DeSantis Aide Says He Resigned Rather Than Follow His Menacing Orders
Governor Ron DeSantis’s top deputies directly ordered a Florida Health Department lawyer to prosecute television stations for airing political ads about protecting abortion rights in the state. According to a sworn affidavit from John Wilson, general counsel for the Florida Department of Health, on Monday, DeSantis’s office directed him to send prewritten cease and desist letters to TV stations that aired political ads supporting Amendment 4, a ballot initiative to increase abortion access. “I received drafts of the letters directly from Sam Elliot, Assistant General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor, earlier that day,” wrote Wilson in his affidavit. “Ryan Newman, General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor, and Jed Doty, Deputy General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor, directed me to send them under my name and on the behalf of the Florida Department of Health.” Wilson alleges that he was given the threatening prewritten letters to send to the stations on October 3, with no conversation about the letters beforehand. He then made the decision one week later to quit his job instead of sending more letters. “A man is nothing without his conscience,” wrote Wilson in his resignation letter. DeSantis is part of a federal lawsuit by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group leading the Yes on 4 campaign to expand abortion rights in the state. The lawsuit will now drop Wilson as a named defendant. “This affidavit exposes state interference at the highest level,” said Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Yes on 4. “It’s clear the State is hellbent on keeping Florida’s unpopular, cruel abortion ban in place.”It’s not looking good for DeSantis and his cronies, as a federal judge last week had tough words for the villains looking to take the pro-choice ads off of the air: “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid,” wrote U.S. District Judge Mark Walker.
Governor Ron DeSantis’s top deputies directly ordered a Florida Health Department lawyer to prosecute television stations for airing political ads about protecting abortion rights in the state.
According to a sworn affidavit from John Wilson, general counsel for the Florida Department of Health, on Monday, DeSantis’s office directed him to send prewritten cease and desist letters to TV stations that aired political ads supporting Amendment 4, a ballot initiative to increase abortion access.
“I received drafts of the letters directly from Sam Elliot, Assistant General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor, earlier that day,” wrote Wilson in his affidavit. “Ryan Newman, General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor, and Jed Doty, Deputy General Counsel for the Executive Office of the Governor, directed me to send them under my name and on the behalf of the Florida Department of Health.”
Wilson alleges that he was given the threatening prewritten letters to send to the stations on October 3, with no conversation about the letters beforehand. He then made the decision one week later to quit his job instead of sending more letters. “A man is nothing without his conscience,” wrote Wilson in his resignation letter.
DeSantis is part of a federal lawsuit by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group leading the Yes on 4 campaign to expand abortion rights in the state. The lawsuit will now drop Wilson as a named defendant.
“This affidavit exposes state interference at the highest level,” said Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Yes on 4. “It’s clear the State is hellbent on keeping Florida’s unpopular, cruel abortion ban in place.”
It’s not looking good for DeSantis and his cronies, as a federal judge last week had tough words for the villains looking to take the pro-choice ads off of the air: “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid,” wrote U.S. District Judge Mark Walker.
