DeSantis’ office fires back at misleading report on lawsuit from disgraced, ousted FDLE official
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office fired back at a misleading ABC News report that sidelined important context regarding a now-disgraced former Florida Department of Law Enforcement official, Shane Desguin, who is now suing the governor.
Desguin alleges he was removed for “blowing the whistle,” ABC reports, on issues relating to public records.
The story was also picked up by The Daily Beast, and received pushback by administration officials like Christina Pushaw.
“Why wouldn’t your headline mention the investigation that found he had an affair with his subordinate at work and pointed a gun at someone in his office? Because you cannot let facts get in the way of your narrative?” Pushaw told the Beast.
“The individual you are referring to was investigated and found to have created a hostile workplace environment by carrying on an extramarital affair with his subordinate at work,” she said in reaction to ABC’s report.
The investigation, examined by Florida’s Voice, revealed that Desguin – then-chief of staff – along with deputy chief of staff Patricia Carpenter – created a hostile work environment via their actions while maintaining an inappropriate romantic workplace relationship.
One accusation, which was corroborated in the investigation, noted that Desguin tried to point a gun at Carpenter to demonstrate self defense behind closed doors.
It also found that Carpenter and Desguin engaged in insubordination by, for example, approving an employee raise after it was already denied.
The victim, who cannot be named due to confidentiality guidelines, was purportedly a victim of sexual harassment.
An FDLE spokesperson, Gretl Plessinger, told Florida’s Voice that the investigation, which included “dozens” of employee testimonies, revealed a worrying incident of “brandishing a firearm inside an office” and other misconduct.
“This included sexual harassment [and] workplace discrimination,” Plessinger said. “Shane Desguin and Patricia Carpenter created workplace chaos, endangered the safety of other employees, and acted dishonestly and unprofessionally.”
Bryan Griffin, communications director for DeSantis’ office, said that mainstream media didn’t mention “this same official was found by investigation to have had an affair with a subordinate, point his gun at a colleague in the workplace, and give out improper raises.”
“This guy [Desguin] was under a formal investigation, which revealed that he pointed his firearm at somebody in his office,” said Jeremy Redfern, the governor’s press secretary. “If I did that while in the military, I would’ve been court-martialed.”
Read the original report with more details on the workplace scandal below:
