National politics reporter,
@NBCNews
. Wrote a book about the relationship that changed modern politics for
@LittleBrown
. Order in attached link.
#GoPackGo
Those arrested DeSantis' voter fraud crackdown were registered and were sent voter cards. The government told them they could vote, so they voted
One man was arrested by armed SWAT team at 6 a.m. He was in his underwear and was taken to jail that way
People arrested were able to register, their registrations were reviewed by the state, and the fact that they were ineligible to vote was not relayed to at least 2 of the 5 counties where arrests happened
The government told most of these people they could vote, so they voted
Gov. Rick Scott, in his role as Senate candidate, last night asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate local election offices. FDLE said it would. On Friday, though, it found no allegations of voter fraud. There is no investigation
All the people on the list were convicted of big time crimes that made them ineligible to vote. That's without dispute
But each did the sentences they were given. Now they are back in the criminal justice system w/few resources b/c they voted after they were told they could vote
Republican Sen. Travis Hutson voted against a budget bill that would give the state two new planes, giving
@GovRonDeSantis
a new plane. Would boost planes from two to three
"I don't think the state should have three planes," Hutson said
Elections offices in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties said it's the state's responsibility to review registration applications and let the counties know when someone is ineligible.
“We were not notified by the state prior to 2022 that these individuals were ineligible,”
DeSantis admin staff on the official, not political, side are soliciting lobbyists for campaign $ for his presidential bid
10 gop lobbyists NBC News talked to said they’ve never seen anything like it and are feeling pressure to give to save priorities
I asked for complaint from Sarasota PD this morning. They said it is in process of being redacted and should be released today
"Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, husband of a Moms For Liberty cofounder, accused of sexual battery by alleged menage a trois lover"
Court documents indicated that most of the people have arrested had little education, including a woman who told FDLE she could not really read or write.
Weeks after that interview, she was arrested like the others
.
@GovRonDeSantis
office loudly and very publicly blamed local elections officials last week for 20 felons allegedly voting illegally
Turns out one of his own administration's top elections officials quietly told local officials they had "no fault"
Gaetz's father backs up son Matt's claims of extortion over DOJ probe of involvement with teen
“I said to the FBI ‘I’m willing to wear a wire and be cooperative,’
w/
@woodruffbets
DeSantis administration staffers warned multiple times the Florida crime stats that the governor touts on the campaign trail dont say what he says they do
He keeps using them anyway
The $117b state budget and several bills remain on DeSantis desk
That’s a lot of leverage, and those who got the texts are feeling pressure
Beyond that, it’s just so drastically beyond the norm. Taxpayer funded staff asking lobbyists for political $ isn’t how it usually works
“The very idea that the governor’s press representative suggesting such Neo-Nazis were fake is reprehensible,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, of Temple Israel in Palm Beach.
“silence on his part tantamount to agreement”
After a year of starts and stops and several different dates, in a ceremony with just our parents I married my best friend in the backyard of our beautiful new home (2021 has been good)
A more traditional wedding ceremony is coming, but today was perfect. CC:
@anaceballos_
After an apartment complex
Collapsed in Iowa,
@GovRonDeSantis
took to Twitter to tout that he “directed” Florida officials to help
That was 10 hours after Iowa told
Florida it’s help Was no longer needed and the mission was “cancelled”
Just checked. This restaurant not even open today.
It appears
@GovRonDeSantis
tweeted a four day old event making it seem like he was at a Florida restaurant just as news broke he was at a fundraiser in New Jersey
Update:Have now heard audio of a
@FlaDems
volunteer in Palm Beach County calling voter who needed to fix mail ballot. Message clear that call came during recount, which is after they can be fixed
“we are now doing a recount, so we want to make sure you let your vote be counted”
Without telling anyone publicly, last Friday Florida election officials sent examples of election documents with altered dates on them to federal prosecutors. They are asking them to investigate
BREAKING: In his last act as a presidential candidate,
@FrancisSuarez
filed a federal financial disclosure revealing a multi-million dollar income and a dozen previously unreported side gigs.
w/
@tessriski
Florida House Democrats singing on the floor as chamber when into informal recess during debate over
@GovRonDeSantis
-backed congressional map that would reduce number of black performing seats from four to two
As qualifying ends in Florida, Democrats touting a 67 county strategy here
First time in decades they fielded someone in every legislative seat in the state
Ukrainian businessman Lev Parnas, one of two Giuliani associates arrested last week and charged for scheming to funnel foreign money into various US elections, is seen (on the left) in this Nov 6 2018 video I took at Governor Ron DeSantis' election victory party in Orlando.
