TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Gov. Ron DeSantis said the head of the Florida Republican Party should step down after news of a sexual battery investigation broke earlier this week.
On Thursday, the attorney of Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler confirmed that he was involved in a sexual battery investigation by the Sarasota Police Department, although no charges had been filed as of this report.
“Mr. Ziegler has been fully cooperative with every request made by the Sarasota Police Department,” Ziegler said. “We are confident that once the police investigation is concluded that no charges will be filed and Mr. Ziegler will be completely exonerated.”
DeSantis also spoke on the allegations, according to a social media post by News Nation’s Libbey Dean.
“They’re very serious,” DeSantis said. “I don’t see how he can continue with that investigation ongoing given the gravity of those situations. I think he should step aside … He’s innocent till proven guilty, but we can’t have a party chair that is under that type of scrutiny.”
A report from the Florida Center for Government Accountability, which cited anonymous sources over the allegations, mentioned Ziegler’s wife and Moms for Liberty co-founder, Bridget Ziegler.
Moms for Liberty co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich spoke on the matter in a joint statement, saying the GOP chair’s wife had not been on the board for several years.
“Bridget was an original founder of Moms for Liberty, but she stepped back from the organization’s board in 2021,” the statement reads. “We have learned long ago to not believe everything we read online, and we are confident she will get to tell her side of things to those who are interested in more than click bait.”