The conflict between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) escalated into an investigation of the Governor’s office on Thursday. Just days after DeSantis designated the civil rights group a “foreign terrorist organization,” CAIR filed a sweeping public records request demanding to know if the Governor coordinated the move with the Israeli government.
The request, filed under Florida’s broad “Sunshine Law,” seeks to uncover any collaboration between the DeSantis administration, Israeli officials, and what CAIR describes as “anti-Muslim hate groups.”
RELATED: CAIR Vows Legal Battle After Florida Gov. DeSantis Designates Group As ‘Terror Organization’
Hunting for ‘Foreign Influence’
The records request targets all communications—including encrypted messages, texts, and call logs—from January 1, 2025, to the present. The group is specifically looking for discussions involving Executive Order 25-244, as well as keywords like “Sharia law,” “Muslims,” and the terror designation itself.
Robert S. McCaw, CAIR’s Director of Government Affairs, accused the Governor of operating under foreign influence rather than state interest.
“The people of Florida and the broader public have a right to know whether Governor DeSantis collaborated with a foreign government or hate groups to launch his unconstitutional and defamatory attack,” McCaw said in a statement Thursday. “Ron DeSantis has a long history of close collaboration with… officials who have spent years trying to silence American Muslims.”
A Multi-Pronged Counteroffensive
This legal maneuver follows a formal letter CAIR sent to the Governor’s office earlier in the week, in which the group “debunked” the claims linking them to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
In that correspondence, CAIR labeled the Governor’s order an “Israel First political stunt.” They argued DeSantis has a track record of prioritizing foreign interests, citing his decision to host cabinet meetings in Israel and divert Florida taxpayer money to purchase Israeli bonds.
The public records request explicitly seeks to validate these suspicions by obtaining communications with:
- Representatives of the Government of Israel.
- A specific list of “Israel First advocacy groups.”
- Various “anti-Muslim advocates.”
READ: Florida Rep. Byron Donalds Slams Democrats, Pitches $750 Billion Spending Cut Plan
Legal and Political Fallout
CAIR has already confirmed plans to sue Florida in federal court, mirroring a lawsuit currently underway against Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who issued a similar order in November.
While DeSantis has directed state agencies to cut off resources to CAIR to “stop the creep of Sharia law,” the group argues these orders are legally void. By utilizing Florida’s Chapter 119 public records statutes, CAIR aims to drag the internal deliberations of the Governor’s inner circle into the public eye, promising to release their findings to the media immediately upon receipt.
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