TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A former official with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement believes records related to Governor Ron DeSantis’ past airplane trips should be disclosed to the public despite a recent state law prohibiting the release of certain gubernatorial travel and security records.
Shane Desguin, who served as FDLE’s chief of staff until he claims he was forced to resign from the state agency last fall, said the release of financial invoices and memoranda associated with the governor’s travel “would not remotely compromise any person’s safety and should be disclosed.”
The Washington Post sued FDLE last year claiming the state agency has failed to produce travel records requested by the newspaper under Florida’s public record law.
FDLE has declined to release the requested records to the newspaper, citing a bill signed into law by DeSantis in May 2023 that exempts the release of records “held by a law enforcement agency relating to security or transportation services” provided to the governor.
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The Washington Post’s lawyers claim the law violates Florida’s constitution which guarantees anyone the right to inspect public records unless the state legislature follows certain procedures to exempt a record from public release.
As part of the Washington Post’s lawsuit, Desguin filed a sworn declaration April 19 in which he detailed his past work protecting Florida governors since joining FDLE in 2005 as a special agent.
“(I) spent about two years assigned to the security detail tasked with protecting Governor Jeb Bush, his family, Governor Charlie Crist, the Governor’s Mansion, and the Capitol Complex,” Desguin wrote. “In that role, I worked directly with intelligence and law enforcement agencies to conduct threat assessments and mitigate risks that could affect the Governor or his family.”
After being promoted to FDLE’s chief of staff in September 2022, Desguin said he was directly involved in evaluating and mitigating threats to DeSantis and his family.
“(I) was one of two people, the other being the FDLE Commissioner, who had the authority to approve and revise security plans based on pre-event and pre-movement developments,” wrote Desguin.
Desguin claims he was suspended from FDLE in November and forced to resign following an internal dispute over the handling of the Washington Post public record request.
“Mr. Desguin was placed on leave for insubordination, mismanagement of state funds, agency policy violations, creating a hostile work environment and unethical behavior,” an FDLE spokesperson told News 6 earlier this month.
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FDLE’s written response to the Washington Post lawsuit was made public late Tuesday.
“The Travel Records Exemption is constitutionally valid because the Legislature ‘state{d] with specificity the public necessity justifying the exemption’ and the statute is ‘no broader than necessary to accomplish the stated purpose of the law’,” FDLE lawyers wrote, citing language from Florida’s constitution.
FDLE also defended its decision to withhold a separate batch of records requested by the Washington Post related to an event at the Tampa Convention Center. The agency cited different state laws that exempt the release of records detailing security plans and surveillance techniques.
Prior to his resignation, Desguin claims he worked with FDLE, the governor’s office and state lawmakers to draft legislation that would prevent the release of certain records related to the governor’s travel.
Desguin said he understood the proposed law would prevent the disclosure of information that would threaten the safety of the governor, the governor’s family, and other public officials.
In May 2023, just days before DeSantis signed the law, a News 6 reporter asked the governor why it was important to shield his travel records from Floridians.
“It’s not necessarily something that I came up with,” DeSantis told News 6. “I think the issue is, 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 is something that can be helpful for people that may not want to good things.”
In his sworn declaration, Desguin said the public release of certain security details could jeopardize a governor’s safety. He specifically mentioned information identifying prospective routes of travel a security detail may take on the ground, entry and exit routes from a facility or particular location, information about armored vehicles, and security protocols and tactics.
But Desguin claims specific airplane records requested by the Washington Post, known as Aircraft Mission Prints, would not endanger the governor if publicly disclosed.
“These records generally consisted of historical information about Governor DeSantis’ travel by state-funded airplane including dates of travel, who was on the plane, destination, and other information that I generally did not and do not consider to be necessary to withhold for security reasons,” Desguin wrote.
“Specifically, information reflected on an Aircraft Mission Print record relating to the number of hours an aircraft flew, the number and identity of the passengers (excluding numbers of agents), and brief remarks about the trip would not reveal precise enough information about the FDLE agents in the Governor’s detail, the route the detail and Governor may take once on the ground, or operational strategies or tactics generally or regarding the specific flight to threaten the safety of the Governor and anyone accompanying him,” the sworn statement said.
Likewise, Desguin said the release of records documenting the reimbursement of the governor’s travel expenses would not compromise security.
“Instead, disclosure of those records and the Aircraft Mission Print records, in my view, would allow the public to understand how their tax dollars are used in the provision of important public services,” Desguin wrote.
In a previously filed declaration, Desguin said he and an FDLE lawyer originally agreed to give the Washington Post a spreadsheet containing Aircraft Mission Print data.
But Desguin claimed attorneys working in DeSantis’ office overruled that decision and ordered FDLE’s lawyers to withhold the travel records.
In FDLE’s response to the Washington Post lawsuit, the state agency disputes the idea that only records that would “endanger” the governor are exempt from release.
“The [Washington] Post now asks this Court to question whether exempting all records ‘relating to security and transportation services’ actually does protect the safety of authorized persons – a consideration the Legislature already expressly considered and resolved in certain terms,” FDLE lawyers wrote.
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