Ron DeSantis Hiding His Travel Records Sparks Outrage: 'How Is This Legal?'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been criticized for signing a bill into law which will block his travel arrangements, and how much he has spent on them, from becoming public.

DeSantis signed SB 1616 along with 36 other bills into law on Thursday which will prevent law enforcement from sharing details about the governor's trips, including the mode of transport or who was traveling with him.

The law will also protect the travel arrangement for people "for whom such services are requested by the governor," from Florida's public records laws, meaning trips not directly involving DeSantis may still be shielded.

DeSantis, who is expected to soon announce he is running for president, said the law was necessary to protect him. The new law will also be applied retrospectively to previous trips.

"With the security situation, how you do patterns of movements if you're somebody that is targeted—which unfortunately I am, and I get a lot of threats—that could be something that could be helpful for people that may not want to do good things," DeSantis said during a press briefing in early May.

The law has also been criticized as a way for DeSantis to protect himself from scrutiny ahead of his expected presidential campaign.

The law was also signed after questions were raised as to who paid for DeSantis' recent trip to Israel via chartered jet, which was not listed in the governor's political committee campaign finance report. The governor's office said no taxpayer money was spent on the flights, reported Politico.

"How is this legal," tweeted reporter K.L. Connie Wang in response to a CNN article detailing DeSantis signing the law blocking his travel plans becoming public record.

Ben Diamond, a former Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, tweeted: "Floridians' hard earned taxpayer dollars should not go to pay for Ron DeSantis's campaign junkets. But we will never know now that his legislative cronies made his travel records retroactively exempt from public disclosure. Outrageous!"

Sherrilyn Ifill, lawyer and former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said: "This is truly terrible & should have everyone alarmed. The man who wishes to be president has signed a law passed by a gerrymandered Republican supermajority, that shields from public scrutiny, records of his use of the state jet & other travel records. The law is retroactive."

Ben Wilcox, research director and co-founder of the good government organization Integrity Florida, also suggested DeSantis' argument the bill needed for his protection is questionable as it will be applied retroactively too.

"It strains credulity to suggest that hiding travel records could somehow prevent a security breach in the future," Wilcox told Insider. "His position is that the public should know how taxpayer money is being spent to fund the trips, particularly because DeSantis's official stops—on everything from signing a bill into law to announcing new funding—often mimic campaign events with DeSantis ticking off his accomplishments or attacking President Joe Biden.

"How else can we know whether the travel was an appropriate use of public funds and hold those responsible accountable?"

House Democratic Caucus Leader Fentrice Driskell previously said in a statement that DeSantis "should resign as governor and go back to being a private citizen" if he does not want his travel records to be public.

"As long as he's in office, he should be open and honest about where he's going, when, and who is with him. Floridians have a right to know what their governor is doing, and that includes these travel details," Driskell said.

When asked about the bill once it cleared Florida's Legislature, DeSantis said the legislation is "not necessarily something that I came up with" but that it was necessary for his safety as he is a frequent target of threats.

Florida Republican state Representative Jeff Holcomb also agreed the bill was just about safety and security for political figures.

"This bill is necessary because our senior state officials receive threats and death threats all of the time," Holcomb said.

DeSantis' office has been contacted for comment via email.