Congressional Democrats claim DeSantis' elections police unit, FDLE is unconstitutional: What we know

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation to spin up a Florida law enforcement agency called the Office of Election Crimes and Security (OECS). On Wednesday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee called for an investigation into the agency.

Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Sheila Jackson of Texas and Glenn Ivey of Maryland wrote a letter to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. The letter deems DeSantis' use of federal funding for the special statewide police force "unconstitutional" and "improper."

"We cannot be good stewards of taxpayer dollars by funding a law enforcement arm that is being weaponized for a single governor's personal political purposes," Rep. Ivey wrote. "Whether it is seeking to disenfranchise voters, violate civil liberties, or dig up political dirt, the FDLE under Governor DeSantis's direction requires oversight by this Committee."

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The overarching theme of the complaints submitted by the Democratic representatives is that DeSantis' use of his election crimes task force and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is unconstitutional across the board.

"Governor DeSantis has reportedly directed the police agency to act in furtherance of his political agenda," Ivey wrote in the letter. "In 2022, the governor launched a voting fraud unit that enlisted the help of FDLE, despite pushback from the agency that there was insufficient fraud to justify enlisting full-time agents in the effort."

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Ivey's letter goes on to say that DeSantis' effort to snuff out voter fraud was motivated by his alleged desire to stop those most likely to vote against him.

"In a statewide election of over 10 million voters, a so-called sweep resulted in the arrest of only 20 Floridians who unknowingly voted while ineligible, in part because election officials had approved their applications and mailed them registration cards," the letter says. "Six of the cases have been dismissed so far, and none of the 20 led to any jail time."

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DeSantis team responded by saying Rep. Ivey is 'More concerned with DeSantis … Than he is about doing his job'

The request for an investigation also referred to DeSantis' use of state police to patrol the country's southwest border in search of undocumented migrants as unconstitutional.

"FDLE agents even played a role in the Governor's politically charged order on Sept. 14, 2022, to fly migrants crossing the border in San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on false promises of housing, cash assistance, and jobs meant for refugees," the letter said.

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The governor's only response to the letter was by way of his press secretary, who sent the following statement to an Axios reporter.

"(Ivey) is more concerned with Governor DeSantis doing his job — protecting Floridians, upholding the law, ensuring Florida’s elections are safe and fair, securing our Southern Border from drug cartels that have brought enough fentanyl into America to kill nearly 70% of our nation’s population — than he is about doing his job in DC."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Has DeSantis politicized his election crimes unit and FDLE?