Documenting Billy's meeting with Gov. DeSantis' Inspector General's Office

A brief, but potentially meaningful, procedural update for the record.

I met briefly by phone Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 16) with members of the Inspector General’s Office for both Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education. We met at their request in response to the article I wrote here and later officially filed as an IG complaint.

I would describe the meeting as cordial and procedural. No new ground was broken in our brief chat beyond what is already in the public record through journalism, the previous IG investigation, and public meetings.

I was not sworn in or placed under oath; and the entire meeting lasted 10 or 15 minutes. I later followed up with a boiled down written description of the core of the DoE/Jefferson scandal and what I think should be thoroughly investigated. The state OIG acknowledged receiving it.

My goal in submitting my article as a formal complaint and taking the meeting was to eliminate any potential procedural hurdles to an “all of the above” and “holistic” investigation of the DoE/Jefferson bid scandal. Those are the words Gov. DeSantis’ spokeswoman Taryn Fenske used in describing state OIG Melinda Miguel’s review. It is my intent to hold the OIG’s office to the public words of the governor’s official voice.

It is in that same spirit that I write to publicly document this meeting. Now it’s up to the OIG’s office to decide next steps.