Campaign Legal Center Files Supplemental Complaint Against Governor Ron DeSantis for Newly Uncovered Trips

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) previously filed a complaint against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for failing to disclose gifts of travel he received from a nonprofit as required by Florida’s ethics laws. Since then, CLC has learned of more undisclosed plane travel that Governor DeSantis took from wealthy special interests going as far back as 2018. CLC’s Kedric Payne—Vice President, General Counsel, and Senior Director of Ethics—released the following statement in response to this new development:  

“Floridians have a right to know and be assured that their elected officials are acting in the public’s best interest. Government officials complying with the state’s transparency laws is essential for maintaining public trust in these institutions, and with our democracy as a whole.  

Building upon our previous action from July, Campaign Legal Center has filed a supplemental complaint against Governor Ron DeSantis for failing to report at least eight previously undisclosed plane trips in 2018. Under Florida law, state government officials like Gov. DeSantis are required to report travel gifts costing over $100 to the Florida Ethics Commission by the last day of each calendar quarter.  

Despite Gov. DeSantis’s political ambitions at the national level, he is still bound by state ethics laws in Florida. His failure to report these trips, paid for by wealthy special interests, is a clear violation of the law and risks eroding public trust. We urge the Florida Commission on Ethics to investigate past and present omissions by Gov. DeSantis to report plane trips he received as gifts.”