| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard and Kierra Frazier | STATE OF THE RACE — Vice President Kamala Harris has cleared the Democratic presidential field. All Democratic members of the Florida delegation have endorsed Harris and she also has secured more than 94 percent of delegates in the state.
|  Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., left, questions Kimberly Cheatle, Director, U.S. Secret Service, right, during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump, on Capitol Hill, July 22, 2024, in Washington. | Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP | Good morning and welcome to Tuesday. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle gave the public almost no answers when she took the stand in an Oversight Committee panel yesterday to talk about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. But the hearing did succeed in uniting Florida Republicans and Democrats in their outrage and calls for resignation over the security breakdown from 10 days ago, especially given that Cheatle told members she wouldn’t have a report ready for them until 60 days after the attack. Five members of the state delegation sat on the committee, and some of the most contentious interactions came from Democrats. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) grilled Cheatle about the need for accountability, telling her that her testimony was going about as well as those from an unrelated testimony in December involving university presidents and their policies on antisemitism. “They all resigned,” he said of the university professors. “That’s how this is going for you. This is where this is headed.” And he eventually called on her to resign. Moskowitz has been especially outspoken on gun violence as a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. He told Cheatle it was “unacceptable” that members were learning less from the hearing than what they’d witnessed on TV. He even compared Cheatle to Gov. Ron DeSantis — whom he said had made the right move when he removed the sheriff in charge during the Parkland shooting — and said Cheatle should similarly seek accountability in her agency for those who failed. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) appeared similarly frustrated when he wasn’t eliciting answers. “I feel like this is a breakdown in communication between local law enforcement, you all and other local actors at the rally,” he said. Over on the GOP side, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna accused Cheatle of lying and asked the committee to read over the transcripts to see if any perjury charges should be brought. Rep. Mike Waltz raised the fact that Trump’s protective details had asked for more resources but had been turned down — something the Secret Service initially denied before admitting to The Washington Post that it was true. Waltz told Cheatle she should have had daily press conferences to answer questions because misinformation and rampant false rumors online were filling the void. Rep. Byron Donalds unsuccessfully tried to press Cheatle on when agents knew the gunman presented a threat. “It’s been nine days,” he repeated several times after getting no direct answer. By the end of his allotted time, he said he’d been quiet up until now about whether Cheatle should lose her job because he wanted to hear her out in the panel. But after doing so, he said he’d made up his mind. “In my opinion, you do need to be fired — immediately, because this is gross incompetence,” he said. Meanwhile, the House Homeland Security committee took a field trip to the scene of the crime. Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) took a video on social media of himself standing on the roof where the alleged gunman had also been. Cheatle had said agents weren’t on the roof because it was sloped and unsafe, but Giménez and others said they walked around just fine. “For somebody to tell me that Secret Service agents couldn’t get here — that’s crazy,” Giménez said. WHERE’S RON? Gov. DeSantis will give remarks at 9 a.m. at the Florida Sheriffs' Association Summer Conference in Orlando. At 10:15 a.m. he and Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. will give remarks at a separate event. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget in the campaign reporting that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
| | | | Breaking News Briefing: How Kamala Harris’ Policies Could Differ from Joe Biden’s — Where does Vice President Kamala Harris stand on key policy issues? Where does she differ from President Biden? Join POLITICO Pro’s specialist reporters for a detailed discussion of what her track record as vice president, U.S. senator and attorney general of California tells us about her policy instincts and allies. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | |  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gestures as he speaks during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. DeSantis announced that he was suspending State Attorney Andrew Warren, of the 13th Judicial Circuit, due to "neglect of duty." | Chris O'Meara/AP Photo | ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is vowing to take the legal case involving suspended prosecutor Andrew Warren all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The two-time elected Democrat, who is running for another term this fall, was removed from office by DeSantis nearly two years ago. DeSantis ousted Warren after the Hillsborough state attorney promised he would not enforce certain laws, including a state ban on abortion after 15 weeks. Warren contended his First Amendment rights were violated and sued in federal court, with the case currently in the hands of judges at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. A panel of appeals court judges earlier this year sided with Warren and ordered a judge in Tallahassee to reconsider the case. But the case has been in limbo since then because an unidentified appeals judge has held it up. The state has asked the entire appeals court to look at the case. Warren’s attorney earlier this month protested the ongoing delay and said there was “no legitimate reason” to hold up the case. Attorney General Ashley Moody, however, is objecting to this latest filing from Warren’s camp. Henry Whitaker, Florida’s solicitor general, filed a response late last week on behalf of the attorney general that justified the delay by asserting the case has “issues of public importance that far transcend Warren’s personal interests.” But that filing also states that even if the full appeals court rule against him “the governor intends to seek Supreme Court review” and seek a stay in the case “to avoid disrupting” the Hillsborough state attorney’s office. — Gary Fineout SOLAR GROWS — The Public Service Commission on Monday reported there was a 31 percent increase last year in renewable energy projects at homes and businesses. The increase tracks national trends showing more solar panels being installed on homes and businesses in recent years. The PSC cited the state's net-metering and interconnection rule for contributing to the continuing increase in Florida. The rule requires utilities to credit customers for the energy they produce. Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 vetoed a bill that would have reduced payments to future rooftop solar owners. The PSC did not take a position on the 2022 legislation. Homes and business owners in 2023 delivered 1.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity production to the grid while using 4.3 million kilowatt hours, the PSC report said. — Bruce Ritchie HEAT REPORT — The Florida Policy Institute on Tuesday is issuing a report whose title suggests that Florida should take action to protect workers from heat illness while on the job. The report, "High Heat, Higher Responsibility: The Sunshine State Must Enact Policies to Protect Working Floridians," will be issued at 10 a.m. DeSantis in May signed a bill that prohibited cities and counties from passing requirements on employers to deal with heat exposure. — Bruce Ritchie MEDICAL ADVANCES — “Florida hopes to reduce ‘diagnostic odyssey’ for children with rare diseases,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ Christopher O’Donnell. “[Parents of] children with extremely rare genetic diseases … face years of heartache putting their child through a barrage of expensive medical tests and appointments with baffled specialists. … Florida has taken steps in the past two years to make that path easier for families. A 2023 bill provided funding for the state’s Medicaid program to pay for whole genome sequencing, which can cost more than $6,000. This year, the state also provided permanent funding for the Andrew John Anderson Pediatric Rare Disease Grant Program, which will fund research into obscure pediatric diseases.” THE FLORIDA EFFECT — “Republicans aim to take Florida's education model nationwide,” by Axios’ Sommer Brugal. “The agenda parallels Project 2025, [a] roadmap for a second Trump presidency written by the Heritage Foundation, a top conservative think tank. If implemented, some education policy experts fear the fallout they've seen from Florida's policies — like a chilling effect on speech and LGBTQ+ expression in schools — would expand nationwide.”
