End Citizens United (ECU) today filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Governor Ron DeSantis and Never Back Down PAC. The complaint is centered around the $82.5 million DeSantis transferred from his state PAC to the super PAC backing his presidential campaign.
“Ron DeSantis’s transfer of these funds is a flagrant and egregious violation of federal law. These rules are designed to safeguard against undue influence over elected officials and outright corruption,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “Every corporation and billionaire that contributed to this fund will, at the very least, attempt to exert influence over DeSantis if he emerges victorious in the election. This is a major cause for concern for any candidate, but especially a prominent presidential candidate. We urge the FEC to immediately launch an investigation into DeSantis’ corruput scheme and hold him accountable.”
The Violation:
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Ron DeSantis originally established a State Committee, “Friends of DeSantis,” in anticipation of his gubernatorial campaign, but he continued to finance, maintain, and control it while he was testing the waters as a federal candidate.
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According to public reports, DeSantis raised millions of dollars for the State Committee while he was testing the waters for a federal candidacy.
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The transfer of soft money from Friends of DeSantis to Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting DeSantis’s presidential campaign, occurred as per his direction after he became a federal candidate.
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During that same period, Friends of DeSantis pre-planned a transfer of funds to Never Back Down PAC. When the Friends of DeSantis followed through on DeSantis’s apparent instruction, it was operating under his “authority or ability to direct or participate in the governance of the entity through” at the least, “informal practices or procedure[s]”—and it did so after DeSantis became a federal candidate.
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Additionally, Friends of DeSantis continued to (until May 5, 2023, when DeSantis appeared to attempt to disaffiliate from his committee) have overlapping staff with the State Committee—both the Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer—indicating a potential ongoing relationship between candidate DeSantis and the State Committee.
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Taken together, these facts suggest that the State Committee was financed, maintained, or controlled by candidate Ron DeSantis at the time that the transfer was made.
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Mr. DeSantis appears to have attempted to circumvent federal law by having the State Committee change its officers, the committee’s name, and the website within days of his presidential campaign announcement.
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The nominal separation was less than a month before the committee established by Ron DeSantis—into which Ron DeSantis raised millions of dollars while testing the waters to run for president—decided to transfer those millions of dollars to a Ron DeSantis-focused Super PAC.
Click here to read the complaint.
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