Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been taking heat from the radical Left for years over his willingness to stand up to woke ideology.
But DeSantis just delivered one of his most brutal smackdowns yet.
And two words from Ron DeSantis made CAIR drop their lawsuit threat.
CAIR threatens lawsuit then backs down with public records request
The Council on American-Islamic Relations promised a massive lawsuit against Florida after Governor DeSantis designated them a foreign terrorist organization on December 8.
CAIR's leadership went on TV threatening legal action, claiming DeSantis violated their constitutional rights.
Fast forward to Thursday, and instead of filing the promised lawsuit, CAIR filed a public records request with the Florida Department of State seeking "any and all communications" between DeSantis' office, Israeli government officials, and what they called "anti-Muslim hate groups."¹
DeSantis saw right through their retreat and didn't hold back.
"Is this measly (and dumb) public records request a backtrack from the lawsuit that was promised?" DeSantis wrote on X.²
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1999246427214774368?s=20
Those two words — "measly" and "dumb" — captured exactly what everyone watching was thinking.
CAIR talked big about taking DeSantis to court, then chickened out and filed a records request instead.
DeSantis eager to expose CAIR's finances in discovery
The Governor made clear he's not just ready for a legal fight — he's looking forward to it.
"Would like FL to be able to get discovery of the finances of a group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror financing trial in American history," DeSantis added.³
That's the real reason CAIR is running scared.
In 2007, the U.S. government named CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case — the largest terrorism financing prosecution in American history.⁴
The Department of Justice presented evidence showing connections between CAIR's founders and a Hamas support network operating in the United States.⁵
Federal courts later ruled the government violated CAIR's due process rights by making the unindicted co-conspirator list public, but the DOJ never backed down from the evidence showing CAIR's ties to terrorist organizations.⁶
Multiple CAIR officials have been convicted of terrorism-related charges over the years, including providing material support to designated terrorist organizations.⁷
In 2014, the United Arab Emirates officially designated CAIR as a terrorist organization.⁸
The FBI suspended formal contacts with CAIR in 2008 and the bureau's reasoning was clear — evidence showed CAIR maintained connections to Hamas.⁹
CAIR's accusations expose their desperation
CAIR Director of Government Affairs Robert S. McCaw tried to flip the script, accusing DeSantis of having "a long history of close collaboration with anti-Muslim hate groups and Israeli government officials."¹⁰
That's a laugh.
DeSantis' executive order was based on documented evidence from federal terrorism prosecutions, not conspiracy theories from radical activists.
The order followed a similar move by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations just last month.¹¹
President Trump's administration is now reviewing whether to designate Muslim Brotherhood chapters in multiple countries as terrorist organizations.¹²
DeSantis is following Trump's America First lead while Democrat-run states sit back and let radical organizations operate unchecked.
The escalating tensions began Monday when DeSantis signed the executive order directing Florida agencies to block any "unlawful activities" by CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, including denying state resources to anyone providing material support.¹³
CAIR claimed this was an "unconstitutional and defamatory attack" on Florida's Muslim community.¹⁴
But the facts tell a different story.
This isn't about targeting any religious community — it's about preventing organizations with documented ties to terrorism from receiving taxpayer dollars and operating freely in Florida.
DeSantis said earlier this week that he expected CAIR to sue and that he looked "forward to discovery — especially the CAIR finances. Should be illuminating!"¹⁵
Now CAIR is trying to get those same records through a public information request instead of the courtroom where their finances would be fully exposed under oath.
The Governor called their bluff and they blinked.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is ready to defend the executive order and state law enforcement agencies are already implementing the new restrictions on CAIR's activities.¹⁶
Other conservative governors are watching closely to see if they should follow Florida and Texas in taking action against organizations that were named in federal terrorism investigations.
CAIR can file all the public records requests they want, but DeSantis made clear he's not backing down from protecting Floridians.
¹ Frank Kopylov, "DeSantis dismisses CAIR records request as 'measly and dumb' amid terror designation feud," Florida Voice News, December 12, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ "DOJ: CAIR's Unindicted Co-Conspirator Status Legit," The Investigative Project on Terrorism, 2009.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ "Publication of Unindicted Co-conspirator List in Holy Land Case Violated Due Process Rights," Charity & Security Network, August 27, 2020.
⁷ H.R. 4097, "Designate CAIR as a Terrorist Organization Act," 119th Congress, 2025.
⁸ "Why the UAE Designated CAIR a Terrorist Organization," HealEarth, November 2025.
⁹ "DOJ: CAIR's Unindicted Co-Conspirator Status Legit," The Investigative Project on Terrorism, 2009.
¹⁰ Frank Kopylov, "DeSantis dismisses CAIR records request as 'measly and dumb' amid terror designation feud," Florida Voice News, December 12, 2025.
¹¹ "Texas Declares CAIR a Terror Group: MEF's Decade-Long Warnings Vindicated," Middle East Forum, November 2025.
¹² "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis designates CAIR, Muslim Brotherhood as 'foreign terrorist organizations,'" CBS Miami, December 12, 2025.
¹³ Frank Kopylov, "DeSantis dismisses CAIR records request as 'measly and dumb' amid terror designation feud," Florida Voice News, December 12, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ "Gov. DeSantis welcomes lawsuit challenging CAIR's terrorist designation," Florida Phoenix, December 9, 2025.
¹⁶ "Florida labels CAIR, Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations," The Hill, December 9, 2025.
