New court revelations have already been political with COVID-19 policy implications for Florida, but now gubernatorial candidate Commissioner Nikki Fried (D-FL) condemning the use of the court system to "silence our opposition."
In a recent case, Daniel Uhlfelder, a lawyer and political activist who is also tied to the political committee "Remove Ron", has sued Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic. Usually, we see politics disputed in courtrooms, but the heightened political tension has raised red flags on both sides of the aisle.
In February, a three-judge panel of the Tallahassee-based appeals court asked The Florida Bar to consider sanctions against Uhlfelder, accusing the attorney of using the lawsuit as a publicity stunt. Days later, appellate Judges Brad Thomas, Susan Kelsey, and Adam Tanenbaum took the rare step of ordering a state attorney to pursue sanctions against Uhlfelder because of a comment he made to a newspaper.
Uhlfelder's lawyer is claiming that his client has "done nothing wrong" and is entitled to call out an elected official as a private citizen. However, Commissioner Fried says otherwise.
In a Tweet today, while posting an opinion piece on the matter, Fried condemned the use of the Florida Bar to host a political brawl between DeSantis and Ulhfelder, claiming "We have stooped to an all new low.":
We have stooped to an all new low when we use @TheFlaBar to silence our opposition. Grow up @RonDeSantisFL! @DWUhlfelderLaw https://t.co/HslbVCwuyS
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) September 19, 2021
Fried's message, however, was not too sympathetic to Governor DeSantis, telling him to "Grow up" regardless of what she would call political persecution.
Fried recently has been a somewhat 'champion' of bipartisanship. This week the gubernatorial hopeful disagreed with political ally, President Biden (D), insisting his decision to cut back on the monoclonal treatments being sent to Florida was not a good decision.
