Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Orlando Sentinel, demanding the newspaper stop its reporting on foster families related to an investigation into a nonprofit associated with First Lady Casey DeSantis.
The letter, delivered Friday, accused the Sentinel’s Tallahassee-based reporter of intimidating foster families into making negative remarks about the Hope Florida Foundation—an organization that promotes welfare initiatives led by the governor’s wife. DCF claimed the reporter used coercion to get comments for an upcoming story.
“Cease and desist the above-described intimidation of these families,” the letter stated.
The Orlando Sentinel denied the allegations. Executive Editor Roger Simmons defended the reporter’s conduct, calling the accusations “completely false.” He stated that the paper’s investigative piece focuses on grants awarded by Hope Florida to families, individuals, and organizations.
“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.
The department shared the letter on social media, noting the foundation’s efforts to support foster families, including home repair donations after recent hurricanes. DCF did not respond to follow-up questions on Monday.
Some legal experts criticized the move as a clear case of prior restraint—an attempt to block publication of potentially unflattering information. Clay Calvert, a University of Florida professor emeritus and media law scholar, said the effort to suppress the article was likely unconstitutional.
“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.”
An active investigation into the Hope Florida Foundation is underway in Tallahassee, according to confirmation from the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit. The inquiry centers on how $10 million from a Medicaid legal settlement was distributed to two nonprofits, which then donated large sums to a political committee chaired by the governor’s former chief of staff. That committee had worked to defeat a statewide ballot measure on recreational marijuana.
State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican who previously led a legislative inquiry into the matter, has alleged that the money trail could constitute “conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud.” While he has referred the case to federal authorities, no confirmation has emerged that agencies like the FBI or Department of Justice are pursuing it.
Governor Ron DeSantis has called the entire investigation politically motivated and dismissed it as an attack on his wife, whom he has suggested as a potential candidate to succeed him after his term ends in 2026.
