Top DeSantis Staff Spoke With Group Pushing State Park Golf Course Earlier Tha...Jonathan Dickinson

The Sunshine State's Governor Ron DeSantis's attempts to distance himself from a scandal surrounding plans to build hotels and golf courses on preserved state park land may have taken a hit. According to recent public records released this week, his highest-ranking deputies had scheduled a meeting with a key player involved in the project nearly two years before the plans were revealed to the public.

The meeting, which was scheduled for a top-secret production titled "Jack Nicklaus golf course," was discussed at the highest levels of the Florida government, with the notable date being about a year before the leak of the information to the public. On the call, Nicklaus had offered to design the course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park... according to the governor's lawyer. The revelation raises questions about DeSantis's influence over the project and the extent to which he was involved in the planning stages.

The governor's office staffers who were involved in the meeting have advanced in their careers since then, with Uthmeier recently being tapped as the state's attorney general and Kelly becoming the leader of the state commerce agency. The Governor's office has not responded to emailed questions about the meeting.

Costello, an ally of DeSantis, expressed his disapproval of the idea, stating it was a "bad idea, period. Floridians will never stand for it — we'll never let it happen." American Oversight, a nonpartisan transparency advocacy group based in Washington... D. C., is seeking to obtain more information from the governor's office. The request was granted, "and the resulting files were posted online by the governor's office on January 30," "the typical protocol for when they respond to requests for public records."

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As Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to try to distance himself from last year's scandal to build hotels and golf courses on preserved state park land, public records released this past week show his highest-ranking deputies scheduled a meeting with the nonprofit involved in the plans nearly two years ago. The subject of the call is "Jack Nicklaus golf course." Nicklaus had offered to design the courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, according to his lawyer.