TALLAHASSEE, FL—During yet another press conference, Gov. Ron DeSantis hit on hot topics like troops at the Texas border, Hurricane Idalia relief, and Jeffrey Epstein, announcing in Cedar Key his plans to increase security, relief, and transparency for Floridians.
"If you don't have a border you don't have a country...There's a lot of people from China coming across [the border]—thousands and thousands of people from China in just the last couple of months. That is not something that is normal," DeSantis said Friday afternoon. This morning, he hosted a send-off to the Texas border for some State Guardsman, 76 Florida Highway Patrol members, and 50 National Guardsmen.
"You have people coming from the Middle East, military-age males from the Middle East pouring into this country via the southern border. Do you think that's in your best interest as an American for that to happen?"
The State Guard was disbanded at the end of World War II, and was fully defunct until the Governor reinvigorated it in 2022. The first time he deployed it was in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, a Category 4 storm that slammed into the Cedar Key area, leveling homes and businesses. Storm surge inundations of 7 to 12 feet were recorded, some of the highest values seen since a 1993 hurricane monikered the "Storm of the Century".
"We will be awarding $1 million from the Florida Disaster Fund to expedite the Hurricane Idalia Home Repair Program," DeSantis announced, noting that the Disaster Fund is a charity that does not draw from taxpayer dollars. "This award will accelerate the recovery process for Floridians who lost their homes or experienced severe damage from the storm,"
"I'm also pleased to announce the award of more than $5.3 million through the state's Rural Infrastructure Fund to communities that have been impacted by Idalia," he said, explaining these funds will be disbursed to Cedar Key, Live Oak, Lafayette County, Cross City, Taylor County, Monticello, Perry, Jasper, Lee, and Madison County to address infrastructure systems affected or destroyed by Idalia.
DeSantis also announced his intention to sign a recently passed bill into law, one that would make public the grand jury materials from the 2006 Jeffrey Epstein case in South Florida. The billionaire had been accused of multiple sexual assaults of underage girls and was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in county jail, followed by 12 months of house arrest.
"We're leading on transparency on this," DeSantis said, questioning why President Biden has not called for the release of Epstein's federal trial documents. "The federal government is concealing what has happened...It's been a real farce to see how this has played out,"
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