The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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DeSantis drops the hammer on Cory Mills days before Florida GOP primary

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BS BULLETIN

  • Ron DeSantis publicly declared, “I do not support Cory Mills,” just days before Florida’s Aug. 18 Republican primary.
  • Mills still has Trump’s endorsement, but several Florida Republicans have broken ranks as controversies and investigations pile up.
  • The House Ethics Committee calls the allegations against Mills “serious and complex.”

If Republican Rep. Cory Mills was hoping Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would ride to the rescue before Tuesday’s primary, he can stop waiting.

DeSantis didn’t hedge. He didn’t offer the usual politician’s word salad. He didn’t even bother with the old I’m staying out of the primary dodge.

Asked Friday about the Republican primary in Florida’s 7th Congressional District, DeSantis gave a remarkably short answer:

“I have not endorsed Cory Mills, and I do not support Cory Mills.”

And that was pretty much that. “Okay. God bless everybody. Great to see you. Take care,” DeSantis added before walking away.

That five-word political grenade — “I do not support Cory Mills” — landed only four days before Republican voters choose between Mills and three challengers: former Orlando television anchor Ryan Elijah, Sarah Ulrich and Michael Johnson.

It also puts DeSantis squarely at odds with President Donald Trump, who previously endorsed Mills.

But there’s an interesting wrinkle. Florida Politics noted Friday that although Mills still has Trump’s endorsement, the president left Mills out when reposting several of his other congressional endorsements this week. Whether that omission means anything is anybody’s guess, but with Mills fighting for his political life, people are certainly noticing.

And DeSantis isn’t exactly standing alone.

Florida Republican Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos endorsed Elijah, turning what might normally have been a sleepy incumbent primary into something closer to a Republican intervention.

The revolt comes after months of controversies surrounding Mills — some involving allegations that remain disputed, and others that have already produced official action.

Most significantly, the House Ethics Committee isn’t merely reading newspaper stories.

In May, the committee took the unusual step of publicly describing the allegations against Mills as “serious and complex.” It revealed that investigators had authorized more than 20 subpoenas, collected thousands of documents and contacted dozens of witnesses.

The committee is examining a wide range of allegations, including possible financial-disclosure and campaign-finance violations, gifts or special favors, misuse of congressional resources or status, and allegations involving sexual misconduct or dating violence. Importantly, the committee itself has stressed that opening an investigative subcommittee does not establish that Mills violated any law or House rule. Mills has denied wrongdoing.

Then there’s the Justice Department.

ABC News reported in July that the DOJ is investigating Mills, with sources saying the inquiry involves, at least in part, his finances. The precise scope of that investigation remains unclear.

Mills has also faced accusations surrounding his military record. A congressional censure resolution introduced against him cites former service members who disputed portions of the account used to support Mills’ Bronze Star recommendation. One sergeant quoted in the resolution called part of the account a “fabrication.” Those remain allegations and disputed claims; Mills has pushed back forcefully, previously calling attacks on his military record “slander and defamation.”

And then came former girlfriend Lindsey Langston. Last October, a Florida judge granted Langston an injunction for protection against dating violence that prohibited Mills from contacting her and ordered him to stay at least 500 feet from her home. Langston had alleged Mills harassed her and threatened to release intimate photographs and videos after their relationship ended.

The judge wrote that Langston had “reasonable cause to believe” she was in danger of another act of dating violence and found Mills offered “no credible rebuttal” to portions of her testimony. Mills denied wrongdoing, and no criminal charges had been filed in that matter at the time of the order.

All of which explains why Tuesday has suddenly become a fascinating test for Republican voters.

Mills can still point to something most Republican primary candidates would give their eyeteeth to have: Donald Trump’s endorsement.

But Elijah can now point to something almost as interesting — an increasingly long collection of Republicans who have decided they don’t want Mills back.

And DeSantis just made absolutely certain nobody could mistake which side of that divide he’s on.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

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