Lawsuit dismissed after Florida governor, Cabinet sued over plans to meet in Israel

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others meet with representatives of the company Rafael, a military and defense technologies development firm. (Photo: Jeffrey Schweers)

5:15 p.m. update: First Amendment Foundation direct Barbara Petersen said the complaint was dismissed because they weren’t able to serve the Governor and Cabinet members.

The group is filing for an emergency motion to reconsider, and if that fails they will amend the complaint to seek “declaratory relief” after the meeting takes place for a violation of the sunshine law.

Original story

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — An open-government watchdog group and several news outlets are suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and members of the Cabinet in an effort to stop their planned meeting in Jerusalem.

The First Amendment Foundation, Gannett Co., Gatehouse Media and the owners of the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times filed their lawsuit Tuesday, a day before DeSantis and the independently elected Cabinet are scheduled to meet during a trade mission in Israel. The Associated Press and other news outlets also plan to join the suit.

They argue that the meeting violates the state’s open-government laws, which require Cabinet meetings be accessible to the public. The governor’s office has said the meeting is ceremonial, but the groups suing contend that isn’t the case.

More: Economics intersect politics as Florida delegation arrives in Israel

Sitting in the lounge of the Hilton Tel Aviv following a networking reception for the nearly 100 business delegation members led by DeSantis at the U.S Ambassador’s residence, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and CFO Jimmy Patronis – two of the three members of the Cabinet – said they had heard about the lawsuit but refused to comment.

“I haven’t looked at the pleading,” Moody said.

When asked for his comment, Patronis nodded at Moody and said, “She’s my lawyer.”

Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried, the third member of the Cabinet, said the Cabinet has not yet been served but that it was her understanding that “the governor’s office is working to address the situation.”

“I just concluded a five-day trade mission to Israel on the front end of this Cabinet trip, a mission that was transparent and with accountability to the public and press,” said Fried. “It’s my hope that this ceremonial Cabinet meeting and trade mission will follow that spirit of accessibility.”

Hours earlier, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman thanked DeSantis for his efforts as a member of Congress to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“Israel has no greater friend in all the 50 governor mansions than Ron DeSantis,” Friedman said. “I welcome you and the Cabinet members and your delegation to this small but incredibly important country.”

DeSantis said this was his first visit to the residence because he was so focused on getting the embassy moved.

“Holding a meeting of the Florida Cabinet in the embassy in Jerusalem, that is going to be a real neat thing,” he told the crowd of delegates mingling with Israeli business leaders on the back lawn overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

More: Space and water take center stage on Day 3 of trade missions to Israel

Complete coverage: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ trip to Israel

The lawsuit was filed even as DeSantis and his director of communications Helen Ferre were discussing the logistics of the cabinet meeting and the signing of an antisemitism bill sponsored by Rep. Randy Fine of Melbourne Beach, who is part of the business delegation.

“I have not had a chance to review the filing. I am not going to comment on pending litigation at this time,” Ferre said.

This story will be updated.

Reporter Jeffrey Schweers, on behalf of the Florida Society of News Editors, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/28/florida-governor-cabinet-sued-over-plans-meet-israel/1266943001/

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.