Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
Programming note: There will be no Wednesday edition of Sunburn this week. The team got vaxxed, and we’re feeling it.
First Shot
Tuesday marked a busy day for Attorney General Ashley Moody, who received an endorsement from state troopers and continued lodging attacks against President Joe Biden and his immigration policies.
The Florida Association of State Troopers is backing the Republican chief legal officer in her re-election bid against Democratic challenger Aramis Ayala.
“Since taking office, Attorney General Moody has been a tireless advocate for Florida’s troopers, law enforcement officers, and first responders,” said Florida Association of State Troopers Chairman Mike Kirby. “She has been a leader in the effort to fight the scourge of human trafficking and illegal drug importation that has spread so much misery, addiction, and death in Florida and around the country. We give A.G. Moody our wholesale support knowing she will continue to lead and take this fight to those who would come to Florida to do harm.”
As Moody accepted that endorsement, she continued hammering Biden and his border policies, which Republicans blame for increased cases of human and drug trafficking.
On Tuesday, she went public with a memo written in May by U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz with a game plan to address the “anticipated increase in encounters of undocumented noncitizens following the anticipated lifting of … Title 42.” The game plan included releasing unprocessed migrants if immigration officials ran out of bed space.
Ultimately, the Border Patrol never had to follow the blueprint because a federal court prevented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from lifting the order, a Donald Trump-era policy that allows border officials to fast-track migrant deportations based on pandemic concerns. Moody and Florida joined other Republican-led states in the case that kept Title 42 in place.
“The Biden administration’s failed immigration policies are disastrous,” Moody said in a news release publishing the memo. “Expecting to be overrun, Biden’s Border Patrol drafted a plan to hunker down and allow inadmissible immigrants to flood into the country. But for the efforts of our office and other responsibly-minded, public-safety oriented attorneys general, Title 42 would have been repealed and Biden would have released untold thousands of additional immigrants into the interior of our country — outrageous!”
Evening Reads
—“Is Ron DeSantis the future of the Republican Party?” via Matt Flegenheimer for The New York Times Magazine
—“DeSantis’ campaign ad touts that he let kids ‘go to school;’ omits when he closed schools for COVID-19” via Danielle Brown of the Florida Phoenix
—“Ken Starr, key figure in Bill Clinton impeachment, dies” via Jess Bravin and Jan Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal
—“Marco Rubio balances Senate Intelligence leadership with defense of Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago case” via Michael Wilner of the Miami Herald
—“Lindsey Graham’s abortion ban stuns Senate GOP” via Burgess Everett, Marianne Levine and Sarah Ferris of POLITICO
—“Stocks plummet after inflation report shows prices unexpectedly climbed in August” via Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post
—“Jimmy Patronis seeks to ban political discrimination by debt collectors” via Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics
—“Fresh off loss, Barbara Sharief announces 2024 Senate run” via Anne Geggis of Florida Politics
—“Superintendent tells Broward School Board she’s taken ‘swift action’ in response to grand jury” via Scott Travis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
—“Snipped: Red snapper season unlikely for Florida’s Atlantic Coast anglers” via Wes Wolfe of Florida Politics
—“A very California lesson on just how weird electricity is” via Robinson Meyer of The Atlantic
—“It’s love bug season again in Florida” via Garfield Hylton of the Orlando Sentinel
Quote of the Day
“You know what I think about (Lt. Gov. John) Fetterman? It’s exactly: If you’ve made any money, you don’t want your kids to turn out like that.”
— U.S. Sen. Rick Scott on the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Democratic nominee.
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