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DeSantis Aide Used Bizarre Alias to Help Old Employer Win Migrant Flight Contract

The aide emailed eight paragraphs of language to the contractor, which it used almost verbatim in its proposal.

An aide to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used the alias “Clarice Starling”—a reference to the Hannibal Lecter serial killer novels’ protagonist—in a series of emails intended to help a his former employer secure a contract to operate the governor's controversial migrant flights, the Miami Herald reported, citing public records. The records suggested that Larry Keefe, DeSantis’ public safety czar, wrote some of the language used by Vertol Systems Company in its proposal. Using a private Gmail account, Keefe emailed eight paragraphs of language to Vertol's CEO, which the company used almost verbatim in its official proposal for the migrant flight program. Vertol's proposal was approved a week after bidding, and the program's first and only flight—to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts—secretly took off from San Antonio, Texas, a little over a week later with 49 migrants aboard. The flight cost Florida taxpayers $1.5 million.