Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Leadership Summit at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on April 21, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Anna Geldmaker | Getty Images
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday decided to disqualify the overseeing federal judge disney‘s political retaliation case, alleging that the judge’s comments in previous cases cast doubt on his impartiality.
Judge Mark Walker had offered “Disney” in two separate cases as an example of state retaliation,” DeSantis lawyers said in a lawsuit.
Those comments “could reasonably imply that the Court is anticipating the retaliation issue” in Disney’s case, they argued. That’s because Disney’s lawsuit alleges that DeSantis led a campaign of political retaliation against the company after it criticized its controversial classroom bill, which critics labeled “Don’t Say Gay.”
“Because that question is now before this court, and because that question relates to highly publicized matters of great concern to the citizens of Florida, the court should disqualify itself to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” it wrote. DeSantis legal team.
A Disney spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Disney filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Florida, after the company’s development agreements were nullified by a board of supervisors that selected DeSantis to oversee the district that includes Walt Disney World. The board claimed Disney made the deals to thwart its power, but the entertainment giant says they were made to secure future investments in its Florida parks.
DeSantis had replaced the board with his favorite picks after he and his allies targeted Disney’s special tax district. The focus on the district, which had existed since the 1960s, began just weeks after then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek criticized the classroom bill.
DeSantis’ legal team pointed to Walker’s comments over the past year in two separate hearings as evidence in support of his challenge.
At an April 1, 2022 hearing, Walker had asked, “is there anything in the file that says we’re going to take Disney’s special status away now because they’re awake?”
In doing so, the judge had “used the state’s proposed dissolution of Disney’s special district as an example of retaliatory conduct,” DeSantis’ lawyers argued.
The other alleged example came during a June 21, 2022 hearing in a case accusing DeSantis of spine-chilling speech in schools. Walker had suggested at that hearing that Florida’s actions against Disney were punitive, saying the company would lose its special status because it made a statement that arguably “contradicted the controlling party’s state policy.”
DeSantis’ lawyers argued that Walker’s “unsolicited suggestion, on two separate occasions, that the state punish Disney by removing its ‘special status’ creates an appearance of partiality.”
“The Court’s comments apparently reflect its opinion on whether the state punished Disney’s speech by revoking Disney’s ‘special status,'” they wrote.
A spokesperson for the board, whose members are also named as defendants in the Disney lawsuit, declined to comment on the latest lawsuit.
DeSantis is fighting Disney — and Trump
The feud between DeSantis and one of his state’s top employers has been going on for more than a year. The two sides have only grown closer as the governor gears up to launch his expected 2024 presidential campaign next week.
DeSantis has made a name for himself participating in divisive culture war battles, including his fight against Disney, which the governor has labeled a “Magic Kingdom of Woke Corporatism.”
But his protracted clash with the House of Mouse has exposed him to criticism from even some Republicans — and especially from former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly mauled DeSantis.
After Disney announced on Thursday it had abandoned plans to open a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, 20 miles from Walt Disney World Resort, Trump crowed on social media that DeSantis would be “destroyed.”
Josh D’Amaro, president of Disney’s parks, experiences and products division, cited “changing business conditions” and the return of CEO Bob Iger as reasons for the cancellation. In addition, the company will no longer ask more than 2,000 California-based employees to move to Florida.
D’Amaro reiterated in his memo that the company still plans to invest $17 billion in Florida over the next 10 years, including the addition of about 13,000 jobs. The company currently employs more than 75,000 people in the state.
Disney declined to provide specific updates on that investment, but has previously announced plans to update park attractions, expand existing parks and add more cruise ships to its Florida fleet.