The Floridians funding DeSantis’ shadow campaign

By GARY FINEOUT and KIMBERLY LEONARD

08/01/2023 07:05 AM EDT

Good morning and welcome to Tuesday and the month of August.

BREAKING OVERNIGHT — The Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis-affiliated super PAC, Never Back Down, reported its finances for the first time late last night, showing who is donating money for the effort and how it’s being spent.

Unsurprisingly, many of the high-dollar donors are Florida-based businesspeople.

CAUGHT OUR EYE — Destin-based developer Jay Odom contributed $400,000 to the group aiding DeSantis’ 2024 presidential run, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

THE BACKSTORY — Odom was indicted in 2013 over a straw donation scheme supporting 2008 candidate Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign. He’s a well-known GOP donor who also played a central role in a controversy surrounding one-time state House Speaker Ray Sansom that ultimately led to Sansom’s resignation.

Other Floridians who made high contributions included:

Our POLITICO colleagues Jessica Piper and Sally Goldenberg break down the numbers further, finding that Never Back Down is funded largely by a small circle of wealthy individuals.

The super PAC’s biggest single donor, Robert Bigelow, gave $20 million — accounting for more than half of the total from individual contributions Never Back Down has raised since March. Bigelow is a Las Vegas real estate tycoon who gave $10 million last summer to the state political committee DeSantis set up as governor. That account, now called Empower Parents, shifted $82.5 million to Never Back Down in May — making it the largest influx of cash.

Super PACs can raise unlimited amounts of cash from donors and are prohibited from coordinating with official campaigns. There’s some murkiness, however. For instance, DeSantis is taking a bus tour through New Hampshire this week that’s funded by Never Back Down.

— WHERE’S RON? — Gov. DeSantis has a campaign stop in Concord, N.H., and is doing a town hall with WMUR.

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MISSING PIECES — DeSantis submitted a document of his personal finances to the Federal Election Commission on Monday, but it lacks specifics and therefore offers even less information than what he disclosed in June to Florida’s ethics commission.

In the new document, the governor listed his income and book advances in broad ranges despite guidance from the independent Office of Government Ethics that says presidential candidates must report exact figures in such instances. They’re allowed to report royalties in ranges — but not advances.

Danielle Caputo, legal counsel on ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, confirmed Florida Playbook’s reading of the reporting rules and predicted ethics officials would need to check into what happened with the imprecise reporting.

Candidates’ finances help voters assess them, Caputo said. “When you take away their ability to see where they are making their money, you take away a voters’ ability to make those judgment calls,” she said.

THE RANGES — The document shows DeSantis received between $100,000 and $1 million, as part of a “marketing agreement” tied to his book, “The Courage to Be Free.”

MYSTERY — The documents also mention an advance of between $1 million and $5 million for “The Courage to Lead,” but it wasn’t clear whether DeSantis had another book coming out or whether there’d merely been a typo in writing down the other title.

The campaign didn’t respond to a request for clarification.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW — OGE wouldn’t discuss specific individuals with us, but did provide an advisory showing what to expect. What happens is the FEC sends all disclosures to OGE, which would then reach out to the campaign in instances where any numbers are missing or need to be presented differently.

This would kick off an informal, back-and-forth process that’s supposed to be finished within two months.

There’s no penalty — such as a fine — when information is missing or when it’s supposed to be presented in a different format.

It doesn’t get serious unless it becomes clear that a candidate was intentionally misleading or refuses to cough up the information, Caputo said. Then the attorney general could get involved.

FRESH DOCS COMING — Once OGE certifies a completed disclosure it gets posted to the agency’s website for the public to see.

SIMPLE FINANCES — There were a few things the disclosure revealed, including that Florida first lady Casey DeSantis doesn’t have an investment fund, nor has she received any income or speaking fees in the last year and up to the point the governor filed to run for president.

It also shows the governor has paid down his student loans, but not specifically by how much. As of December 31, 2022, he owed more than $18,000, his state disclosures showed. The newest document to FEC shows he owes somewhere between $10,000 to $15,000. (In the case of liabilities, OGE guidance does allow for reporting the figures as broad ranges.)

DeSantis still doesn’t trade stocks or own property, the document shows. “There’s really not much here,” Caputo said of the scant holdings and assets in the overall document.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is seen through the display on a video camera during a campaign event, Monday, July 31, 2023, in Rochester, N.H. | Charles Krupa/AP Photo

AS FOR AMERICANS’ FINANCES — DeSantis just unveiled his economic plan, which included easing the process for discharging student loans through bankruptcy.

Under current department guidelines, student loan borrowers must, in addition to filing for bankruptcy, demonstrate to a bankruptcy court why repaying their student loan would cause “undue hardship.”

“I have sympathy for some of these students because I think they were sold a bill of goods. I think these universities knew that they could take all this federal loan money,” DeSantis said Monday at a campaign event in New Hampshire.

— “Like earlier Florida presidential hopefuls, DeSantis struggling in deep political water,” by the Palm Beach Post’s John Kennedy

BACKLASH — “DeSantis’ latest comments slammed by anti-abortion group as ‘unacceptable,’” by POLITICO’s Natalie Allison: SBA Pro-Life America took issue with DeSantis’ comments to Sirius XM radio host Megyn Kelly, in which he declined to back a nationwide abortion ban if elected president. “A consensus is already formed,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the group, said. “Intensity for it is palpable and measurable. There are many pressing legislative issues for which Congress does not have the votes at the moment, but that is not a reason for a strong leader to back away from the fight.”

