BREAKING: Ron DeSantis Directed Threats Against TV Stations

Threats over Amendment 4 ad came directly from Florida Gov's office

New court documents reveal that it was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who orchestrated the intimidation campaign against television stations running ads for pro-choice ballot measure Amendment 4. The letters—which threatened criminal charges against outlets that didn’t pull the ads—were written by DeSantis’ top deputies, not the Department of Health attorney who signed and sent them.

In an affidavit filed today, John Wilson swore that DeSantis’ office gave him prewritten letters and directed him to send them to media outlets. Wilson resigned just days later from his post as the health department’s general counsel in protest. He says he left to avoid being forced to send out more threats to the press.

“A man is nothing without his conscience,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Lauren Brenzel, the campaign director for Yes on 4, tells me that the document “exposes state interference at the highest level.” Here’s the relevant section of Wilson’s affidavit:

It was just a few days ago that a U.S. District Court judge had to intervene in DeSantis’ threats against journalists, issuing a temporary restraining order and ruling that the state was censoring free speech. Judge Mark E. Walker wrote, “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.”

But this is just one piece of an enormous, state-powered assault against Amendment 4. Florida Republicans—who know abortion rights has won every time it’s been on the ballot since Roe was overturned—have pulled out every dirty trick in the book to stop voters from having a say.

DeSantis’ administration has used millions in taxpayer dollars to launch a massive disinformation campaign against the pro-choice measure, for example, despite a law prohibiting government officials from using their power to influence an election. (A conservative judge allowed them to continue with the attack.)

In addition to creating a website dedicated to opposing Amendment 4, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has been running television and radio ads claiming the pro-choice measure “threatens women’s safety.” They also insist that the state’s 6-week abortion ban is perfectly safe and protects women—which is, of course, demonstrably false.

At the same time, DeSantis and Florida Republicans launched a bogus voter fraud investigation, accusing Amendment 4 petitioners of fabricating signatures. They even sent police to some voters homes to question them about their support for the measure. (The investigation is being run by the Office of Election Crimes & Security—the same department DeSantis used to target and arrest Black voters in 2022.)

After combing through 36,000 already-verified signatures in support of putting Amendment 4 on the ballot—an unprecedented move—Republicans claimed that over 16% of the signatures collected were invalid. Coincidentally, that’s just about the number needed to claim that Floridians Protecting Freedom fell short of the required number of signatures. As I noted last week, anti-abortion groups have since used this to file a suit to get Amendment 4 off the ballot.

The long and short of it: DeSantis and Florida’s Republican leadership are weaponizing state agencies to keep voters from restoring abortion rights. From Brenzel:

“It’s clear the State is hellbent on keeping Florida’s unpopular, cruel abortion ban in place. Their extreme attacks on Amendment 4 are an anti-democratic tactic to keep Floridians from being able to make their own choice about whether Amendment 4 should become law. It’s a distraction, and it’s desperate and it won’t work.”

Remember, Amendment 4 needs 60% of the vote to pass; but even with that high threshold, Republicans are terrified. Watch the ad that Florida Republicans are so desperate to keep off the air below, and support Floridians Protecting Freedom here.

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For more Abortion, Every Day coverage on the anti-abortion attacks against democracy, read my July column below. And don’t forget to support the newsletter with a paid subscription!

"The Will of the People," Except on Abortion