CFO Jimmy Patronis seems to believe Gov. Ron DeSantis wasn’t fully informed before his veto threat against legislation that would have slotted $5 million of state dollars to a former President’s much-needed legal defense.
To that end, Patronis seeks a “dialogue” about SB 1738 and SB 1740, proposals to provide up to $5 million from a fund that gives public money to qualified statewide candidates to a Florida resident who is “subject to political discrimination to pay for legal fees.”
“We are in a situation now where the Senator has withdrawn the bill and look, I think there was a problem where people just weren’t reading the legislation,” Patronis said on Newsmax Friday.
“These were not taxpayers’ dollars. The dollars that were being used were actually fees that were paid by candidates in qualifying. So we had a pretty elaborate formula there,” the CFO said.
The funds for the legal defense scheme come from fees paid by candidates for political office. The Department of Financial Services, which Patronis oversees, would have “the sole authority to determine if a person has been subject to political discrimination.”
That money would be replenished by voluntary donations made by residents when they renew their driver’s licenses. The “Defending Freedom Fighters Trust Fund” would be one of 22 options of nonprofit groups to donate to on the renewal form.
DeSantis denounced the Sen. Ileana Garcia bill earlier this week in a social media post from his political account rather than his official handle, saying that it wasn’t supported by “the Florida Republican who wields the veto pen.”
“Look, I think any state in the union would give the right arm to have a homegrown president in the White House. So this is exactly what we were thinking about,” Patronis said, before equating probes of the Governor’s official conduct with the actions Trump faces in four different venues, including a civil trial verdict Friday that he owed E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million after an adverse verdict in a defamation trial.
“Ron DeSantis has been targeted by the threats of investigation by the Justice Department over the migrant flights,” Patronis said. “So no two ways about it: I was trying to ensure that we change the White House and if it’s a Florida man, that’s good for Florida.”
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