Bryan Griffin, press secretary for DeSantis’ campaign called the criticisms an “unjustified attack” and “another example of the DC political games that have seen conservatives falter in Washington while Governor DeSantis has produced unmatched conservative victories in Florida.”

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE — “‘This belongs in the Smithsonian’: Inside the meme video operation that swallowed Ron DeSantis’ campaign,” by Semafor’s David Weigel and Shelby Talcott: “Senior aides to Ron DeSantis oversaw the campaign’s high-risk strategy of laundering incendiary videos produced by their staff through allied anonymous Twitter accounts, a set of internal campaign communications obtained by Semafor reveals. The videos include two that have created recurring distractions for his campaign in recent weeks: an anti-Trump video that featured a fascist symbol, and another that attacked Donald Trump for past comments supportive of LGBT rights.”

— “DeSantis says he will weigh U.S. ban of TikTok if elected president,” by The Wall Street Journal’s Alex Leary

— “DeSantis ad focuses on military career in campaign reboot effort,” by Orlando Sentinel’s Jeffrey Schweers

— “Ron DeSantis rejects ‘false premise’ that he hasn’t dealt with insurance crisis,” by Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski

— “Beer, barbecue and a bus: Inside Ron DeSantis’ awkward comeback effort,” by NBC News’ Jonathan Allen, Henry J. Gomez, Allan Smith and Emma Barnett

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here.

DOCS CASE LATEST — New defendant in Trump documents case makes first court appearance but still needs a Florida attorney, by POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard: Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira only heard the charges against him and received pre-trial orders, including turning over his expired passport, after his Washington, D.C.-based attorney John Irving told the court that his client couldn’t find an attorney authorized to practice in the south Florida district, and requested an extension.

NEW COURT DATE — Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres granted the extension to August 10. The arraignment will take place at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla., where Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard is expected to be the magistrate judge on duty that day, Torres said.

FOLLOW THE MONEY — Trump has spent millions more than he’s raised in 2023, by POLITICO’s Jessica Piper and Zach Montellaro: Trump’s joint fundraising committee reported raising $53.8 million in the first half of the year, a long-teased figure that blows all of his Republican opponents out of the water. But the committee and its two affiliates — the former president’s official campaign and his leadership Save America PAC — have collectively spent $57 million over the same period, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings. The spending rate threatens to put a significant strain on Trump’s finances as the election gears up.

— “After paying lawyers, Trump’s PAC is nearly broke,” by The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, Shane Goldmacher and Jonathan Swan

— “Judge rejects Trump bid to upend Georgia probe,” by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin

— “Atlanta braces for possible indictments in 2020 election investigation,” by The Washington Post’s Holly Bailey

THE LETTER — DeSantis on Monday penned a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris in which he invited Harris to come to Tallahassee and debate him and a former political science professor who helped write the state’s recently adopted African American history standards. The standards have been criticized primarily for a part that middle schoolers be instructed that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

In his letter DeSantis, said that Harris and the Biden administration continue to “malign” and “disparaged” the state and its standards. “In Florida, we are unafraid to have an honest and open dialogue about the issues,” DeSantis wrote. “And you clearly have no trouble ducking down to Florida on short notice. So given your grave concern (which I must assume is sincere) about what you think our standards say, I am officially inviting you back down to Florida to discuss our African American History standards.”

‘WE ARE IN THE MIND CHANGING BUSINESS’ — “Indoctrination in Florida schools? PragerU’s conservative content aims to change minds,” by Miami Herald’s Ana Ceballos: “Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly says he opposes indoctrination in schools. Yet his administration in early July approved materials from a conservative group that says it’s all about indoctrination and ‘changing minds.’ The Florida Department of Education determined that educational materials geared toward young children and high school students created by PragerU, a nonprofit co-founded by conservative radio host Dennis Prager, was in alignment with the state’s standards on how to teach civics and government to K-12 students.”

— “Group: DeSantis win in Disney lawsuit could embolden actions against journalists,” by the Associated Press’ Mike Schneider

WATCH THIS SPACE — “Miami sees its first population drop in decades,” by The Wall Street Journal’s Konrad Putzier and Deborah Acosta: “Miami, a global hot spot with ambitions to be a business and financial hub, is driving away more residents than it is attracting. Surging housing costs and a fickle labor market, which by one measure still hasn’t recovered from the pandemic, are sending many locals packing. Miami-Dade lost 79,535 people through net migration to other parts of Florida or other states between 2020 and 2022, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Brookings Institution.”

SPECIAL REPORT — “Where has Florida’s seagrass gone, and can we bring it back?” by South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Bill Kearney: “Manatees are dying of starvation, trophy sea trout are vanishing, aquamarine bays are stained brown. And in the summer, as the water heats up, the stench of dead fish and toxic algae often wafts over high-end waterfront real estate.”

— “Is Florida failing its children? More babies are born early, at low weight and high risk of death,” by South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Cindy Krischer Goodman

BIRTHDAYS: Former state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, former state Sen. Garrett Richter.

Opinion by Aaron Tang

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By Teresa Wiltz