Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers remarks on the 2023 Christians United for Israel summit on July 17, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia.
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Attorneys for Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that the Florida governor “welcomes Disney‘s give up” on key allegations in the corporate’s lawsuit accusing the governor of political retaliation.
Disney has accused DeSantis of working to pass laws targeting the entertainment giant out of a “desire to punish” the corporate for speaking out against a controversial classroom bill dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics.
But those alleged acts by the governor are “legislative in nature,” and subsequently they’re protected by “absolute legislative immunity,” the attorneys for DeSantis and one other Florida official argued in a recent court filing.
The court document got here shortly before Disney posted mixed earnings for the fiscal third quarter. A Disney spokesman didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment on the filing.
The state’s attorneys claimed that Disney, in a filing last month, effectively conceded that much of its initial grievance amounted to little greater than “a glorified press release.” That is because Disney “now claims that it’s difficult only the Governor’s executive actions,” not his legislative actions, the attorneys for DeSantis argued.
“The Governor welcomes Disney’s give up on all of its claims difficult his legislative acts,” they wrote, adding that Disney lacks standing to sue DeSantis on its remaining claims.
Their filing Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee is just the most recent barb within the long-running feud between Florida’s governor and certainly one of the state’s top employers.
It got here in response to Disney’s filing two weeks earlier urging the judge to reject bids by DeSantis and other defendants to dismiss the federal civil case.
In that filing, Disney said DeSantis’ claims of immunity within the case are “incorrect.”
“Because this suit seeks to enjoin the Governor from performing executive acts, legislative immunity doesn’t protect him from suit,” Disney wrote.
Disney seeks a court order effectively restoring the established order that existed before DeSantis and his allies targeted the special tax district that has allowed Orlando’s Walt Disney World to self-govern its operations for many years. DeSantis ultimately replaced the district’s board of supervisors together with his preferred picks, who voted to nullify development contracts that Disney had crafted shortly before the takeover. Disney was accused of sneaking the deals through in an try and thwart the brand new board’s power, but the corporate says it was merely securing its long-term business plans for the region.
Disney expanded its lawsuit in May, after DeSantis signed additional laws to void the event deals.
The board members are also named as defendants in Disney’s lawsuit. In a separate court filing Wednesday afternoon, they argued that the federal court should either abstain or dismiss the case entirely.
DeSantis is a high-profile Republican presidential candidate known for engaging in political fights over hot-button social issues. He has leaned into his fight with Disney on the campaign trail, at the same time as his national poll numbers seem like trending lower against the highest GOP candidate, former President Donald Trump.
Earlier Wednesday, DeSantis suspended Monique Worrell, the state attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, accusing her of under-prosecuting criminals in her jurisdiction.