasingly emboldened in their efforts to attack and marginalize DeSantis, who is expected to announce his White House bid sometime after the Florida Legislature wraps up its work in the coming week,” the AP added.

In separate but related news, the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC dropped a new ad Friday that reportedly portrays him as the successor to Trump.

“The seven-figure ad buy from the Never Back Down PAC, slated to start airing on Monday, will target local broadcasts in four states that kick off the Republican primary: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, according to the PAC. The ad will also run nationally and on cable,” according to ABC News.

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“The minute-long ad titled, ‘Winner,’ shared first with ABC News, aims to showcase the governor’s winning record. The ad subtly depicts DeSantis as the successor to Trump, showing front-page headlines of the governor’s victories in 2018 and 2022 hanging in succession on a wall next to a headline of Trump’s 2016 win.”

Watch:

Unfortunately for DeSantis, the ad was ratioed on Twitter by an army of Trump supporters who aren’t ready for Trump to be succeeded quite yet.

Look:

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Vivek Saxena
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