Watchdog Alleges DeSantis Campaign Illegally Coordinated with Super PAC

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gestures as he speaks during the fourth Republican presidential primary debate at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Dec. 6, 2023. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

A non-profit campaign watchdog group has accused 2024 presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of breaking campaign finance laws that prohibit coordination between candidates and super PACs.

According to a Dec. 18 complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) accused Gov. DeSantis of making direct requests or suggestions to the super PAC “Never Back Down” (NBD) regarding its activities as part of an alleged coordination scheme.

Federal campaign finance laws prohibit political campaigns from working directly in cooperation, consultation, or concert with super PACs. This includes candidates requesting or suggesting where, when, and how a super PAC airs its political communications.

The CLC claims this is precisely what the DeSantis campaign has done while the DeSantis campaign and NBD have denied any attempts by the governor to influence the super PAC.

The complaint was based on a report by The Associated Press citing unnamed sources described as “familiar with DeSantis’ political network.” The sources alleged that Gov. DeSantis and his wife had made known their displeasure that NBD was no longer airing ads criticizing former U.N. Ambassador and fellow 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley. The sources then claimed that members of the DeSantis campaign relayed the displeasure to the NBD staffers in charge of strategic decision-making. It was not said whether Mr. DeSantis intended for his displeasure to be communicated.

Among the other accusations being leveled at Gov. DeSantis by the CLC are that NBD has “coordinated its activity with and made illegal in-kind contributions to DeSantis’s campaign” for months. It’s also alleged that the super PAC has been raising funds beyond federal contribution limits.

“While Never PAC appears to have routinely made in-kind contributions to and coordinated with DeSantis and his campaign, it has also raised well over $130 million from fewer than 200 reported contributions,” the CLC complaint says.

“Coordination between a super PAC and a presidential candidate undermines the independence that federal courts and the Commission have made clear is an essential, legal requirement that super PACs must abide as a condition of their ability to raise and spend unlimited sums of money on federal elections.”

The CLC has also lodged campaign finance complaints against groups associated with two other GOP 2024 candidates: a committee backing former President Donald Trump and a super PAC backing former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

A ‘Partisan Agenda’

In a statement to The Epoch Times, NBD Chairman Scott Wagner denied that the super PAC had broken any law and questioned the CLC’s motives and the reliability of anonymous Associated Press report on which the complaint is based.

“Never Back Down fully complies with the law, and will continue to do so as we work to help elect Gov. DeSantis, our next President,” he said.

“The Campaign Legal Center has a partisan agenda against Ron DeSantis and their allegations—based on anonymous sources in reporting—are completely false.”

There does not appear to be a lawsuit or federal complaint alleging that the DeSantis campaign has broken any law.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Andrew Romeo, the DeSantis campaign communications director, denied the allegations were true. In his view, the complaint is “baseless,” and he argued it was just an attempt by political opponents to smear Gov. DeSantis ahead of the 2024 election.

“This baseless complaint is just another example of how the Left is terrified of Ron DeSantis and will stoop to anything to stop him. They have tried in the past and failed, and they will fail again this time,” Mr. Romeo said.

“The FEC has made clear they won’t take action based upon unverified rumors and innuendo, and that’s the false information this politically motivated complaint is based on,” he added.

Super PACs can accept unlimited donations, including from unions, associations, and corporations, to advocate for or criticize political candidates. However, they are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates, and their spending must not be coordinated with the candidates. Candidates are also barred from controling a super PAC.

Never Back Down founder Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general, when asked by The Associated Press, said that he personally had not felt any pressure from the DeSantis’s about the super PAC’s strategy.

According to the CLC complaint, the “independence of independent expenditures was a central consideration in the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which first opened the door to permit the operation of super PACs.”

Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at CLC, told The Associated Press that by violating laws against collusion, super PACS essentially lose all independence and become part of the political campaign.

“That circumvents federal contribution limits and reporting requirements, and gives the super PAC’s special interest backers, including corporations and ultra-wealthy individuals, a concerning level of influence over elected officials and policymaking,” Mr. Ghosh said.

Mr. DeSantis now has 15 days to respond to the complaint before the FEC’s general counsel reviews it and makes a recommendation to its six-member bipartisan commission.

The Epoch Times has contacted a representative for Never Back Down for further comment.

This report has been updated with further comments from the DeSantis campaign.