.
@GovRonDeSantis
touts Florida's huge state reserves coming out of the legislative session.
Lawmakers put roughly $4b of federal pandemic cash in reserves rather than spending the money
.
@NikkiFried
’s statement on the Florida Supreme Court’s decision today to consider a legal challenge to a 2011 law that created penalties for local governments that pass gun regulations
This could lead to a pretty significant gun ruling as the 2022 midterms here heat up
The
@FloridaGOP
has voted to remove a loyalty oath that required candidates to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee in order to be on the state’s primary ballot.
The oath was supported by DeSantis, opposed by Trump
DeSantis’ home state GOP voting against his political
Florida’s resign to run law plays central role in the complaint, which is being filed with a mostly DeSantis-appointed Florida ethics panel
It is first time Trump’s supporters have elevated the feud from campaign trail rhetoric to a formal legal fight.
.
@FlaDems
' employee insurance plan lapsed in Nov. and staff was not told
A staffer got surgery thinking they were covered and got stuck with $50k in medical bills they could not pay
Another was stuck w/thousands in bills
“Not one person has called"
Thrilled to unveil cover art for the book I've been working on for more than 2 years about Ron DeSantis' rise, his relationship w/Trump, and how it impacted the nation's politics and Florida's place in them
You can pre-order here (you know, if you want):
This not an insignificant win for Democrats in Florida
Was a Biden seat held by republicans
More a building block than wave, but notable
And ask a Florida Republican if they think the entire state in iowa impacted this outcome.
They do
I've seen enough.
Democrat Tom
@KeenforFL
has won the special election is Florida House District 35 (a sort of battleground seat) over Republican
@Erika_Booth_
.
Margin of just under 600 votes or appx 2.7%
#FlaPol
“When NBC News called Wendy Fine seeking comment, she said she was dialing in her husband, who could then be heard telling her, “Just hang up.” Neither Fine nor his wife responded to subsequent requests for comment.”
via
@mattlavietes
DeSantis administration jobs aimed at stopping the spread of communicable disease in the state are vacant
One public health expert called the jobs “immensely important”
Another said the openings are “a serious health risk for Florida”
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle has blocked July 1 implementation of a
@GovRonDeSantis
-championed bill Republicans say is needed to crack down on social media companies censoring conservatives, while opponents said the bill was blatantly unconstitutional.
This is a really bad look
“Florida Democrats were organizing a broader statewide effort beyond those counties to give voters the altered forms to fix improper absentee ballots”
Some personal/professional news: I'll be writing a book about Florida's role influencing the national political landscape, with focus on 2022 and how Florida gives us a glimpse into the fast-developing 2024 fight to come.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement has just confirmed they will investigate Broward and Palm Beach election officials, as requested by Rick Scott.
"Yes. We will investigate," FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger just told us
Scott did not actually order, he asked state law enforcement to investigate.
He is Senate candidate, but remains governor. Those requests come with some weight
FDLE said they are standing by, but are aware of no voter fraud. That conclusion was reached after they talked to state election officials today.
Last night during his political event, Scott warned of potential "rampant [voter] fraud"
There appears to be none at the moment
As DeSantis moves his operations to Iowa, he has just $5m primary cash in the bank and a super PAC undergoing a bit of a board shakeup
Campaign also spent last month asking Floroda lobbyists that might have to deal with administration in the future for cash
.
@AsaHutchinson
greeted with boos in Orlando when he talks about Trump’s legal troubles and how they can be a danger to country if he’s the nominee
“Go home!” one guy yelled
99 GOP Florida state lawmakers are backing
@GovRonDeSantis
bid for president. There are 113 Republicans in the Legislature, with one so far backing Trump
Here are all the Florida House members
Even under the
@GovRonDeSantis
interpretation, which wrongly states it is exclusively the role of local officials to verify registration, their own head of election investigations, Peter Antonacci, screwed up.
He led Broward elections office when 3 of those arrested registered
Some in the room were concerned the head of the main pro-DeSantis super PAC was distracted in Iowa
“the chairman of the organization, is sitting there working on a puzzle for hours,” one said
.
@GovRonDeSantis
officially suspends Monique Worrell, Orlando-area state attorney who he has focused on in past
One of the prosecutors that DeSantos focuses on most
He is suspending what he perceives as a progressive prosecutor at a time his presidential campaign struggles
The question was "don't you think the masks will help those children?"
