Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler has been suspended from office after an emergency meeting held by the Florida GOP on Dec. 17. The move came after Ziegler was named a subject in a rape investigation.
The Florida Center for Government Accountability was the first to report about the investigation into the Chairman. When the Associated Press received the incident report detailing the allegations, all mentions of Ziegler were redacted.
The chairman has been accused of raping a woman that both he and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, had previous consensual sexual relations. Police search warrant affidavits revealed the woman accusing Ziegler claimed to have been raped by him two months ago in her apartment. Ziegler denied this claim and stated that the sexual encounter was consensual.
The FLCGA reported that video evidence of the Oct.2 sexual encounter between the woman and Ziegler was found. Phone call conversations from Oct.2 uncovered that Bridget Ziegler was not with her husband during the meetup, which the woman did not approve.
Elected Officials including Sen.Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and even current Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis have called for not only the suspension but the resignation of Ziegler due to his current unpopularity within the party. DeSantis explained that both Christian and Bridget Ziegler were friends of his, but the newly found allegations brought up against him were too severe for Ziegler to remain in his current position.
During the two-hour Dec. 17 meeting in Orlando, Florida, it was confirmed that the Chairman would be suspended from his position for the time being, and that his salary would be cut to $1. His reimbursements have also been suspended, which came up to around $124,000 a year.
The Sarasota County School Board has called for the resignation of Bridget Ziegler in relation to her husband’s scandal. Ziegler is the co-founder of the conservative Moms For Liberty group and has served on the board since being appointed by former Gov. Rick Scott.
In a 4-1 vote, where the only objector was Ziegler herself, all other school board members voted for her resignation. Ziegler expressed her feelings towards this push-back, stating,
“I am disappointed, as people may know. I serve on another public board, and this issue did not come up,” Ziegler said.
In a CBS news exclusive, Senior Political Correspondent Max Greenwood spoke about the significance this investigation had on Bridget Ziegler, being that she was not directly involved with the allegations. Greenwood clarified that Ziegler has not been accused of any wrongdoing associated with her husband but has contradicted her views and dealings,
“This is somebody that has built her political career advocating for really conservative social issues [and values] in the classroom…even among Republicans here, it’s a bad look,” Greenwood said.
As of now, it is not clear if Christian Ziegler plans on resigning, and he has not been charged in any part of the crime.