‘In full compliance’

It is unclear how DeSantis will account for the trips arranged by the nonprofit without running afoul of state ethics laws. Florida generally bars officeholders from accepting gifts from lobbyists or people, such as Soffer, whose companies employ lobbyists — unless those gifts are considered political contributions.

But both Sachs and a person involved in DeSantis’ recent travel said they did not consider the trips political contributions or gifts. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. The group’s practice “is to provide transportation for special guests,” Sachs said, “in full compliance with the law.”

Florida ethics rules, however, give politicians plenty of loopholes. In some circumstances, for example, officeholders can accept paid travel to give speeches as part of their official duties. The state ethics commission has also allowed officeholders to accept gifts from lobbyists if they are channeled through third-party groups.

Since taking office in 2019, DeSantis, who has worked in public service his entire career and reported a net worth of $319,000 last year, has steadily leaned on others to pick up the tab for private flights.

His political committee has accepted private air travel from roughly 55 wealthy, mostly Florida-based contributors and companies associated with them, including the heads of oil and gas companies, developers and homebuilders, and health care and insurance executives, a Times analysis of campaign finance records shows.

Additional travel donations were routed to the Republican Party of Florida, which DeSantis often used as a third-party pass-through.

A half dozen lobbyists and donors who spoke with the Times said they became accustomed to calls from the governor’s political aides asking for planes — in at least one case, for a last-minute trip home from out of state and, more recently, for a flight to Japan.

The Japan trip, which was part of an overseas tour that gave DeSantis a chance to show off his foreign policy chops, was considered part of the governor’s official duties and was organized in part by Enterprise Florida, a public-private business development group. But DeSantis’ office would not disclose how it was paid for or how he traveled. Enterprise Florida did not respond to requests for comment.

DeSantis’ office rarely releases information about nonofficial events. (In February, when he traveled to four states in one day, his public schedule simply read, “No scheduled events.”) And DeSantis has brushed off past criticism of his travel. In 2019, The South Florida Sun Sentinel revealed a previous flight to New York on a plane owned by Soffer. DeSantis said he had followed proper procedures.

“It’s all legal, ethical, no issues there,” he told reporters.

A spokesperson for Soffer declined to comment.