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Story · May 2, 2023

Florida Ethics Commission Dismisses MAGA Inc. Complaint Against DeSantis

By The Daily Fuckup Newsroom · From the May 2, 2023 edition

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Correction: An earlier version misstated the timing and posture of the Florida ethics commission’s action. The commission rejected the MAGA Inc. complaint as legally insufficient; it did not reach the merits.

Florida’s Commission on Ethics dismissed a complaint filed by MAGA Inc. against Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 2, 2023, ending the matter without moving it into a formal ethics case. The complaint, filed in March, argued that DeSantis was effectively running for president before formally entering the race and pointed to his travel, fundraising, book promotion and other activity.

The commission did not adopt that theory. Instead, it found the filing did not clear the legal threshold needed to go forward. Under Florida’s complaint process, a case that is deemed legally insufficient can be closed rather than investigated further.

That outcome is narrower than a ruling on the merits of every allegation. It means the commission decided the complaint did not provide enough grounds for an ethics action, not that it made a broader finding about whether each activity described in the filing was proper or improper.

MAGA Inc., which is aligned with Donald Trump, had used the complaint to attack DeSantis as a candidate running a hidden campaign. The commission’s dismissal left that argument without a state ethics case behind it.

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