R A W S A L E R T S
@rawsalerts
🚨#BREAKING: Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, is expected to face new federal criminal charges within the hour according to NBC
7:36 PM · Dec 7, 2023
https://twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/1732921962660241842
DeSantis Super PAC Cancels Donor Event Citing Waning Interest
Story by Nancy Cook •
1h
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/desantis-super-pac-cancels-donor-event-citing-waning-interest/ar-AA1layZs?ocid=socialshare&pc=EE04&cvid=509477399b774b8db105b395d7e202b4&ei=30
(Bloomberg) – The super political action committee backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid canceled a donor event this week due to a lack of interest from invitees, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest sign of the fresh tumult surrounding his 2024 run.
The group, Never Back Down, planned to hold a luncheon ahead of the fourth Republican primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama — the site of the forum — according to the people who requested anonymity to discuss the cancellation. About 3,000 people were invited to purchase tickets.
A $10,000 contribution would have given donors access to the lunch, where the governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, was scheduled to speak, as well as a ticket to the debate itself and an invite to a post-debate celebration with the governor, according to an invitation.
Days prior to Wednesday’s debate, Never Back Down decided to cancel the lunch. Scott Wagner, who leads the super PAC, cited a lack of interest as the explanation in his communication to the board, the people said.
One donor said he still attended an after-party following the debate, where the governor shook hands and took selfies with guests.
A spokesperson for Never Back Down did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wagner also did not respond to a request for comment.
Similar events in Miami around the November Republican debate raised roughly $1 million for the super PAC. Those included a dinner for roughly 70 people with DeSantis and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a lunch with DeSantis’ wife at the Mandarin Oriental, and a post-debate party for hundreds of donors.
The last-minute cancellation highlights DeSantis’ political struggles and signals a lack of enthusiasm among his financial backers. DeSantis entered the race as the best-funded and most buzzed about Republican alternative to former President Donald Trump, but infighting between his campaign and Never Back Down, overspending, and sliding poll numbers have dampened his momentum.
(cont'd)
The canceled event comes shortly after Never Back Down underwent a leadership shakeup, which resulted in three top officials departing the organization within weeks. Wagner, one of DeSantis’ closest allies and a Miami-based attorney, took over the group earlier this month. Phil Cox, who worked on the governor’s 2022 reelection campaign, also joined Never Back Down this week as a senior adviser.
With just weeks until the Iowa caucuses, the DeSantis campaign faces a challenge in convincing Republican voters to support the Florida governor. He has not been able to pry voters away from Trump’s strong grip on the base, and recently, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has eaten into DeSantis’ support in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Big DeSantis donors land on powerful government boards
Story by Jeffrey Schweers, Orlando Sentinel •
1w
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/big-desantis-donors-invest-in-government-being-good-to-them-watchdog-says/ar-AA1kIXSN
TALLAHASSEE — A company owned by Craig Mateer, an Orlando entrepreneur, GOP megadonor and gubernatorial appointee, was paid $75,000 in September to provide travel to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, federal campaign reports show.
That pales in comparison with the $1.6 million in travel expenses covered by a company associated with Scott Wagner, a South Florida lawyer and longtime friend of DeSantis who was reappointed to the South Florida Water Management District.
DeSantis has a well-documented track record of appointing big political donors to government positions where they preside over multimillion-dollar budgets, make spending and policy decisions, award contracts, and approve permits for development and water use.
“It’s exactly the kind of insider wheeling and dealing that goes on with our campaign finance system that should be illegal, but it’s not,” said Ben Wilcox, research director of the government watchdog group Integrity Florida.
DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern declined to comment, referring campaign-related questions to the governor’s presidential campaign. Campaign officials and Mateer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
An investigative report by the Miami Herald last October said DeSantis appointees raised more than $3 million to finance his reelection. The biggest donor at the time was Mateer at $400,000.
Since then, Mateer donated $1 million to the Republican Party of Florida in January. He donated the maximum allowed individual contribution of $6,600 to the governor’s presidential campaign. TMFB Management Services, a company he formed in June, received the two payments totaling $75,000 from the Ron DeSantis for President Committee.
Wagner surpassed that amount when he funneled $5.5 million to the DeSantis Never Back Down PAC through Faithful and Strong Policies Inc., which he set up in April. Weeks after he made the donation, DeSantis reappointed him to the South Florida Water Management District.
Quid pro quo behavior has become increasingly the norm under DeSantis, Wilcox said.
Two prime examples of it were the governor’s hand in taking over Disney’s special improvement district and New College of Florida, both with the Legislature’s help.
(cont'd)
DeSantis replaced the Reedy Creek Improvement District’s board of directors with his own political allies and renamed it the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
DeSantis also replaced the board of Trustees at New College with political supporters, who named Richard Corcoran, a former House speaker and Department of Education chief, as interim president with a $1.3 million a year salary package.
On Monday, DeSantis appointed Ashley Bell Barnett to the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the university system, after she donated the maximum amount of $6,600 to his presidential primary campaign and $20,000 to Never Back Down.
She is the daughter of state Rep. Melony Bell and daughter-in-law of former Publix Vice President Hoyt Barnett and the late Carol Jenkins Barnett. The latter is the daughter of Publix founder George Jenkins.
Other political appointees who have donated money or provided transportation to DeSantis campaigns include Daytona Beach developer Mori Hosseini, a longtime supporter of DeSantis who donated the maximum individual amount of $6,600 to his primary campaign, in addition to $1 million donated by four of his companies to Never Back Down, which can accept unlimited amounts of money from individuals or businesses.
DeSantis appointed Hosseini to the University of Florida Board of Trustees.
First Coast Energy, one of the largest distributors of Shell gasoline in the United States and a major donor to DeSantis’ reelection campaign, gave Never Back Down $350,000. First Coast CEO Aubrey Edge and his wife each gave DeSantis the maximum $6,600 allowed for the primary.
DeSantis appointed Edge to the Board of Governors in 2020.
Mateer, who attended Florida State University on a basketball scholarship, is the founder and CEO of CCM Capital Group, a provider of hospitality, real estate and logistics services.
He also founded the luggage handling business Bags Inc., which he sold for $275 million in 2018 after 30 years of owning it.
DeSantis named Mateer to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority in March 2021 and to the Florida Board of Governors a year later.
“These corporate donors are making investments in politicians, hoping for something in return,” Wilcox said. “They may be ideologically simpatico with the candidate but it goes with the basic desire to gain some position or contract.
“They’re not investing in good government but in government being good to them,” Wilcox said.
Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
The Daily Show providing us with Ron Desantis’s internal thoughts.
From
The Daily Show
7:39 PM · Dec 7, 2023
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1732922689650622819
Just a little fun fact…looks like Haley spoke for 17 min last night
"CNN says this is the timing of the stage: Vivek got 22 minutes, DeSantis 21, Haley 17 Christie 16 and 52 seconds. So he was a half a minute behind Haley, who's tied up there for number one."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/megyn-kelly-reveals-why-chris-christie-got-up-in-my-grill-during-viral-debate-tantrum-he-was-pissed-video/ar-AA1lav2a?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=bc444fb7a59641eebc8682aacc387257&ei=9
Is there no one in here to clean up this porn?