Regardless of how you feel about the issue, there is just no way to interpret the question as a reporter blaming kids, unless that's the interpretation you want to get to
NPAs are out performing Dems in Seminole County (very purple in recent cycles) in election day voting.
Miami-Dade is hoovering around R+14 turnout
Republicans winning Hillsborough County
All this AFTER Republicans came into election day with lead
Florida Supreme Court unanimously denies
@GovRonDeSantis
request for an advisory opinion on whether the Legislature should keep intact Florida 5th Congressional Districts, which for decades has preformed for Black voters
Florida GOP finalized its at large RNC delegates
Some notable names on the list, including
@EricTrump
@DonaldJTrumpJr
@kimguilfoyle
Ike Perlmutter
And maybe most notable, upcoming high school graduate Baron Trump is on the list
Baron is an at large Florida delegate
After a marathon meeting, Sarasota County school officials voted Friday night to require students to wear masks in schools, a blow to Gov. DeSantis that comes in a heavily GOP-leaning region of the state.
via expert school board watcher
@ALAtterbury
Yep, that blue dot is me.
Bet you’re wondering how I ended up in this predicament.
Well, it all started in a retirement community called The Villages in 2008
Some news —
Joining NBC News as a Senior National Politics Reporter starting April 3. Will be covering the 2024 election cycle and all things politics
Will remain Tallahassee-based, so not going far.
Your turn for job news,
@AaronRodgers12
.
@VoteRandyFine
, best known as the Florida Republican state lawmaker who switched his endorsement from
@GovRonDeSantis
to Trump, seems to be evading being served in lawsuit related to local public records lawsuit
Here is full filing:
Fla Department of State say election monitors sent b/c Broward violated state and federal law in May have so far found no fraud. Same finding from Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Also confirm there is no work product/report produced by monitors.
"He was very displeased and frustrated with the fact that our city attorney made the decision that some of this stuff was going to be public. He made references to the fact that we should consider terminating his employment."
Everyone knows Hitler is bad.
This is intentional dishonesty in reporting, but we aren’t surprised- all they want is clicks. Do better
@indystar
The chapter shouldn’t have quoted Hitler without condemning him at the same time. They have issued a statement of apology to clear
During fundraising call last night,
@RonDeSantis
supporters talked about "the most likely situation" if the Dem wins the Tampa-area state attorneys race that person,
@AndrewWarrenFL
, would again be "fired" by DeSantis.
DeSantis suspended Warren previously. He is now running
Here we are.
Two days after Election Day and a Broward County cloud lingers over Florida.
Senate race in recount, governor’s race heads that way. In a state that’s big in the midterms, huge in presidentials
Stop me if you’ve heard this before
Citing FDLE records, Florida Bulldog reports that stricken state elections official Peter Antonacci lay in a hallway outside governor's office 24 minutes before anyone noticed via
@Florida_Bulldog
.
@ChristinaPushaw
says she has had her Twitter account limited / suspended for 12 hours — she was sent a notice she violated terms of use but wasn’t told which. This comes after
@AP
wrote a letter complaining about her. Meanwhile, the Taliban livetweeted its conquest of Kabul.
In huge ruling, Florida Supreme Court says winner of 2018 gubernatorial election fills three vacancies on state’s high court.
@FLGovScott
has said he should fill open posts as he leaves office due to term limits
The money for $1k first responder bonuses that is
@GovRonDeSantis
focus today were possible because of the billions Florida got from federal pandemic aide.
Prior to that, state was facing a $2.7b deficit.
Here is breakdown of how Florida spent that money, including the bonuses
Trump has four endorsements from DeSantis home state delegation. He has none.
Needless to say, that’s been noticed
Arm twisting has begun. Or, I mean, phone calls
Emails show six figure-plus donors to Baptist Health of South Florida hospital system were told on New Year’s Day they were eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine. At that time, the vaccine doses were in short supply in the rest of the state
w/
@ArekSarkissian
Going back to at least 2016, Florida election officials advised state committees that they could not transfer $ to federal super PACs
That has now changed as a state committee likely prepares to transfer $80m-plus to a pro-
@GovRonDeSantis
super PAC
Been intrigue around which media outlets were given credentials (many were not) to cover
@FloridaGOP
convention
Got my hands on the press list.Looks way different than the past
The credential process was broken down by what someone can cover: Sunshine Summit & Victory Dinner
Florida
@GovRonDeSantis
directed flags lowered to half-staff after Rush Limbaugh’s death
Now
@nikkifried
, Florida’s only statewide elected Democrat, is saying offices under her umbrella will not lower flags