TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing back against ousted Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren’s claim that the governor violated his free speech rights when he suspended Warren last month.
“Mr. Warren had no First Amendment right, as a public official, to declare that he would not perform his duties under Florida law,” DeSantis said in a motion filed late Friday attempting to dismiss Warren’s bid to get his job back.
On Aug. 4, Warren was escorted from his Tampa offices by an armed sheriff’s deputy. DeSantis accused the twice-elected state attorney of incompetence and neglect of duty, pointing to two joint statements Warren signed alongside prosecutors across the country. One pledged not to criminalize gender-affirming health care or transgender people, and the other to refrain from prosecuting those who seek, provide or support abortions.
