Ron DeSantis has always avoided accountability, but now he’s going after the First Amendment itself.

After weeks of persistent, fact-based reporting on the financial irregularities surrounding Hope Florida, the Orlando Sentinel received something no newspaper should: a cease and desist order from the state. Signed by DeSantis’s Department of Children and Families, the letter accused the Sentinel’s Tallahassee bureau chief of “threatening and coercing” foster families during standard journalistic inquiry.

The Sentinel wasn’t chasing clickbait or partisan talking points. They were doing the work journalism is meant to do: tracking public dollars and demanding transparency from those in power. Their reporting exposed a $2.4 million state-funded golf tournament falsely reported as a $25,000 loss, suspicious amendments to tax filings, and cozy ties between Hope Florida contractors and DeSantis insiders. So what does the governor do? DeSantis, exposed and out of excuses, defaults to his usual tactic: gaslighting Floridians and going after the press. He sent a cease and desist letter to the Orlando Sentinel, one of the few newsrooms still willing to investigate what Florida’s leaders want buried.

There’s no ambiguity here. DeSantis is using his office to punish journalists who are doing their jobs too well. The letter reeked of desperation. He’s tried this tactic before — ignoring the First Amendment and hoping no one will push back. But the receipts are piling up, and the Orlando Sentinel isn’t backing down. The Tallahassee Democrat called it what it is: a blatant abuse of power aimed at suppressing the truth.

Even lawmakers are taking notice. During last week’s budget conference, the Florida House moved to strip all funding from the Office of Hope Florida and its navigators. This came after revelations that taxpayer money, including $10 million from a Medicaid settlement, had been funneled through opaque nonprofits to promote political agendas rather than help families in need.

The focus here was never foster families — it’s always been about protecting the governor from being held accountable. If Hope Florida is truly transparent and charitable, why are journalists being targeted? Why the scramble to fix tax filings after reports go public? Why is the Legislature only acting now?

DeSantis is testing how blatantly he can wield power without consequences. The cease and desist was about fear. A move meant to rattle the press and signal just how far he’s willing to go to stop the truth from spreading. He’s challenging the press to keep digging and counting on the public to stay quiet while he bulldozes the First Amendment.

Governor, let’s stop pretending. You’ve spent public money on campaign stunts, self-promotion, and political theater. So it’s not surprising you’d misuse Medicaid funds to sabotage citizen-led amendments and polish your image. This has always been about your ambition, your wife’s ambition and raw political power. Families are just the backdrop.

To the Orlando Sentinel: thank you. Your reporting has pulled back the curtain on this administration’s hypocrisy. Keep going.

If Hope Florida is what DeSantis claims it is, it has nothing to fear. But if it’s just another self-serving scheme built on misused public money, no legal threat will keep the truth buried for long.