DeSantis Was Directly Behind Ominous Threats To TV Channels Over Pro-Choice Ads, Former Official Says

Source: Huff Post

Oct 21, 2024, 03:22 PM EDT


The general counsel for Florida’s Department of Health, John Wilson, resigned earlier this month — and new court records show it was because he was uncomfortable sending threats on behalf of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to TV stations for airing pro-choice political advertisements.

A sworn affidavit from Wilson revealed on Monday that DeSantis deputies personally wrote the threats to news channels and directed Wilson to send them out under his name. Wilson said he received the drafted cease-and-desist letters the morning of Oct. 3, 2024, and that he signed and sent them out later that day.

“I did not draft the letters or participate in any discussions about the letters prior to October 3, 2024,” Wilson wrote. He resigned a week later “in lieu of complying with directives from [DeSantis’ attorneys] to send out further correspondence to the media outlets, similar to the October 3, 2024, letters,” he wrote in the affidavit. Wilson wrote that DeSantis’ general counsel and deputy general counsel directed him to send the letters in his name. (Scroll all the way down to read Wilson’s full affidavit.)

Wilson hinted when he resigned that the threats to TV stations were part of his decision. “A man is nothing without his conscience. It has become clear in recent days that I cannot join you on the road that lies before this Agency,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-desantis-threats-tv-channels-pro-choice-abortion-ads_n_67169d54e4b011ffe5177377