Florida Republican Party Chairman Chris Ziegler rebuffed demands for him to resign amid sexual assault allegations.
A Thursday report revealed that Ziegler is under an active investigation by the Sarasota Police Department after a woman accused him of rape. An affidavit revealed that Ziegler and his wife, Moms For Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, both acknowledged that they had consensual sex with the woman over a year before the alleged crime occurred, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The Thursday report led to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) urging Chris Ziegler to resign — a request he rejected in an email to supporters on Saturday.
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"We have a country to save, and I am not going to let false allegations of a crime put that mission on the bench as I wait for this process to wrap up," Ziegler declared, claiming that left-wing sources were spreading misinformation about the case.
“To protect the integrity of the investigation at this moment in the process, there is not much more outside of what I just shared and my lawyer’s statement at the bottom of this email that I can publicly share about this situation until the investigation is complete. When we reach that point, I will have a lot more to share about the facts, how this transpired, the motive, and who was behind it,” he said.
First look: Amid @RonDeSantis's call for him to step down as Chairman of the @FloridaGOP, embattled @ChrisMZiegler, currently under investigation for sexual assault, has emailed out the attached update.
— Peter Schorsch (@PeterSchorschFL) December 2, 2023
tl;dr it doesn't sound like he's going anywhere.#FlaPol pic.twitter.com/meYsATPKCX
The Washington Examiner reached out to Ziegler for further comment.
The accuser said that she had known Ziegler for some time prior and had consensual sex with him and his wife over a year before the alleged rape. She said she agreed to sex again but backed out when Bridget Ziegler said she was unable to make it. She alleges that Chris Ziegler came to her apartment anyway and had sex with her without her consent.
DeSantis first called on Ziegler to resign on Thursday after his debate with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
“I don’t see how he can continue with that investigation ongoing given the gravity of those situations, and so I think that he should, I think he should step aside,” DeSantis told reporters.
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Moms for Liberty has also begun to distance itself from Bridget Zielger.
“Bridget was an original founder of Moms for Liberty but she stepped back from the organization’s board in 2021,” it said in a statement to Politico.