click to enlarge 
Screenshot via Nikki Fried/Twitter
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried accuse
d says that current Governor Ron DeSantis squeezed campaign donations out of sitting state university trustees, threatening their position unless they donated $100,000 to his re-election campaign.
The serious allegation came in a night of complaints against the governor from people affiliated with the state university system. At a town hall on education organized by the United Faculty of Florida union, speakers railed against reports that the state has
stifled testimony from professors in ongoing cases and pressured researchers to
destroy COVID-19 data.
Gubernatorial candidate Fried took things a step further, accusing the current governor of engaging in blackmail.
“I don’t know if this is as public. You all should know,” Fried said, per Florida Politics. “Our current boards of trustees across the state were required to give a campaign contribution to Ron DeSantis in the amount of $100,000. And if they didn’t give him the campaign contribution, they were not reappointed to the boards. That is what we are dealing with here in the state of Florida with this Governor.”
While governor appointees are frequently sourced from among their donors, the heavy-handed approach Fried is accusing DeSantis of taking rises beyond an exchange of political favors.
DeSantis' spokesperson Christina Pushaw called Fried's allegation a "baseless conspiracy theory" in a statement to
Orlando Weekly.
"The names of trustees appointed by Governor DeSantis are all publicly available. Likewise, all campaign donations are publicly reported and searchable by name. Any journalist could do basic research to confirm that there are members of the UF board of trustees who have not made any donations," she said. "This fact alone proves that Fried is not telling the truth, and to be honest, it should not have to be confirmed by our office when this is all easily available information that anyone with an internet connection can see for themselves."
–
Stay on top of Central Florida news and views with our weekly newsletters, and consider supporting this free publication. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you Central Florida news, and every little bit helps.
