State of Texas denied involvement with the flight
The Florida Center for Government Accountability submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Abbott’s office.
In an email to KSAT, the Florida Center for Government Accountability said, “Those records indicated that Mr. (James) Uthmeier was introducing Mr. (Larry) Keefe to Luis Saenz (Gov. Abbott’s Chief of Staff) as the point of contact for Gov. DeSantis.”
Public records released by Governor Ron DeSantis’ office last week show screenshots of texts between Uthmeier and Keefe.
Later that evening, Uthmeier followed up with, “Texas is aware of Dash, FYI. No worries here.”
DeSantis’ office now faces multiple lawsuits. Documents suggest they anticipated a legal battle. According to HB 5001 Section 182, “The nonrecurring sum of $1,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund is appropriated to the Department of State for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, for litigation.”