ORLANDO, Fla. — A former and three current Orlando Sentinel journalists do not have to hand over records relating to Florida Power & Light’s and other organizations’ possible involvement in the “ghost” candidate scheme to Eric Foglesong, a political consultant charged with falsifying campaign finance records, a judge ruled Wednesday.
In her ruling, Circuit Judge Donna McIntosh said Florida law makes clear that “professional journalists enjoy a qualified privilege” not to disclose their information, including the identity of any source, that they obtained while doing their jobs in gathering news.
She also dismissed Foglesong attorney’s argument that the documents held by the Sentinel journalists are relevant to his defense. The journalists are investigative reporter Annie Martin, columnist Scott Maxwell, content director for local news Jeff Weiner and former investigative reporter Jason Garcia, who left the paper a year ago.
“While Defendant (Foglesong) asserts that the information in the possession of the Orlando Sentinel purportedly reflects a statewide scheme to put forth ghost candidates in the 2020 election, Defendant fails to allege, much less show, how that is relevant to unresolved issues in this case,” McIntosh said in her ruling. “It is hard to imagine how information regarding the alleged involvement of FPL, Matrix LLC, Grow United and People Over Profits in a scheme to promote ghost candidates would tend to prove or disprove Defendant’s guilt in this matter.”
She added that Foglesong has not made “a clear and specific” effort to obtain the information in the documents from other sources.
“Defense counsel has candidly admitted that no attempts have been made to obtain the information directly from FPL, Matrix LLC, Grow United, or People Over Profits,” McIntosh wrote in her ruling.
Sentinel’s attorney Minch Minchin of Jacksonville praised the ruling.
“The judge came to the correct conclusion: This was a pretty straight forward attempt to take the journalists’ work product,” he said. “The judge properly saw the defendants’ subpoena for the fishing expedition that it was.”
Foglesong’s attorney, Jacob Stuart Jr., said in a written statement to the Sentinel that “we are disappointed” but “respect” the ruling.
“Make no mistake, we remain steadfast that Mr. Foglesong is innocent and will continue our shared work in preparing his defense for a jury trial in the future,” Stuart said.
Foglesong, a Winter Park resident, faces three felony and two misdemeanor charges related to overseeing candidate Jestine Iannotti’s 2020 independent candidacy for Senate District 9, which at the time covered all of Seminole County and a southern portion of Volusia County.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Iannotti is referred to as a “ghost” candidate because she never campaigned for the state Senate seat and spent much of the 2020 election season traveling in Stockholm, Sweden. But she was promoted by GOP operatives with political advertisements and mailers showing her as a progressive candidate, apparently as an effort to siphon votes away from Democrat Patricia Sigman. The race was won by Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur in the November 2020 general election.
Foglesong is accused of contributing $1,200 to Iannotti’s campaign while hiding the source of the money by falsifying her contribution reports, according to charging documents.
Last November, Stuart asked the court to order the four journalists to turn over records relating to FPL, Matrix LLC, Grow United and People Over Profits, and the organizations’ possible involvement in the “ghost” candidate scheme.
The Sentinel received the records in a large envelope from an anonymous source, and it included checks, bank statements, emails, text messages and internal ledgers.
At a court hearing this month, Stuart said that he needed the records to adequately defend Foglesong, particularly because he would likely be sentenced to prison if convicted. Stuart also argued that seeking the information from FPL and the other organizations would be overly cumbersome and time consuming, considering that a trial is scheduled for this year.
“Maybe there’s a text message from a consultant that would absolve Mr. Foglesong,” Stuart said during the Jan. 10 court hearing in urging for the records. “How is the Sentinel hurt in allowing us to look at this information?”
None of the Sentinel’s dozens of articles or editorials regarding the ghost candidate scandal connects Foglesong with FPL, Matrix or other organizations. Nor did any of the Sentinel’s reporting show that Foglesong conspired with any organization on behalf of candidates for the state Senate.
Brodeur and FPL have denied any involvement with the “ghost” candidate scheme. Brodeur’s name did not appear on any contribution reports for Iannotti’s candidacy.
McIntosh ruled that the records in the Sentinel journalists possession were not physical evidence of a crime. Otherwise, they likely would have had to turn them over, according to Florida law.
To obtain a journalist’s records, a person must show the documents are relevant and material to an unresolved issue in a case, according to the state law. The person must also show they have exhausted all alternative sources of obtaining the information, and that there is a compelling need for the documents, according to the law.
Foglesong did not meet any of those three criteria, McIntosh ruled.
Foglesong “has failed to demonstrate that there is a compelling interest in requiring disclosure” of the documents,” she said in her ruling.
Earlier this month, McIntosh granted a request by Iannotti — who faces criminal charges and is currently free on bond — to live in Sweden for up to 90 days to visit her children and partner before her trial. Iannotti is required to return to Seminole County for any mandatory court appearances related to her case or any others in which she may be subpoenaed to testify.
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