Lawyer says DeSantis’s office pressured him to send abortion ad letters to TV stations
“Attorney John Wilson said that he resigned as general counsel for the Florida Department of Health rather than “complying with the directives” of DeSantis’s executive staff to send more cease-and-desist letters to TV stations running the ad.
“I did not draft the letters or participate in any discussions about the letters prior to Oct. 3,” Wilson wrote in an affidavit filed in federal court Monday. Instead, he said, three attorneys on the governor’s staff gave him the letters to send.
In an earlier letter, Wilson condemned the actions of the administration. “A man is nothing without his conscience,” Wilson wrote in a resignation letter on Oct. 10 obtained by the Miami Herald. “It has become clear in recent days that I cannot join you on the road that lies before the agency.””
Judge Orders DeSantis Administration to Stop Threats Over Abortion-Rights Ad
“The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida must stop threatening television stations with criminal prosecution for airing a political ad in favor of enshrining abortion rights in the state’s Constitution, a federal judge ordered on Thursday.
Judge Mark E. Walker of the Federal District Court in Tallahassee ruled in a temporary restraining order that the threats by the Florida Department of Health to stations across the state likely amounted to “unconstitutional coercion” and “viewpoint discrimination.”
“The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is ‘false,’” Judge Walker, who has frequently ruled against the administration, wrote in his 17-page order. “To keep it simple for the state of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.””