DeSantis staff blocked records, retaliated against those who wanted to release them, ex-FDLE officers say

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Two former Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers said staffers of Gov. Ron DeSantis retaliated against those who favored the release of records regarding taxpayer-funded travel, according to a new court filing.

The filing was made as part of a lawsuit brought by the Washington Post over the state’s new law regarding travel records.

The sworn statements were submitted in the Leon County Circuit Court, and were first reported by the Washington Post. The filing comes days after the governor’s office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit “for lack of standing and failure to state a claim.”

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The Washington Post claims Florida’s new law shielding the governor’s travel records is unconstitutional, and that citizens have a right to know how their tax dollars are spent on DeSantis’ travel.

Shane Desguin, who joined the FDLE in 2005 and remained there until he was forced to retire in November 2023, said in his sworn statement that an extra layer of review by the governor’s office of public records requests delayed the release of the records.

“One cause of FDLE’s delay in timely compliance with public records requests was a requirement by the Executive Office of the Governor (EOG) that it review and decide FDLE’s response to certain public records requests made to FDLE, including EOG deciding what records of FDLE would or would not be disclose (sic) to requesters,” Desguin said. “For example, EOG would regularly insist that FDLE inform it of public records requests relating to state-funded travel for Governor Ron DeSantis, requests that were submitted by press outlets including the Washington Post, and requests otherwise involving the Governor that staff at EOG would deem to be of interest.”

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The governor’s office “insisted” that staff were given copies of records request responses so that they could be reviewed before they were released, Desguin said.

“This extra layer of review often unquestionably delayed FDLE’s ability to timely respond to public records request,” he said. “The EOG’s review of FDLE records would regularly take weeks or longer, and because FDLE had been directed not to release records under EOG’s review unless until that review was complete, FDLE was often delayed from producing public records for the sole reason that they were under review at the EOG.”

At the center of the lawsuit is a bill that lawmakers passed shortly before DeSantis announced his presidential campaign. The lawmakers said releasing the travel records presented a safety and security risk, which Desguin questioned.

Citing his more than 30 years in law enforcement, he said disclosing those records “would not have threatened the safety of the Governor, his family, others to whom FDLE provides transportation and security services, or FDLE personnel who provide those services,” according to the filing.

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“Disclosure of those records, in my view, would allow the public to understand how their tax dollars are used in provision of important public services,” he said.

Days after an October 2023 meeting regarding the records request from the Washington Post, Desguin said that his suggestion to promote Janine Robinson, an FDLE attorney, was denied. The promotion would have allowed her to help carry out public records requests and address the backlog.

The Washington Post said Robinson had promised the travel records would be released before DeSantis’ office got involved.

Former FDLE Deputy Chief of Staff Patricia Carpenter also made a sworn statement.

Carpenter said she believed the promotion was denied because Robinson had an argument about which records would be released, according to the filing.

“I remained convinced, however, that if FDLE was to begin seriously addressing its backlog of public records requests, Ms. Robinson needed to be promoted and be able to implement a new unit structure with the appropriate resources and funding,” Carpenter said in her statement.

Because of that, Carpenter said she sent an email authorizing Robinson’s promotion, according to the filing. Later, she learned Desguin was told to withdraw the promotion.

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“It was clear to me that EOG would not let FDLE promote one of its own lawyers, no matter how important Ms. Robinson was to FDLE’s ability to comply with public record’s laws, and no matter what we intended to pay her,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said she was then placed on administrative leave and knew that Desguin was walked out of the office the same day as her after he was forced to retire.

“Based on my conversations with him at the time, I believed that his retirement was under duress and threat of termination,” she said.

Carpenter returned from her leave and sent an email expressing her displeasure with the retaliation against Robinson. Three days later, she was fired, she said in the filing.

WFLA.com reached out to the governor’s office after business hours for comment on the allegations. The governor’s office previously declined to comment to the Washington Post, but directed the outlet to previous court filings that called the records requests a “fishing expedition.”

A hearing is scheduled for April 10, according to court records.

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