ORLANDO, Fla. — Internal emails show Gov. Rick Scott’s communications office was intimately involved in crafting the state’s message after the governor called for an inspection of the state’s 16 Planned Parenthood clinics.
Online publication Politico was the first to report the connection between the state agency tasked with investigating Planned Parenthood and the governor’s communications office.
Emails from the Agency for Healthcare Administration to Scott’s communications office show Scott’s staff removing language that indicated investigators had found no “mishandling of fetal remains.”
Following the release of several undercover videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale fetal tissue, Scott announced in August that he was instructing the Agency for Healthcare Administration to inspect the state’s clinics.
In the announcement of the investigations, Scott wrote, “I asked AHCA Secretary Liz Dudek to begin immediately dispatching staff from their licensure office to evaluate the 16 Planned Parenthood offices in Florida that perform abortion procedures to ensure they are in full compliance with the law.”
However, after visiting the clinics, investigators found no mishandling of remains.
AHCA originally prepared a statement, saying, "There is no evidence of the mishandling of fetal remains at any of the 16 clinics we investigated across the state.”
But those words were scrubbed from the final release issued by AHCA. According to internal emails released to 9 Investigates, Scott’s communications staff was in direct communication with AHCA prior to the release of the statement, helping AHCA shape its final message.
In the wake of questions about the governor’s involvement, Deputy Press Secretary Lauren Schenone issued a statement on the matter saying only that, “our office often works with our agencies on materials.”
9 Investigates contacted the Department of Economic Opportunity, Department of Corrections, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Department of Health and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to see if any agency gets its press releases approved by the governor’s office prior to release.
Only the Department of Economic Opportunity said it collaborates with Scott’s communications office on press releases, saying it works to craft announcements on monthly jobs numbers. All of the other agencies said while they work with the governor’s office, they do not get prior approval of messages.
WFTV
