Hemp execs pledge millions to Republican Party of Florida, texts reveal
MIAMI — After Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would severely limit and regulate their industry, hemp executives across the state pledged $5 million in donations to the Republican Party of Florida, according to WhatsApp messages reviewed by CBS News Miami.
"We know nothing in life is free and neither was this veto," explained an introductory post on the WhatsApp message group known as Save Florida Hemp.
"We are currently seen as DeSantis's allies to defeat the recreational ballot initiative," announced the post, which was published on June 27, less than three weeks after DeSantis vetoed Senate Bill 1698. "Our lobby team made promises to rally some serious funding to stand with him on this. He chose Hemp as his champion and now we've got to deliver."
Save Florida Hemp has more than a thousand members, including major labs and hemp manufacturers as well as small shops that sell unregulated cannabis products, such as Delta 8 and Delta 9.
The introductory message provides a bank routing number for the Republican Party of Florida. Several messages claim the Governor's Office was closely monitoring the account to see which individuals and businesses were donating funds.
"His office has real-time access to this list…and is seeing these names and every contribution," noted another post, written by Ernie Ciaccio, an owner of Honest PP&D, which describes itself as one of the largest hemp distributors in the state. "Get on this list, I promise you it's one of the lists you want to be on."
Subsequent posts by members of the group outline the dollar amount.
"We have to pay $5 million to keep our end of the veto," another hemp executive wrote.
The posts maintain the money would be used to fight Amendment 3, the ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana in Florida.
DeSantis has come out strongly against the amendment. And hemp executives worry if marijuana is legalized, they will be at a disadvantage selling less potent hemp products.
In an interview with CBS News Miami, Ciaccio said he hopes the group will raise more than $5 million for the Republican Party of Florida.
"That dollar amount is a dollar amount that we feel as an industry is going to show not only the governor's office and legislators that our industry is serious, but it's an investment in our industry," he said.
"They [critics] want to talk about quid pro quo," Ciaccio added. "Look, that's not what this is. What this is, is a governor who fought for small business, who said clearly when he issued the veto that he didn't like the legislation because it was going to hurt small business. And this is small business stepping up to the plate and supporting that governor against an initiative that not only he feels is wrong, but we as an industry feel is wrong."
"We knew that we had to show up and show the governor's office and show the Republican Party and all and all the legislators here in Florida that not only were we taking, our roles as stakeholders in hemp seriously," he continued. "But, that we were committed to being part of the political process and shaping legislation here that would be not only good for our industry but good for Florida."
Recent WhatsApp messages claim the group has already contributed more than $2 million to the RPOF, and it lists dozens of payments already made to the party. The contributions range from small retail hemp shops donating $500 to major companies like Arvida Labs donating $250,000. The contributions could not be independently verified because campaign finance reports for the party are not due for several weeks.
"I don't think there was any link to the veto," said JJ Combs, CEO of Arvida Labs and Mellow Fellow. "I think it's really that we support what DeSantis is doing, what the governor's doing. We want to help fight against the Amendment 3."
"This isn't about influence," he continued. "This is about supporting the Republicans of Florida because they are they're helping us. They're helping fight an amendment that we all believe is bad."
The hemp industry's ties to the state's Republican Party run deep. The group's two main lobbyists are Evan Power, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, and Bill Helmich, the party's executive director.
In the initial WhatsApp post, the group references a meeting the hemp executives had with Power, Helmich and Jeff Aaron, who is described in the post as "the chief litigator for the governor himself." Aaron is a shareholder with GrayRobinson, a law firm that has been paid millions to represent the state in lawsuits over some of the Governor's most controversial laws.
Aaron is also a registered lobbyist with the Governor's office on the hemp industry and was a director of Fight Right, one of the SuperPACs created to help DeSantis with his failed presidential bid.
"We've been told that this is a 2-part deal," the post explains. "Come up with money to fight our biggest enemies [marijuana] monopolies. Alley-oop reasonable legislation to secure longevity for our industry in Florida."
If DeSantis had signed the senate bill into law, it would have restricted the sale of THC products, such as Delta 9. It would also prohibit the manufacturing and sale of increasingly popular and more potent products containing Delta 8 and Delta 10.
Hemp supporters have said that if the bill became law, it would decimate the hemp industry, throw thousands of people out of work, and cost the state billions in revenue.
By vetoing the bill, and thereby keeping the hemp industry alive in Florida, these WhatsApp messages contend that DeSantis is now counting on the hemp industry to finance the campaign against Amendment 3. He has also set up a separate PAC to fight the amendment, but the bulk of funding to fight Amendment 3 is being routed through the RPOF.
The Governor's Office denied there was any deal regarding the veto.
In a statement to CBS News Miami, a spokesman for DeSantis said any suggestion that he vetoed the bill for donations to the party is "false."
"Governor DeSantis vetoed SB 1698 because the bill would impose debilitating regulatory burdens on small businesses," the spokesman said.
The spokesman also denied the Governor's office was monitoring the donations to the party from the hemp industry.
Power, the chair of the Republican Party of Florida, also said the Governor's veto had nothing to do with donations to the party.
"I can tell you there was no deal," Power told CBS News Miami. "And the only conversations I've had are encouraging people to donate because of the interest they have in protecting their industry against monopoly power."
Asked about the meeting mentioned in the WhatsApp post, Power acknowledged he met with hemp executives to discuss donating to the party, but he did that in his capacity as party chairman not as their lobbyist.
"The only meeting that I've ever been on with Jeff [Aaron] and Bill [Helmich] I would think was after the veto," he said. "It was probably a zoom. And it was me asking, you know, my part of the call was asking as party chair to raise money for our initiative to try to kill the constitutional amendment."
Aaron declined to comment. Helmich could not immediately be reached for comment. Power, Aaron, and Helmich are all registered lobbyists for the hemp industry through the Florida Healthy Alternatives Association.
In a statement to CBS New Miami, J.D. McCormick, the president of FHAA wrote:
Hemp executives believe they must band together because if the amendment to legalize marijuana passes, their businesses will be hurt. They argue they are fighting the marijuana industry, which has poured tens of millions of dollars into getting the amendment on the ballot and financing the campaign to pass it.
Although the average person may not realize it, the hemp industry and the marijuana industry are two distinct entities that are bitter rivals throughout Florida.
Hemp and marijuana both come from the cannabis plant. Hemp products have lower levels of THC, the chemical compound in the plant which creates the euphoric, psychoactive effects. Marijuana typically comes from the female plant and has a much higher level of THC.
Not everyone on the WhatsApp message board seems happy to be donating to the Republican Party and supporting DeSantis.
"Sucks," said one post. "Used by the devil."
Another noted: "Enemy of my enemy is my friend type situation."
There are no restrictions on how the party can spend the money. In addition to fighting Amendment 3, the party can use the funds to help elect Republicans around the state. They can also use the money to oppose Amendment 4, which would protect a woman's right to have an abortion.