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Credit: Inside the MagicThe legal battle between Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Company just ramped up even more, as the iconic entertainment company has asked a judge to essentially give it access to the politician’s email inbox and phone.
As we reported earlier today, Disney has been contending with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) Board of Supervisors‘ alleged stonewalling of the company’s request for further documents in their lawsuit regarding the former Reedy Creek Improvement District. At the moment, Disney, CFTOD, and DeSantis are fighting it out through three different lawsuits, all of which have various overlapping factors.
According to Disney’s legal team (per Orlando Sentinel), the CFTOD is blocking the company’s attempts to get documents, emails, and text messages, telling Orange Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schreiber, “The district appears to have made no effort to search for, collect, or review documents from personal email accounts or mobile devices of district board members or employees.”
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Last year, Disney asked the judge for a 75-day continuance, arguing that the DeSantis-appointed CFTOD board was dragging its feet on providing documents. The judge granted the request, but at this point, Disney seems fed up with the CFTOD’s insistence that there are no more relevant documents to be found in their various lawsuits.
Disney’s legal team was particularly focused on the CFTOD refusing to provide clarity into the selection process for new district administrator Glen Gilzean, stating, “They’re saying we don’t get to inquire and even discover who was involved in the decision to pick these new board members and to pick the new district administrator. It’s enough to really get you to ask, ‘What is it that they are trying to hide here?’”
For its part, the CFTOD legal counsel denied that any of the thousands of requested documents could be relevant to Disney’s legal claims, saying, “The core issue in this case … is the legal validity of a development agreement and restrictive covenants that were entered into by the former board on their way out the door…None of the new board members are involved in that process, and the new district administrator did not take his job until May.”
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Judge Schreiber has not yet ruled on the matter. Disney is requesting that the CFTOD provide communications between DeSantis’ office and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board and employees (including private devices) within seven days.
Inside the Magic reached out to Governor DeSantis’s office and the CFTOD for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
Do you think the CFTOD is stonewalling Disney? Let us know in the comments below.