Florida GOP Chair Reportedly Demanding Massive Payout to Step Down

Christian Ziegler, the embattled Florida GOP chair who was accused of rape last month, has demanded a buyout as high as $2 million to step down, Florida Politics reported Thursday, citing sources. Ziegler said in a statement Saturday that he would not resign, telling the Tampa Bay Times that he has a “country to save, and I am not going to let false allegations of a crime put that mission on the bench.” Apparently that mission can be put on ice for the right price, with multiple sources telling Florida Politics that Ziegler dispatched emissaries to top Republicans to see if they’d pay millions to get Ziegler out of their hair. Party officials are reportedly set to launch a probe into Ziegler this weekend as top Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, have asked him to resign. Ziegler hasn’t been criminally charged, but police say they’re still investigating the allegations. Ziegler’s wife, Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of the far-right Moms for Liberty group, is also caught up in the scandal, with her husband’s accuser saying the three were in a “longstanding” sexual relationship together.