Florida's child welfare agency sent a letter to the Orlando Sentinel telling it to "cease and desist" its reporting on foster families for a story about a nonprofit associated with first lady Casey DeSantis that is the subject of an investigation.
The Orlando Sentinel received the letter Friday from the state Department of Children and Families, whose top official is appointed by the governor.
The letter claimed that the newspaper's Tallahassee reporter contacted foster families and used threats to coerce them into making negative statements about the Hope Florida Foundation, a separate nonprofit support organization for the first lady's signature initiative, Hope Florida.
READ MORE: Gov. DeSantis says there's 'no basis' for Hope Florida investigation
"Cease and desist the above-described intimidation of these families," the DCF letter said.
Orlando Sentinel Executive Editor Roger Simmons said the agency's characterization of the reporter's conduct was "completely false."
The yet-to-be-published story was looking into grants distributed by Hope Florida to organizations, families and individuals, according to the Sentinel.
"We stand by our stories and reject the state's attempt to chill free speech and encroach on our First Amendment right to report on an important issue," Simmons said in an email.
DCF, a state agency that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversees, didn't provide an immediate response to a Monday inquiry about the letter.
DCF posted the cease-and-desist letter on social media Friday, saying Hope Florida had supported foster families with donations to repair homes following last year's hurricanes.
Clay Calvert, a law professor emeritus at the University of Florida and nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, described the letter as an attempt to intimidate the Sentinel in what is known as prior restraint, efforts that typically are unconstitutional.
If he were the Sentinel's attorney, Calvert said, he would tell DCF "to go pound sand."
"DCF can send all the cease-and-desist letters it wants, but the Sentinel isn't obligated to follow any of them," he said. "This is really trying to silence any negative coverage before it comes out."
Prosecutors in Tallahassee have opened an investigation related to the Hope Florida Foundation. A public records custodian in the office of Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jack Campbell confirmed the existence of "an open, ongoing investigation" last month in response to a records request from The Associated Press. The investigation was first reported by the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times.
State lawmakers in the governor's own party have been scrutinizing Hope Florida and its nonprofit foundation, which gave $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement to two nonprofits. Those groups in turn gave millions to a political committee chaired by the governor's then-chief of staff that campaigned against a failed referendum on recreational marijuana.
In April, Republican state Rep. Alex Andrade wrapped up the investigation he had been spearheading into Hope Florida, saying he would leave the rest of the inquiry to "the FBI and Department of Justice," though there is no public evidence that either federal is doing so.
Andrade has alleged that the flow of funds from the foundation to the nonprofits and on to the political committees amounts to "conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud."
The governor has dismissed Andrade's investigation as a politically motivated smear against his wife, whom he's floated as his potential successor when he terms out in 2026.
