CORRUPTION: Gov. DeSANTIS, CABINET's $311,000 LOBBYIST-PAID JUNKET TO ISRAEL (Florida Phoenix, Miami Herald)

Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS and the Florida elected cabinet accepted money from domestic and Israeli lobbyists for their Sunshine lawbreaking Cabinet meeting in Israel. Enough corruption. The FBI must investigate. Now.

Federal criminal laws may have been violated, including the Hobbs Act and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Florida's Sunshine laws were violated by holding a Cabinet meeting in a foreign country, inaccessible to Floridians.

This not-so-subtle corruption of our government by lobbyists, including foreigners, is indefensible and must be ended at once.\

Florida Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS was elected with support of DONALD JOHN TRUMP, America's Caligula (or Berluscone).

While Caligula sent his horse, Incitatus, to the Roman Senate as Consul, Florida sent our horse's ass, RICKHARD LYNN SCOTT to the U.S. Senate, at TRUMP's behest.

Enough flummery, dupery and nincompoopery in Flori-DUH.

From Florida Phoenix:

Lobbyists and corporations funneled more than $311,000 for Gov. Ron DeSantis and Cabinet’s Israel trip

By

 Michael Moline

 -

July 12, 2019

Jerusalem's Old City. Credit: Shmuel Spiegelman, Wikimedia Commons

Corporate sponsors –  including the Florida Realtors, the Gray Robinson law firm, and the Development Corp. for Israel – contributed more than $311,000 to pay for the recent trip by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet to Israel.

The money helped cover travel for staff of Enterprise Florida – the state business development arm that oversaw planning for the trip – and also for members of the Cabinet and aides to the governor, according to a document the agency released Friday.

The public picked up a little more than $29,000 toward travel costs for Enterprise Florida staff, paired with $9,166 in private money. State officials have yet to release the full cost of sending the state officials overseas in May, but the document says private donors contributed $22,245 toward travel for the Executive Office of the Governor and $10,596 for Cabinet agencies.

That’s “not that much in the scheme of things, so I’ll leave it to others to judge whether taxpayers got their money’s worth when it comes to the results of the trip and the benefits it will bring to Florida’s economy,” Ben Wilcox of Integrity Florida, said via email. His organization advocates for government transparency and accountability.

Such gifts are not illegal, but perhaps are untoward, Wilcox said. “The sponsorships that include a dinner and a reception paid for by lobby firms allow those firms to buy access and influence with our top statewide elected officials. That certainly does not look good to the public. It’s a form of legal corruption and speaks to the need for lobby reform.”

The governor’s office didn’t comment on the numbers, but has argued the trip cemented sentimental ties between Florida and Israel and also produced business deals.

“Trade missions provide an opportunity to promote Florida’s business advantages, assist exporters in meeting clients, and identify and attract foreign direct investment. Governor-led missions target markets where a significant opportunity exists to expand Florida’s economy,” Enterprise Florida argued in the document.

Also contributing financially were the Greenberg Traurig law firm; Duty Free Americas; Visit Florida, the state’s tourism development agency; the Becker & Poliakoff law firm; MCNA Dental; GOP donors Lothar & Caryln Mayer; dairy magnate Marc Goldman; tech company Geeks and Nerds; and Tellus LLC, a health care corporation.

Registration fees paid by the 98 listed delegates – the document now says the actual number topped 100 – amounted to $71,500. The delegates included state legislators, business people, academics, religious figures, and lots of lobbyists.

Press traveling with the governor paid $7,500 in registration fees. Sponsorships recouped another $47,500.

The private money also covered events and receptions during the week DeSantis and the elected Florida Cabinet spent in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in late May, plus transportation and security, photographer fees, and gifts. All three Cabinet members made the trip – Attorney General Ashley Moody, Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services Nikki Fried; and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.

• TAGS
• Business development
• Enterprise Florida
• Florida Cabinet
• Israel
• Ron DeSantis

Michael Moline

Michael Moline has covered politics and the legal system for more than 30 years. He is a former managing editor of the San Francisco Daily Journal and former assistant managing editor of The National Law Journal. He began his career covering the Florida Capitol for United Press International. More recently, he wrote for Florida Politics.