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | TODAY — “Seminole looks to get rid of state tax exemptions for affordable housing,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Martin E. Comas. “Seminole County is poised to become the latest local government to deny large tax cuts to apartment owners who designate a certain number of units as affordable housing to lessen their tax burden under a new Florida housing law … Commissioners on Tuesday will consider a resolution to opt out of granting the exemptions offered under the law. If approved, it will save the county an estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue for the next fiscal year’s budget. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1.” WHOOPS! — “City of Miami says Trump endorsement on its official Instagram was ‘an accident,’” by WLRN’s Joshua Ceballos. “[City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez] posted a draft statement where he blamed Democrats for what he called a political crisis and endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump. Suarez quickly deleted that post and followed up with a new statement. It didn’t mention a political crisis, but still endorsed the former president. Suarez’s endorsement of Trump was reposted on the City of Miami’s official Instagram page, which is meant to remain politically impartial under county ethics guidance.” FLAGS M.I.A. — “USF St. Pete took down Pride, BLM flags. Students want to know why,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Divya Kumar. “The Black Student Association at USF St. Petersburg posted on Instagram that the flags were ordered down ‘following a complaint to the governor’s office,’ and that the group did not agree with the action. The group later posted that the Pride, Black Lives Matter and Pan-African flags were removed before other flags.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | |  Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on July 22, 2024. | Pool photo by Erin Schaff | BEHIND HARRIS — Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried told reporters in a call yesterday morning that more than 230 of the state’s 254 delegates had already united behind Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s nominee in November. The party united quickly because they “understand what’s at risk if we go into a contentious convention,” said state Sen. Shevrin Jones. Democrats who joined the call seemed to have a newfound energy about the election, with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz praising Harris, a former California attorney general, as someone who could “prosecute the case against” Donald Trump, a former president who’s had multiple run-ins with the law. Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said she thought Harris would especially be a “trusted voice” on abortion rights at a time when voters will decide the legality of the issue through a ballot measure in November. The vice president has visited Florida more than 10 times while in office, often to draw a contrast on issues like abortion rights, gun violence and policies around race. ENDORSEMENT — Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has the backing of former Rep. Al Lawson. The congressman’s district was dismantled two years ago when Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through a new congressional map. “During our time serving together in Congress, I witnessed firsthand Debbie’s unwavering commitment to her constituents and her relentless dedication to the ideals we all hold dear as Americans,” Lawson said of Mucarsel-Powell, a former congresswoman. AMENDMENT 4 — “Abortion is on the Florida ballot. Democrats say they want Kamala Harris involved,” reports Alexandra Glorioso of the Miami Herald. “Harris has been the White House’s leading voice in messaging on abortion, often laying the blame for the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade with former President Donald Trump. And while Florida Democrats have sought to make the issue nonpartisan, they still want Harris to lean into that message.” ‘OFF THE TABLE’ — “Biden is out, Harris is in. But Florida is ‘probably in the same position,’” reports the Miami Herald’s Max Greenwood. “Florida isn’t likely to experience the kind of earth-shaking political change that more-competitive states might expect to see in the wake of Biden’s abrupt exit from the presidential race, political operatives on both sides of the aisle said.” LOCAL RACE — “Visit Orlando an issue in Orange County Commission District 3 race,” reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Stephen Hudak. “The primary election for Orange County Commission District 3, an area smack in the county’s midsection, pits incumbent Mayra Uribe against a former occupant of the seat, Linda Stewart, and a first-time candidate for the job, Gus Martinez. If no one wins more than 50 percent of the vote Aug. 20, the two candidates with the most votes will face off in November.”
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | HEARING TODAY — “Prosecutors ask judge to detain Jupiter man who threatened Trump, Vance before trial,” reports Maya Washburn of the Palm Beach Post. “Prosecutors want to keep the 68-year-old Jupiter man who on social media called for the murder of former President Donald Trump and running mate U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance in custody until the courts resolve his case. Michael M. Wiseman's postings on Facebook and a related Threads account ‘indicate a disregard for the safety of the community’ and there are ‘no conditions of release reasonably sufficient to protect the community from risk of physical harm,’ the State Attorney's Office argued in court documents filed Saturday, one day after his arrest. Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe has scheduled a hearing Tuesday morning on the request, which Wiseman's attorney, Tama Beth Kudman of West Palm Beach, said she will oppose. Wiseman remained in the Palm Beach County Jail on Monday, where he is being held without bail.”
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