From Tampa Bay Times:
Republicans sue Jolly, Dems and TV stations over Hope Florida grand jury ads
The Republican Party of Florida is suing the state Democratic Party, candidate for governor David Jolly and other politicians to stop atelevision ad that mentions a grand jury's findings about Hope Florida.
The court filing out of Highlands County accuses television stations of breaking the law by airing Democratic candidates' ad focusing on the jury's report, which was leaked to CBS Miami and published in August. An appeals court on Oct. 7 ordered the report expunged, saying it was irresponsibly distributed by State Attorney Jack Campbell's office and the jury's findings were incorrect.
The jury said $10 million in public funds from a Medicaid settlementwere "misused for political purposes" in fighting a 2024 ballot measure aimed at legalizing recreational marijuana. First District Court of Appeal Judge Lance Neff, appointedto the seat byGov. Ron DeSantis after the grand jury report was written, authoredthe majority opinion thatruled the millions were "never public money" and lambasted the grand juryreportas being riddled with flaws, including typos.
The party's lawsuit, filed Friday night, addresses the impact the ad could have on the upcoming election.
"RPOF(the Republican Party of Florida) will suffer irreparable harm absent a temporary injunction," the lawsuit says. "Vote-by-mail ballots are already in voters' hands, and early voting starts in many counties as soon as Monday."
A couple ofcandidates named in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. That includes Jolly, a former Republican who is running for governor as a Democrat. The suit says eachnamed candidate approved the ad, which is airing across multiple TV stations.
The Florida Democratic Party said in a news release the case has no standing and that Republicans are trying to get a judge to remove the ads before Democratic lawyers can respond in court.
"Every time Floridians get closer to the truth about Hope Florida, Republicans find another way to bury it," Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried wrote.
Michael Sasso, counsel for the RepublicanParty, cited andechoed the appellate court ruling, saying the grand jury report and ads are "wrong on the law and unsupported by the facts" and that "repeating them by broadcast is a crime under Florida law." The court filing says publishing material from the report is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.
Among the candidates the party is suing is Democrat Annette Taddeo, who is running for Florida chief financial officer against GOP incumbent Blaise Ingoglia.
"I called for an investigation into who authorized those payments a month ago," Taddeo wrote in an email to the Times. "Now, the Republican Party of Florida, which Ingoglia used to chair, has gone to court to pull an ad off the air before anyone can respond, and is threatening to prosecute TV stations for airing it. That should outrage every Floridian."
The ad linked to the suit criticizes Attorney General James Uthmeier specifically.
A leaked grand jury report found taxpayer money was quietly moved into a dark money political committee that James Uthmeier controlled," the ad says. It shows Uthmeier in front of a black background with his hands on stacks of cash.
The suit names Jose Javier Rodriguez, who is running against Uthmeierfor attorney general.
The lawsuit also targets Fox Television Stations LLC and other communications companies in Tampa Bay and across Florida. Judge Heather Beato, appointed by DeSantis to the 10th Judicial Circuit in 2020, is overseeing the case, a court docket shows.
In 2024, as DeSantis' administration fought against a proposed abortion access amendment, the Department of Health sent cease-and-desist letters to Florida TV stations, demanding they take down an ad in favor of the abortion proposal. The state threatened prosecution if the television stations didn't comply.
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the administration, allowing the ads to continue. He dismissed the case after the election.
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