06/26/2024
Late last year, VDARE.com reported on explosive claims made by Florida attorney Augustus Invictus against Governor and then-Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Invictus claimed that DeSantis’ newly installed State Attorney Andrew Bain had improperly targeted some of his clients under a new unconstitutional anti–free speech law which DeSantis signed during a campaign-season trip to Israel.
At the time Invictus, who represents four people who allegedly took part in an antisemitic demonstration in Orlando in June 2023, accused the State’s Attorney of a pattern of “clearly unforgivable… absolutely unconscionable“ behavior with regard to the case. He accused the office of bad-faith antics such as a lack of cooperation with defendants’ attempt to surrender to law enforcement, lack of providing written charges as required, and even targeting Invictus’ ex-wife by interrogating her and firing her from her job as a paralegal at the Office of the State Attorney.
Last week, new allegations were made against DeSantis which pertain directly to the charges against Invictus’ clients. On Wednesday 19 June 2024, Shane Desguin, formerly of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, filed a whistleblower lawsuit claiming he was forced to resign for defying various illegal orders by DeSantis, including the order to arrest Invictus’ clients.
DeSantis insider reveals what the press has been reporting about the governor for years now. He’s hiding public information and staging political stunts. https://t.co/3gaEchutjA
— Mark Skoneki (@markskon) June 21, 2024
According to the Orlando Sentinel:
… Desguin said he was told by DeSantis aides that the governor needed some arrests at a neo-Nazi demonstration in Orlando, but he responded that FDLE could not arrest demonstrators who were “participating in a First Amendment protected activity.”
Despite raising those concerns, the governor’s staff insisted — “DeSantis was running for President at the time,” the lawsuit says — and FDLE agents made some arrests.
Whistleblower accuses FDLE Commissioner, DeSantis of retaliation, wrongful termination, June 24, 2024
If Desguin’s claims are true, they would seem to indicate that Presidential hopeful DeSantis targeted Invictus’ four clients with criminal charges to please his Zionist donors with prosecutions under his newly signed anti-Semitism bill, despite being advised by the FDLE that such charges would be unconstitutional. In response to this new information, Invictus has filed a motion requesting to depose Governor Ron DeSantis and State Attorney Andrew Bain, as well as several other top Florida officials.
Previous depositions of law enforcement agents Officer Jim Franquiz of the FDLE and Detective Pappas of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office further bolster the theory that the arrests were the result of politically motivated directives from higher levels of authority. Invictus’ motion states that “neither Franquiz nor Pappas could explain how the case came to be with the FDLE in Tallahassee at all.“ Furthermore, Pappas explained that “Defendants were not arrested on the day of the alleged incident by him or anyone else because no one in criminal intelligence interpreted HB 269 to include the conduct of Defendants.“
Invictus argues that his clients are facing unjust prosecution for reasons that go far beyond their actual alleged conduct. “This case is not about flag-waving but about antisemitism and the political ambitions of the Governor and State Attorney, Defendants will be blacklisted for life upon conviction, just as many students, professors, and activists have discovered over the past several months in other cases … “
These prosecutions also have implications far beyond the future of the four defendants — though injustice against them would be enough reason for outrage. The motion continues, “this matter is of national and historical importance. If State Attorney Bain is successful in prosecuting Defendants, Governor DeSantis and Representative Fine are ipso facto successful in legitimizing the unconstitutional law HB269 and outlawing antisemitism in Florida.“
It is unsurprising that the right to free speech has been challenged by Leftists, as with the outrageous prosecutions of Charlottesville torch-marchers for felonies, and the trumped-up charges against peaceful J6 demonstrators. In this case, supposed conservative hero Ron DeSantis is attempting to normalize prosecutions for actions which are clearly protected by First Amendment.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.