Free Republic

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday defended a state agency’s involvement with a $10 million donation to a charity founded by his wife as a “cherry on top” deal using funds from a settlement between the agency and the state’s largest Medicaid contractor. State law mandates that money from the settlement be put in a trust fund or a general fund under legislative oversight. DeSantis called the settlement “100% appropriate”

Proposed Florida defamation legislation would make it easier for leftwing lawyers to sue conservative media into oblivion. It could also prevent vital anonymous sources from coming forward with information. If passed, HB 757, reports the Tallahassee Democrat, will “creat[e] a presumption that anyone publishing a false statement that relied on an anonymous source, acted with ‘actual malice,’ a key legal hurdle for public figures to win defamation lawsuits.” At the time of publication, the House bill’s sponsor, Pensacola Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, had not returned The Federalist’s request for comment. Actual malice is a legal hurdle public figures must over...