‘I cannot in good conscience stay affiliated with Never Back Down given the statements in the Washington Post today,’ Mr. Roe said.
Jeff Roe, lead strategist for the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down, announced his immediate resignation late Saturday in what he said was an effort to end distractions to the campaign.
His resignation follows internal chaos at the super PAC in recent weeks after an apparent split and the creation of a new Tallahassee-based pro-DeSantis super PAC named Fight Right.
In the past few weeks, three top officials have resigned from Never Back Down, with Mr. Roe now becoming the fourth. Never Back Down’s CEO Chris Jankowski and board chairman, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, resigned in November.
In his resignation, Mr. Jankowski cited issues that go “well beyond a difference of strategic opinion.” He was replaced by interim president, Kristin Davison, who was then fired along with two other top officials.
Mr. Roe said his departure was in response to comments by the PAC’s new chairman, Scott Wagner, to The Washington Post, which were published in an article on Saturday about disagreements and turmoil between the super PAC and Mr. DeSantis’s inner circle. Never Back Down is independent of Mr. DeSantis’s campaign but has been a major financial supporter to date.
“Following mismanagement and conduct issues, including numerous unauthorized leaks containing false information, senior officials were terminated,” Mr. Wagner told The Post. “We don’t have time to indulge false narratives from those with ulterior motives.”
A lawyer for the terminated employees contacted Mr. Wagner shortly after his comment was published by The Post, saying that the quote was “categorically false.”
Mr. Wagner then sent a revised statement to The Post which read: “Following some opinions regarding mismanagement and conduct issues, including some who believed there appeared to be numerous unauthorized leaks containing false information, NBD and some senior officials parted ways.”
By Melanie Sun
