Gov. Ron DeSantis has petitioned the state Supreme Court to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate whether “criminal or wrongful activity” has taken place in Florida related to the development and promotion of coronavirus vaccines.
DeSantis filed his petition with the court on Dec. 13. The governor also established a Public Health Integrity Committee monitored by the state surgeon general to assess federal public health recommendations and ensure they meet the needs of Florida communities. In addition, the state will examine “sudden deaths” of those who received the mRNA vaccines, based on autopsy data.
The governor’s petition alleges that health issues such as myocarditis have increased for people who were vaccinated. It also maintains that the COVID-19 vaccines don’t prevent the transmission of the virus and argues that pharmaceutical companies may have engaged in fraudulent practices with respect to the coronavirus vaccines.
Such requests for statewide grand juries have not been rare during the DeSantis administration, according to Paul Flemming, the state Supreme Court’s spokesman.
“This is his third petition to the court,” Flemming told the Florida Record. “Two previous ones have been granted.”
One of those previous grand juries was approved over the summer and is focusing on immigration issues and the smuggling or endangerment of unaccompanied undocumented children who are brought into Florida. The other DeSantis request for a grand jury was impaneled in 2019 and dealt with school safety issues.
Among prior administrations, the last petition for a statewide grand jury to be sent to the high court occurred in 2009, according to state Supreme Court records.
Flemming said requests to the court for such grand jury probes were not unusual and that the court has no hard timetable for deciding such issues.
“It's in statute that that’s the way it works,” he said. “The role of the court in statewide grand juries is largely ministerial.”
Statewide grand juries are made up of 18 members. If such a jury is approved in the COVID-19 petition, a presiding judge who will supervise the grand jury will be appointed by the state Supreme Court.