TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Donald Trump’s allies are stepping up their battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, formally accusing him of violating state ethics and election laws with his “shadow presidential campaign.”
Make America Great Again Inc. is filing a 15-page complaint Wednesday with the Florida Commission on Ethics, a draft of which was obtained exclusively by NBC News.
It asks the commission to probe whether pro-DeSantis super PACs, his "personally lucrative book tour" and a continued wave of state-level campaign contributions, among other things, "are unlawful because they serve his personal political objectives, are in furtherance of his personal financial gain at the expense of Florida taxpayers, and are intended to influence his official decision to resign from office."
Since Trump announced in November that he is again running for president, he has grown more publicly hostile toward DeSantis, a former political protégé now expected to be his chief rival in the Republican primaries. That includes branding DeSantis with Trump's trademark nicknames and trying to frame him as a political moderate out of step with the GOP base.
But the complaint is the first time Trump’s supporters have elevated the feud from campaign trail rhetoric to a formal legal fight.
"Adding this to the list of frivolous and politically motivated attacks — it's inappropriate to use state ethics for partisan purposes," said Taryn Fenske, DeSantis' communications director.
Trump’s allies face a tall order in getting the commission to investigate DeSantis, considering he appointed five of the nine members.
In theory, if he did face penalties, they could include fines, public censure, ballot disqualification, removal from office or impeachment.
The draft complaint details steps DeSantis has taken in recent months that appear to orchestrate a coming presidential bid.
DeSantis is widely expected to run for president but has not yet formally announced. The complaint alleges, however, that he has already checked all the boxes for someone considering a run for the White House, including making stops in early primary states; writing a book (his is titled “The Courage to Be Free”); raising tens of millions of dollars to go into a state-level committee that could be transferred to a federal super PAC; and watching a constellation of supporter-led super PACs and an outside nonprofit group pop up, some with the stated intention of getting DeSantis to run for president.