Private donors paid $311,000 in expenses for DeSantis, state leaders on Israel trip

BY EMILY L. MAHONEY  HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

JULY 12, 2019 05:00 PM 

A Florida trade delegation led by Gov. Ron DeSantis embarked on a historic trip to figure out how to solidify its bonds with Israel. BY 

TALLAHASSEE

More than a month after their plane touched back down in Tallahassee after returning from a trade mission in Israel, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office and the state’s business development arm provided more details about the funding of that trip and how private donors contributed.

A final price tag has emerged: Private companies and donors covered about $311,000 in expenses on the trip through Enterprise Florida, a state agency that also collects private donations to attract business to the state.

Included in that figure is $74,413 worth of events and receptions in Israel, about $103,000 for ground transportation and security, $5,500 for a photographer and videographer to accompany the delegation and travel costs for DeSantis, one of his aides, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and the hotel costs for Agriculture Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried.

A major piece of those private donations came from 12 trip “sponsors,” which includes well-known law and lobbying firms GrayRobinson and Greenberg Traurig, as well as the Florida Realtors association. Also on the list were individual donors such as Lothar and Carlyn Mayer and Duty Free Americas, the company of Simon and Jana Falic — all of whom are wealthy pro-Israel political donors from South Florida.

Others on the list provided by Enterprise Florida: MCNA Dental Plans, which contracts with the state to provide Medicaid-funded dentistry; Geeks and Nerds, a cybersecurity and software company; Visit Florida, the state’s tourism arm; Israel Bonds, which sells Israel bonds in the United States; and Tellus, a company that provides electronic healthcare to Medicaid recipients.

Dana Young, the president of Visit Florida, also attended the trip using private funds of about $5,300, a spokeswoman for her agency said, which is above the amount provided to Enterprise Florida.

Jamal Sowell, president of Enterprise Florida, told the Herald/Times that the sponsors of the trip contributed because they have a “focus on this global partnership with us and Israel” and some “want to do business over there, too.” Private funds were also raised through dues of Enterprise Florida’s board members.

But the heavy involvement of private industry in a trip for state officials is reminiscent of the criticisms long leveled against Enterprise Florida, which even some Republicans have said creates a too-cozy relationship between business and government that leads to “corporate welfare.” Former House Speaker and now-Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran once derided the business development agency as an “absolute cesspool.”

“I think arrangements like [the Israel trip] are ripe for conflicts of interest,” said Paula Dockery, a Republican and former state senator who’s written columns bashing the state’s business development arm. “I understand governors like to go to foreign countries for trade missions, and that’s fine but they shouldn’t be taking money from industries in our state, even if it’s disguised as Enterprise Florida.”

During the trip, agreements were signed between Israeli and Florida businesses as well as universities, which Sowell said will lead to increased foreign investment and research opportunities.

“Economic development around the state is something that is strategic and long-term,” he said. “It’s the strategic thought about the global relationship with Israel and also other countries, because we’ll do other trips in the future.”

Chris Spencer, DeSantis’ policy director, said Friday that measuring the success of the trip will become clearer in the months and years to come, with more investments to Florida’s space industry, collaboration between international researchers to tackle blue-green algae blooms and programming and study-abroad partnerships between universities in Israel and Florida.

Meanwhile, the updated cost in taxpayer money was at least $150,000. That figure accounts for Enterprise Florida’s staff members, three of the governor’s office staffers, Cabinet staff members plus security provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and transportation for those officers, such as armored cars.

It also includes Space Florida President Frank DiBello’s travel costs at $11,200 and about $7,700 for Environmental Protection secretary Noah Valenstein.

Still, that’s not the grand total.

Other public officials who attended the trip, including Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz, also used public funds, though his department has not yet provided total cost estimates.

Additionally, four state representatives were on the trip, at least one of whom, Rep. Joseph Geller, used public funds, while Rep. Chris Sprowls did not, according to House spokesman Fred Piccolo. It’s still unclear how Reps. Chip LaMarca and Randy Fine financed their trip, as well as how much the members’ travel cost in total.